Google Prevents DDoS Attacks

First of all, what is a DDoS attack?

Remember when we discussed Google’s fight against the botnets? Well, DDoS attacks are an extension of botnet attacks.

To quote the Digital Attack Map website: “A Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) is an attempt to make online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources”. That’s where the botnets come in. Websites — no matter how large or how small — can be taken down if they have an enormous inflow of incoming traffic. Individuals who control botnets can use this weakness to their advantage to take down websites of their choosing.¹

Below is a notable attack on the Philippines depicted by Digital Attack Map. This happened on September 14, 2014.

What is the purpose of a DDoS attack?

As you could probably guess, DDoS attacks have explicitly malicious purposes. They make it very difficult for groups of people in certain countries or areas to access parts of the web. They could be used for taking down small businesses, for no reason at all. Whereas on the other, more extreme, side of the spectrum, DDoS attacks can be used against banking sites, news sites, and other important informational resources. This can have major implications for communities, especially those with corrupt governments. DDoS attacks have been known to target websites such as news sites so that certain political parties can avoid being prosecuted for unacceptable political practices.

Unfortunately for the victims of these attacks, paying for a DDoS attack to happen is relatively inexpensive, only costing about $150 to take down a small business.²

What’s being done about DDoS attacks?

Google once again steps up to the plate as the (mostly) unsung hero against DDoS attacks. Google’s own Jigsaw (previously known as Google Ideas) is dedicated to developing products that help people investigate corruption, prevent digital attack, and defend against hackers.²

One of their products in particular is called Project Shield, which is specially designed to protect websites that are at risk and keep them online. Project Shield’s main audiences are news sites, election monitors human rights groups, and it has been successful in keeping information available to the public in times of elections and major conflicts.²

How you can help prevent DDoS attacks.

The best weapon you can arm yourself with is knowledge. That is, after all, what Google is trying to protect. Google’s mission, straight from their company website “ … is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” 3 The world is changing more and more every day, and the need for access to free and reliable information is paramount. To help prevent these kinds of attacks, help raise awareness of them, and know who to go to for help.

You can tweet about it, or post it on Facebook, or any other social network. Give your voice, so that people from all around the world can give theirs as well.

Sources: Digital Attack Map¹, Jigsaw², Google Company³