Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: What They Are, How They Work, and How to Defend Your Site
If your website suddenly crawls to a halt, pages time out, or customers report they can’t log in, you might be staring down a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. These incidents don’t require exotic zero-days or deep levels of access. More often, they’re brutally simple: overwhelm the target with traffic or requests until legitimate users can’t get through. For online businesses, the end result is the same: lost revenue, support tickets piling up, and shaken trust.
Below we’ll go over some DoS basics: what a DoS attack is, how it differs from distributed variants (DDoS), what happens under the hood, common techniques, the warning signs, and practical steps to reduce your risk and respond effectively.
