DDoS

DDoS stands for "Distributed Denial of Service": an attacker floods a server ✕ A server is a powerful computer that provides data or services to other devices — for example serving a website or storing your cloud files. More in the glossary → , website, or service with a deluge of artificial requests until the infrastructure is overwhelmed, collapses, and becomes unreachable for real users. The requests usually come simultaneously from many hijacked devices — a botnet ✕ A botnet is a network of hijacked devices remotely controlled to carry out attacks — such as spam or DDoS attacks. Victims often don't even notice. More in the glossary → — which makes the attack hard to fend off. The goal isn't data theft but taking the service down. Protection comes from specialized mitigation services; many hosts and CDNs offer DDoS protection. More in the best antivirus comparison.