Denial of service (DoS/DDoS) vs Ransomware

Why they differ

Both make systems unusable, but a flood blocks them from outside while ransomware locks the data from inside.

Fundamentals

An attack that floods a website or service with so much traffic that real users can no longer reach it.

Formal

An attack that aims to make a system unavailable by using up its capacity, often by sending huge numbers of requests from many machines at once (a distributed attack, DDoS).

In plain English

Thousands of fake customers crowding a shop's doorway so the real ones cannot get in.

In practice

On election day, a municipality's website is hit by traffic from thousands of hacked devices and stays down for hours, until its hosting provider turns on filtering that drops the fake requests.

Why it matters

No data needs to be stolen for the damage to be real - a business that cannot serve its customers loses money and trust.

Ransomware

People, culture & awareness

Harmful software that locks an organisation's data and demands payment to unlock it.

Formal

Harmful software that uses encryption to make files or whole systems unreadable to their owner, then demands a ransom for the key - often while also threatening to publish stolen copies.

In plain English

Like a burglar who takes nothing but changes all the locks in your house and sells you the new keys.

In practice

On a Monday morning, staff at a regional hospital find every shared drive full of files that will not open and a note demanding payment within 72 hours; wards fall back on paper.

Why it matters

It can halt an entire organisation at once, and paying gives no guarantee the data comes back - only tested backups kept out of the attacker's reach do.

Shared connections

Threat Vulnerability