DDoS

noun

UK /ˌdiː diː əʊ ˈes/

US /ˌdiː diː oʊ ˈes/

A DDoS is when many computers all try to visit a website at the same time so it gets too busy and stops working.

The game's servers went down after a DDoS attack flooded them with fake traffic.

SYNONYMS

distributed denial-of-service attack traffic flood cyber flood server overload

RELATED WORDS

botnet malware hacker firewall cyberattack

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A coordinated online protest in which many people deliberately visit a site at once to slow it down.

Activists launched a DDoS to overwhelm the company's website during the announcement.

3. A test of how much traffic a network can handle before it fails.

Engineers simulated a DDoS to see where the system would break.

4. A sudden flood of messages or requests that overwhelms a person or service.

His inbox got a DDoS of complaints after the mistake.