What do we Know About The Biggest DDOS Attack In US History?

In case you didn’t notice, the Internet in the US was under attack (from an incident on October 21, 2016). This means millions of people were having problems accessing a variety of websites including Amazon.com, Netflix, Twitter.com and more. It was a severe attack and frankly, I am surprised as to how little attention it got in the national news. The attack spanned a good portion of the east coast and spread through the south.

Here are some news sources on it:
The Guardian
Wired Magazine
CNN Money

How the DDOS Attack Happened

Here’s what happened: About 10am Friday, October 21, the first attack began on Dyn, one of the 13  DNS servers for the Internet (DNS servers translate a URL like: www.yahoo.com to a number: 209.191.88.254 then directs you to the correct website). The attack overloaded Dyn’s computer system with false requests overloading their computer systems from various computers. The attack was rebuffed for a few hours when a 2nd attack took place, followed by a third. By the end of the day, the attack had been mitigated according to Dyn’s reporting site, DynStatus.com.
The severity and scope of this attack on our infrastructure is similar to a military invasion. Their objective was to disrupt communications and commerce-which they did.
If you want to read a little more about it including a list of websites that were affected, go to Gizmodo’s report on the DDOS attack.

Are DDOS attacks the same as a Virus?

They are not. Computer viruses are implanted in one of several ways onto your computer, then proliferate throughout the intended parts. Malware and spyware are the same. A DDoS attack is from outside a website intended to deny access to the site.

Have more questions about Computer Viruses and Malware/Spyware? Check out our List of Known Viruses and Spyware, or take a look at our Computer Virus FAQ Page.

Or you can always Contact Us!