What makes a denial-of-service attack 'distributed'?

It uses numerous hosts to attack.

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  1. It targets only distributed databases
  2. It encrypts files across drives
  3. It uses many hosts to perform the attack ✔

Why: A DoS attack prevents authorized access to resources or delays time-critical work. A DDoS does this with many hosts at once, so blocking one address does not help.

Huh, didn't know that: CompTIA's A+ objectives list DDoS alongside evil twin, on-path and brute-force attacks.

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A DDoS is the world's worst flash mob.
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References

Answer: It uses many hosts to perform the attack. A DoS attack prevents authorized access to resources or delays time-critical work. A DDoS does this with many hosts at once, so blocking one address does not help.

  1. Distributed denial of service, NIST CSRC glossary csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/distributed_denial_of_service
    A denial of service technique that uses numerous hosts to perform the attack.
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  2. Denial of service, NIST CSRC glossary csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/denial_of_service
    The prevention of authorized access to resources or the delaying of time-critical operations.
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  3. CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1202) Exam Objectives v1.1 lecbyo.files.cmp.optimizely.com/download/84764f7a85ba11ef87e9da1cab964337
    Distributed denial of service (DDoS)
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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