A distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) is a cyber security threat.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] Malware downloaded to several computers
2. [1] ... turning it into a bot/zombie
3. [1] ... creating a network of bots/zombies
4. [1] Third party/hacker initiating the attack
5. [1] Bots send requests to a web server at the same time
6. [1] The web server fails due to the requests
7. [1] Legitimate requests cannot reach the web server
8. [1] Revenge
9. [1] To affect a company's reputation
10. [1] Entertainment value
11. [1] To demand a ransom to stop it
12. [1] To test a system's resilience
13. [1] Proxy server
14. [1] Firewall
15. [1] Users scanning their computers with anti-malware