Chapter 2. Understanding Denial of Service

A denial-of-service attack is different in goal, form, and effect than most of the attacks that are launched at networks and computers. Most attackers involved in cybercrime seek to break into a system, extract its secrets, or fool it into providing a service that they should not be allowed to use. Attackers commonly try to steal credit card numbers or proprietary information, gain control of machines to install their software or save their data, deface Web pages, or alter important content on victim machines. Frequently, compromised machines are valued by attackers as resources that can be turned to whatever purpose they currently deem important.

In DDoS attacks, breaking into a large number of computers ...

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