A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is one of the biggest threats that exists today for websites and servers hosting websites. Unlike typical cyberattacks, DDoS attacks do not infiltrate firewalls or internal networks. Instead, the intent of a DDoS attack is to overwhelm a website or a series of websites with fake traffic. The impact of a DDoS attack can last hours, days, weeks or longer. It typically takes a large and specialized team of cyber security professionals to counter a DDoS attack on a website.

Reflect on what safeguards you are aware of or familiar with that local, county, state, and federal agencies have in place to counter DDoS attacks. Do you feel enough is being done to protect the United States and its citizens from DDoS attacks? What might occur if a critical government, financial, or medical website was unavailable for days or weeks? How might you personally be affected if this should occur?