DDoS

6 synonyms for DDoS, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — An attack that knocks a website or online service offline by flooding it with far more traffic or requests than it can handle, sent at the same time from a large number of separate machines.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

flood

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

distributed denial-of-service attack traffic flood volumetric attack take offline knock offline

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun computing

An attack that knocks a website or online service offline by flooding it with far more traffic or requests than it can handle, sent at the same time from a large number of separate machines.

“The shop was down for an hour during a DDoS that peaked at several million requests a second.”

distributed denial-of-service attack traffic flood volumetric attack

2. verb informal, computing

To carry out such an attack against a site or service.

“Someone DDoSed the forum right after the announcement went up.”

flood take offline knock offline

How to use DDoS

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

DDoS attack launch a DDoS DDoS protection mitigate a DDoS under DDoS

Capitalised DDoS, with the lower-case o reflecting 'of'. The verb forms DDoSed and DDoSing are informal but widespread.

Etymology

An initialism of distributed denial of service.

Full origin of DDoS →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a DDoS and a DoS attack?

Both aim to make a service unavailable by overwhelming it. A DoS attack comes from a single source, which makes it easier to identify and block. A DDoS is distributed: the traffic arrives from many machines at once, often thousands, so there is no single address to shut out.

Where does all the traffic in a DDoS come from?

Much of it comes from a botnet, a collection of ordinary computers, routers, cameras and other connected devices that have been infected and can be directed remotely. The owners of those devices are usually unaware they are taking part.

Does a DDoS steal data?

Not in itself. A DDoS is about availability: it makes a service unreachable rather than reading or copying what is stored on it. It can, however, be used as a distraction or as leverage alongside other activity.

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Nearby words

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