To do this, they can use a “ botnet” – a group of malware-infected computers and devices that provide the firepower needed to initiate attacks, usually without the owner’s knowledge.īack in 2016, the then-biggest DDoS attack the world had ever seen was launched by a zombie botnet army of smart TVs, fridges, webcams and other hijacked Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Because a lone network connection is unlikely to have the capacity to send enough data to overwhelm the target, attackers use DDoS attacks to bring down entire sites and networks. So how does DDoS work? Operation overloadĭoS attacks involve sending large volumes of junk traffic to a target IP address, overwhelming it with data and either slowing it down or completely knocking the network offline. All it takes for your sworn mortal enemy to knock you offline for 10 minutes is a PayPal or cryptocurrency account and the inclination to execute. “DDoS as a Service” attacks can be rented online for as little as $10, complete with technical support. The problem for both gamers and studios is that pretty much anyone can launch a DoS/DDoS attack on individual gamers or entire networks, without needing to have programming skills. The top 10 teams in eSports are valued at around US$2.4bn and, as the prize money rockets (the first-ever Fortnite World Cup had a US$30m prize pool), it’s inevitable that attacks on players, platforms and studios will too. Gamers are lucrative targets for cyberattackers their high-spec machines alone are a valuable resource for cryptocurrency miners. We’ll finish up with some steps gamers can take to protect themselves from DDoS and other attacks.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the reasons behind DDoS attacks on gamers, how they work and why they’re so popular.

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