DDoS Attack Overview

1. Past Examples of DDoS Attacks

In 2023, a major e-commerce platform suffered a devastating Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This attack forced the platform offline for 36 hours, resulting in a reported revenue loss in the range of hundreds of millions of yen. Such incidents highlight the significant financial and reputational damage DDoS attacks can cause.

2. The Power of DDoS Attacks

DDoS attacks work by overwhelming servers or networks with excessive traffic, rendering them unable to process legitimate user requests. This effectively brings the targeted services to a standstill. Smaller companies or organizations with limited resources and insufficient security measures are particularly vulnerable. The sheer scale of modern DDoS attacks, sometimes involving millions of bots, demonstrates their destructive potential.

3. Common Targets of DDoS Attacks

DDoS attacks often target a wide range of entities, including:

• Large corporations that are market leaders in their industry.
• Government agencies or public sector institutions.
• Competing businesses in a highly competitive market.
• Organizations with controversial political or social stances.

Attackers typically aim to disrupt operations, gain financial leverage, or make a political statement.

4. Understanding DDoS Attack Services

DDoS attack services are widely available on the dark web, marketed by malicious actors as “stress-testing tools” or “booter services.” These services use botnets—networks of compromised devices—to flood a target with traffic, causing it to become inaccessible.

Key Features:

• Volume-Based Attacks: Focus on consuming the target’s bandwidth.
• Protocol Attacks: Exploit vulnerabilities in communication protocols to disrupt services.
• Application Layer Attacks: Target specific applications to maximize service downtime.

The availability of such services has made launching DDoS attacks increasingly accessible to attackers with minimal technical skills.