Now that you know what DDoS is and how this attack works, we must consider that there are basically three types:
- application layer attacks;
- protocol attacks;
- volume attacks.
However, to go into the details of each type of attack, we must first understand what the network connection structure looks like.
Network connection structure
To understand how network connection works russia phone number data we will use the OSI (Open System Interconnection) model.
This model is a 7-layer division of the connection network. We can think of building a house, where each stage of its structure has a different purpose.
- Application Layer: human-machine interaction layer, where applications can access network services;
- Presentation Layer: Ensures that data is in a usable format and is where data encryption occurs;
- Session Layer: maintains connections and is responsible for controlling logins and sessions;
- Transport Layer: Transmits data using transmission protocols including TCP and UDP;
- Network Layer: decides which physical path the data will take;
- Datalink Layer: decides the data format on the network;
- Physical Layer: Transmits raw bit stream over the physical medium.
Hackers can direct attacks at a specific vector or split the target across vectors.
Application layer attacks
Application layer attacks are also known as layer 7 attacks. The main objective is to exhaust resources and disrupt access to the website or blog .
These attacks target the layer where web pages are generated on the server and delivered as responses to HTTP requests.
In this type of attack, it is very difficult to structure a pay per click and copywriting defense due to the complexity of distinguishing real traffic from traffic generated by bots.
An example of such an attack is similar to pressing the F5 (refresh page) button repeatedly.
This, on a large scale, with multiple computers requesting the update at the same time, can lead to overloads and cause system downtime.
This attack can be done on a specific page, in which case defense becomes easier, or on random pages, without a scheduled IP frequency, which makes defense more difficult.
Protocol attacks
Protocol attacks are also called exhaustion attacks. The purpose of this attack is to consume all available capacity of web application servers or intermediate resources such as firewalls.
Protocol attacks target protocol layers 3 and contact lists 4. An example of a protocol attack is SNY overload. To understand this, let’s look at an everyday example.
Imagine you go to a restaurant and ask the waiter for a particular dish. He takes your order and as he walks to the kitchen to request preparation, another table calls him and places a new order.
This is repeated successively and cannot deliver all orders to be prepared.
It will not be able to deliver all the requests, as it is overloaded and therefore the requests will not be answered. Despite being a very simple example, it depicts the protocol attack very well.
A large number of initial connection request SYN packets are generated. The machine responds to connections, but waits for the final negotiation stage (handshake) which never occurs, thus exhausting resources.
Volume attacks
Volume attacks are intended to cause congestion by consuming all Internet bandwidth available to the target.
An example we can create to make an analogy with this type of attack is, again, with the restaurant.
Someone calls the establishment and asks about each item on the menu, then tells the employee to call back and describe the entire order.
That is, a single request will consume a large amount of data. This, in a coordinated and repeated manner, generates the aforementioned congestion and can interrupt the use of a website.
How to protect your website from DDoS attacks?
We have already seen the different types of DDoS attacks. It is normal to feel scared about the possible actions of hackers and their effects on the business. However, there are ways to defend ourselves.
Of course, it will depend a lot on the type of attack,
