What does DDoS stand for?

DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. This term describes a malicious attack method where multiple compromised systems, often coordinated into a botnet, are used to flood a target, such as a server, website, or network, with overwhelming traffic. The goal is to exhaust the resources of the target, making it unable to respond to legitimate requests, ultimately resulting in a denial of service to users.

Understanding the components of the term is key: "Distributed" indicates that the attack originates from many different sources rather than a single source, which makes it harder to mitigate. "Denial of Service" refers to the attack's intent to make a service unavailable to its intended users. This understanding is critical for network engineers and cybersecurity professionals as they develop strategies for defense against such attacks and ensure service availability.

The other options do not accurately define DDoS, as they reference unrelated concepts. Therefore, knowing that DDoS accurately describes a widespread and coordinated attack unravels its significance in network security discussions.