What is DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service)?
An attack that overwhelms a website with traffic from many sources, making it unavailable to real users.
Why It Matters
DDoS attacks can take your site offline for hours or days, costing revenue and damaging reputation.
Real-World Example
Thousands of compromised devices flooding your server with requests until it crashes under the load.
“Understanding terms like DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) matters because it helps you have better conversations with developers and make smarter decisions about your software. You do not need to be technical. You just need to know enough to ask the right questions.”
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Related Terms
Rate Limiting
Restricting how many requests a user or system can make in a given time period
Uptime
The percentage of time your application is available and working
Cloudflare
A service that speeds up and protects websites by acting as an intermediary between users and your server.
Authentication
The process of verifying who someone is, usually through a username and password
Authorisation
Determining what actions or data a verified user is allowed to access
OAuth
A standard that lets you log into apps using your existing accounts from Google, Facebook, or other providers