Decided to launch a DDoS attack against your noisy neighbor's website, but have no idea where to start?
Well, I'm here to explain.
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a common and not particularly sophisticated cyberattack whose goal is to prevent a server from functioning by sending an enormous volume of requests all at once.
You actually run this kind of attack against yourself from time to time — when you pile on so many tasks that you throw your hands up, abandon everything, and head over to TikTok.
To carry out such an attack, the attacker first infects a large number of computers with malware. The most classic method is through cracked software. When you install pirated software, the price you're likely paying is having your computer conscripted into a botnet.
Once the network contains enough machines — say, several tens of thousands — the attacker puts it up for rent on the dark web.
The renter specifies which website they want taken down and for how long, and pays accordingly.
The attacker then sends a command to all the computers in the network — the zombies — and they simultaneously unleash a relentless flood of requests at the target website until it crashes.
**How is the attack command sent?**
Contrary to what you might think, this step is far from simple. Remotely controlling an infected machine can be extremely complex.
To streamline the process, all infected computers access an innocuous, publicly visible text record belonging to a domain under the attacker's control (a DNS TXT record, for those familiar with the term).
This way, the attacker doesn't need direct communication with the infected machines at all — they reach out to the domain on their own, retrieve the target address and the scheduled attack time, and carry out the attack autonomously.
To defend against this, you can deploy a firewall designed to detect the anomalous traffic patterns that indicate such an attack and stop it in time.
A widely used service of this kind is provided by Cloudflare.
If your website isn't connected to Cloudflare yet, it's highly recommended that you do so as soon as possible (and it's free!).
And of course — if you need someone to take care of it for you, feel free to reach out privately.