Explain what a DDoS attack is and how it works.

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) is an attack aimed at disabling a service or server by overwhelming it with a large number of requests from multiple sources simultaneously.

How it works:

• The attacker infects many computers (botnet).
• All infected devices start sending requests to the target server at the same time.
• The server cannot handle the load and becomes unavailable to legitimate users.

Example: if a website has a limit on the number of simultaneous connections, a DDoS attack quickly exhausts these resources, causing a service denial.