Major Players Suffered DDoS Attacks
DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks are rapidly becoming one of the main ways for hackers to target websites of all sizes. By flooding the site with fake traffic and overwhelming the server, the attack can lead to long website outages, access problems, and other serious issues. Even the major players in today’s online landscape have fallen victim to DDoS attacks. Here is a look at some of the large organizations and websites that have been affected by a DDoS attack, and some insight into what you can do to help protect yourself.
Recent DDoS Attacks on Well-known Websites
BBC Website
At the beginning of 2016, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) website was victimized in a DDoS attack that was the largest of its kind. With the attack occurring at a rate of 602 gigabits per second, it didn’t matter how much security was in place, the site didn’t stand a chance. After the attack, BBC.com was offline for several hours.
U.S. Library of Congress
In July of 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress became a victim of an extremely large DDoS attack. Not only was the government website down, Library of Congress employees were unable to log in to access their work data and emails.
Pokémon Go!
Pokémon Go was all the rage in the summer of 2016, which also made it the target of a DDoS attack. This attack was one of the largest on record, impacting users in over 26 countries. However, unlike most DDoS attacks, the hackers who performed this one came forward and threatened an even larger attack on the Pokémon Go! servers; although, one has yet to be seen.
This is just a small sampling of the DDoS attacks that have occurred within major corporations over the past couple of years. As a result of these attacks, the companies experienced hours of downtime, an abundance of technical issues, and enormous financial losses.
Protect Yourself with Built-in DDoS Protection
If sites of this caliber can fall victim to a DDoS attack, then no site is safe. That being said, there are some preventative steps you can take to keep your site secure. First and foremost, you need to select a hosting company that offers comprehensive DDoS protection. Many companies that offer dedicated servers will also include enough DDoS protection to handle small attacks of about 20 gigabits per second. This is a good start, but if your site already deals with a decent amount of traffic, you will definitely want to add on more.
Nobody is safe from a DDoS attack, and with their popularity on the rise, it is important to take action before it is too late. Review your server’s security features and make sure you have enough DDoS protection to keep your site up and running if you are the next victim.
Yevgeniya Davydov
Latest posts by Yevgeniya Davydov (see all)
- Major Players Suffered DDoS Attacks - May 26, 2018
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