Denial-of-Service attack facts for kids

A Denial-of-Service attack (often called DoS) is like a digital traffic jam. It happens when someone tries to stop people from using a website or online service. They do this by sending too much internet traffic to it. Imagine lots of cars trying to enter a small road at the same time. The road gets blocked, and no one can get through. This is what happens to a website during a DoS attack. People with slower internet connections, like old dial-up modems, are often affected more.

What are the Types of DoS Attacks?

There are different ways these digital attacks can happen:

Traffic Jam Attacks

This type of attack is like flooding a system with too many visitors. Imagine thousands of people trying to enter a small shop at once. The shop gets overwhelmed and can't serve anyone. In the same way, a website's internet connection gets full. This makes the internet servers slow down. Eventually, they might even stop working completely.

Software Trick Attacks

These attacks use special internet messages called packets. These packets are designed to find small mistakes or "bugs" in a website's software. When the bug is triggered, it can make the system crash or stop working. These attacks are usually easier to fix. This is because a firewall (a security system) or software updates can often block them.

Teamwork Attacks (DDoS)

A Distributed Denial-of-Service attack (DDoS) is a bigger, more powerful version of a DoS attack. Instead of one attacker, many different computers work together. These computers are often controlled by the attacker without their owners knowing (like a Botnet). A DDoS attack can use either the "traffic jam" method or the "software trick" method. This type of attack is very common. It is often aimed at big company websites. DDoS attacks are usually the hardest to stop, track down, and prevent.

When Have DoS Attacks Happened?

Denial-of-Service attacks have been around for a while.

Early Attacks in the 2000s

In the early 2000s, many internet companies faced DoS attacks. For example, Microsoft was hit by these attacks in early 2001. This meant many people could not use the Microsoft website. They also could not use many of Microsoft's online services.

Recent Attacks: Evernote Example

More recently, on June 10, 2014, the note-taking service Evernote was attacked. A DDoS attack targeted their website for a full 24 hours. This made it difficult for users to access their notes and other services.

See also

In Spanish: Ataque de denegación de servicio para niños