What is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack primarily aimed at?

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is primarily aimed at disrupting services to make a resource unavailable. In this type of attack, multiple compromised systems are used to flood a target, such as a website or online service, with an overwhelming amount of traffic. This influx of requests can cause the target's servers to become slow, unresponsive, or completely crash, which leads to legitimate users being unable to access the service.

The intention behind a DDoS attack is not to steal information or gain unauthorized access, but rather to cause disruption and denial of service to legitimate users. This tactic is often employed by malicious actors for various reasons, including extortion, revenge, or to distract from other malicious activities taking place concurrently.

Understanding the nature of a DDoS attack highlights its focus on service unavailability rather than other motives, such as data theft or malware installation, which are associated with different types of cyber threats.