Beginner's Guide to Brute Force & DDoS Attacks.pdf

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Beginner’s Guide to

Brute Force & DDoS Attacks

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BARBARIANS ARE AT YOUR DOOR

www.alienvault.com

Attackers are constantly looking for ways to exploit any

weakness in your security defenses. As security professionals,

we spend endless hours trying to stay one step ahead of

sophisticated attackers attempting to slothfully penetrate our

defenses. However, not all attacks are sophisticated or quiet.

Brute force account cracking and Distributed Denial

of Service (DDoS) attacks continue to be effective ways

for attackers to wreak havoc on organizations.

In this paper we’ll explore both types of

attacks and provide guidance on what you

should do to defend your network.

What is a Distributed Denial

of Service Attack?

The fundamental premise of distributed denial of service attacks is simple:

flooding services or public websites with so much network traffic they can’t

function properly (or at all). This can take a devastating toll on targeted

organizations — shutting off their revenue streams, and damaging both their

brands and customer relationships, with a single stroke.

Historically, distributed denial of service attacks have taken several

common forms. Read on to learn about each one...

BASIC DENIAL

OF SERVICE

Basic denial of service (DoS) simply involves

a single computer/source slamming the targeted

site or service with excessive requests

(e.g., to view the site or run a search function).

DISTRIBUTED

DENIAL OF SERVICE

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) is a variation

in which a botnet is used to generate the traffic.

Because the botnet is distributed over hosts in many

locations, it’s slower and harder for an organization

to mount an effective defense. Simple rules, such as

blocking a particular domain or IP range, no longer apply.