Word

Description

Denial-of-service attack

A "denial-of-service" attack is used to describe a security breach to a computer system where legitimate users of a service are prevented from being able to use that service as expected. Denial-of-service attacks are typically deliberate, though in some instances may be accidental. Some types of denial-of-service attacks include: attempts to "flood" a network thereby preventing legitimate network traffic; attempts to disrupt connections between two machines thereby preventing access to a service; attempts to prevent a particular individual from accessing a service; and attempts to disrupt service to a specific system or person. Even though denial-of-service attacks do not usually result in the theft of information they can prove to be very costly, particularly in regards to the unplanned down time of the service.