Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack: A malicious attempt to disrupt normal traffic to a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of internet traffic. DDoS attacks are performed using multiple compromised computer systems as sources of attack traffic, which could include computers and other networked resources such as IoT devices. The influx of incoming messages, connection requests, and malformed packets can cause the target system to slow down or crash, denying service to legitimate users. DDoS attacks are a powerful weapon on the Internet and can be difficult to defend against, requiring sophisticated countermeasures.