BRIEFINGS COMPUTER CRIME Denial of Service Attacks: Threats and Methodologies

The provision of any service requires the utilisation of resources. In a digital context these resources might be processor cycles, memory capacity, disk space or communications bandwidth. A Denial of Service (DoS) attack implies either the removal of those resources by some external event or their pre-emption by a competing process; this should be understood to include rerouting or replacing a service. The sole objective of a DoS attack is thus to prevent the normal operation of a digital system in the manner required by its customers and intended by its designers. As such, DoS attacks on the mission-critical or business-critical infrastructure systems of financial, commercial or other enterprises offer the potential for sabotage, blackmail or extortion opera