Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have featured heavily in the tech news of recent years as their ease of delivery makes them a simple tool for those wishing to disrupt a target's online presence. A DoS is initiated when one computer continually sends data, typically as requests, to another computer with the aim of exceeding the target machines resources such as bandwidth, RAM or processing power. A DDoS is when multiple computers join forces, typically controlled by a Botnet, and target an organisations web servers or network.
The disruption from a DDoS, however, can affect different organisations in different ways. Some organisations such as banks have seen DDoS attacks prevent their customers from accessing their online banking services. This has obvious implications for consumers and businesses looking to manage their accounts. HSBC suffered a DDoS attack in October 2012 that was attributed to Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters allegedly as a protest aimed at forcing You Tube to remove the controversial film Innocence of Muslims. The same group has continued its DDoS attacks into January of 2013 against a long list of U.S. banks such as JP Morgan Chase, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of...