Dos vs DDoS: Which Attack is More Dangerous?

Key Takeaways

DoS and DDoS attacks disrupt system availability but differ in complexity and scale. DoS originates from a single source, while DDoS involves multiple systems working together.

DoS and DDoS attacks result in system malfunction. They also put your system out for some time.

Thus it is essential to know the difference between DoS vs. DDoS, their types, and how they work.

In this article, you will also get to know which is more dangerous DoS or DDoS.

DoS vs. DDoS

If you find your favorite website down, then there is a chance it suffered a DoS attack.

What is DoS Attack?

This is the Denial of Service Attack. In this attack, the attacker shuts down the victim’s computer/website by sending a massive amount of traffic to it. It is made to make the victim’s services unavailable online.

It sends a huge amount of traffic and makes the server down.

Types of DoS Attacks

The two main categories of DoS attacks are the flooding services and crashing services.

1. Flood Attacks

In such a case, the system gets a higher amount of traffic that slows it down, and it then stops working. Some common types of flood attacks are:

2. Buffer Overflow Attack

In such an attack, a massive amount of traffic is sent to the network. This amount is greater than what that network can handle.

3. ICMP Flood

Here the spoofed packets are sent that ping each and every computer in that network. This attack is also referred to as the ping of death.

4. SYN Flood

Here the attacker sends a consenting request to the server but does not complete the handshake process.

Due to which all open ports are filled with the requests, and none of them are available for the users of the site to build the connection.

5. Crashing Services.

This is the other category for the DoS attack in which the attacker exploits the system vulnerabilities that result in the crash of the victim’s system.

The attacker first identifies the bugs and then sends the input, taking advantage of those bugs.

This way, it destabilizes and eventually crashes the victim’s system and makes it inaccessible.

Another type of DoS attack is the DDoS attack. Let’s have a brief look at it too.

What Does DDoS Stand For?

DDOS stands for the Denial of the Service attack.

What Does DDoS Mean, and How Do DDoS Attacks Work?

In DDoS, botnets are used to target an online service or website with fake traffic.

Botnets are multiple devices connected online. These hijacked connected devices are controlled remotely by the hacker that harnesses the power of these machines to obscure the source traffic.

The traffic is disturbed in such an attack, and this makes it quite difficult for the cybersecurity teams to detect the attack.

Due to this, the services become unavailable to the users.

Such attacks are extremely destructive and result in a big loss of revenue.

Also Checkout Top Threats to Data Security

Types of DDoS Attacks

The most popular types include:

1. SYN Flood

This attack involves exploiting the weakness in the sequence of TCP connections.

Spoofed messages are sent to the host machine, and the connection does not close, which results in shutting down the services.

2. Ping of Death

This involves sending malicious pings to a system and thus manipulating its IP protocol.

3. Smurf Attack

In this attack, a program known as a smurf is used to spoof an IP. This attack exploits the ICMP and IP.

4. Fraggle Attack

The smurf attack makes use of ICMP, and the Fraggle attack uses the UDP. It attacks the router broadcast network with a huge amount of UDP traffic.

5. Slowloris

The attacker targets the webserver with quite minimal resources using this attack.

When the attacker gets connected to the victim server, the connection is kept open with the HTTP flooding.

6. NTP Amplification

It exploits the NTP server. The network time protocol synchronizes computer clocks.

7. Application-Level Attacks

This attack exploits the application vulnerabilities. Recommended Read Network Vulnerability Assessments Checklist

8. UDP Flood

UDP full form is User Datagram Protocol. This is a sessionless networking protocol. UDP floods target the network with the UDP packets. The host then checks to find the application on those port but don’t find any. Also, Read Session Layer Protocols 

Difference Between DoS vs. DDoS

• In a DoS attack, there is a single system that targets the victim’s website/computer. While in the DDoS attack, there are multiple systems attacking the system/service of the victim.
• Dos attack is slower than the DDoS attack.
• DoS attacks are mostly made to exploit the vulnerability of software or flood the victim some fake traffic. In contrast, the DDoS attack is made to saturate the entire network infrastructure with a large amount of traffic.
• DoS attack is launched by the Dos tools or the homebrewed scripts. On the other hand, the DDoS attack is launched by the botnets.
• You can block the DoS attack by some efforts as it involves an attack by a single system. On the other hand, the DDoS attack is quite difficult to block as it is done by multiple devices from multiple locations.
• The DoS attack can be traced easily, but the DDoS attack cant be.
• The traffic volume of DDoS attacks is much higher as compared to the DoS attack.

Which is More Dangerous DoS or DDoS?

The DDoS attack is much faster and more dangerous than the DoS attack.

This is because it involves attacking from multiple locations with multiple devices.

Due to which the victim can’t figure out the attack origin. Also, it involves sending a massive traffic volume to the victim’s network.

Impact on Businesses

• Financial Loss: Both attacks can result in significant revenue loss due to service downtime
• Customer Trust: Service disruptions damage brand reputation and customer confidence
• Recovery Costs: Organizations often face substantial expenses in recovery and implementing preventive measures

Is DDoSing Illegal?

Yes, it is illegal as per the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It is a cybercrime.

How to Prevent DoS and DDoS Attacks?

1. Network Security Measures

• Configure firewalls properly
• Implement rate limiting
• Use load balancers to distribute traffic
• Deploy intrusion detection systems (IDS)

2. Traffic Analysis

• Monitor network traffic patterns
• Set up early warning systems
• Implement traffic filtering

3. Infrastructure Preparation

• Overprovision bandwidth
• Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
• Maintain backup systems
• Deploy anti-DDoS solutions

FAQs

What is the main difference between DoS and DDoS attacks?

The primary difference is the origin of the attack. DoS attacks come from a single source, while DDoS attacks involve multiple compromised devices working together.

Are DDoS attacks more dangerous than DoS attacks?

Yes, DDoS attacks are more dangerous due to their scale, complexity, and distributed nature, making them harder to detect and mitigate.

Can DoS and DDoS attacks be prevented?

While no system is completely immune, implementing robust security measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and load balancers can significantly reduce the risk.

How do attackers create a botnet for DDoS attacks?

Attackers use malware to infect and control devices, turning them into bots that collectively form a botnet.

What industries are most affected by DDoS attacks?

Industries like finance, e-commerce, healthcare, and gaming are frequent targets due to their reliance on online services.

Summary

DoS and DDoS are the attacks done to make the target server unresponsive and unavailable to its user.

The difference between DoS vs. DDoS is that the DDoS attack is much faster than the DoS attack as it is done by multiple devices and a massive amount of traffic.

Multiple machines are assembled to conduct the DDoS attack.

Do Read Types of Data Breaches