Denial-of-Service
di-NY-ul uv SER-vis
/dɪˈnaɪəl əv ˈsɜːrvɪs/
An interruption in an authorized user's access to a computer network, usually caused by a malicious cyberattack that floods the network with traffic or requests.
The core goal is to make a service unavailable to its legitimate users, not necessarily to steal data, though it can be a diversion for other attacks.
The story behind the word. The term 'denial-of-Service' is a descriptive compound, meaning exactly what it says: the denial of a service to its intended users. It became prominent in the late 1990s as a way to describe cyberattacks that aimed to overwhelm websites and servers with traffic, making them inaccessible. The 'Distributed' variant (DDoS) emerged as attackers began using multiple compromised computers to launch such attacks.
Word relationships
- Flooding attack: Describes the method used in many DoS attacks.
- Service disruption: More general, could be accidental; DoS implies malicious intent.
- Service availability: The state of a service being accessible and operational.
Commonly confused with
- System crash: A system crash is an unintentional failure; a denial-of-service attack is a deliberate act to cause unavailability.
Collocations
- denial-of-service attack
- DDoS attack
- prevent denial-of-service
Example sentences
- "The online retailer suffered a massive denial-of-service attack just before the holiday shopping season, causing significant financial losses." A report on a cyberattack.
- "Implementing robust traffic filtering is one way to protect against a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack." Cybersecurity defense strategy.
Memory hook
It's a 'DENIAL' of the 'SERVICE' you expect from a website. Block access
When not to use
Do not use for accidental outages or system crashes; it specifically refers to an intentional, often malicious, act.
Fun facts
- One of the earliest high-profile DDoS attacks occurred in February 2000, targeting major websites like Yahoo!, eBay, and Amazon.
Related words
Explore more words
cybersecurity, outage, malware, ransomware, downtime, cybercrime
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