What Is DDoS as a Service?
DDoS as a service, also known as DDoS-for-hire, refers to the commercial offering of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack capabilities. It enables individuals with minimal technical knowledge to launch disruptive attacks against targets over the internet. By paying a fee, often through anonymous channels like cryptocurrencies, anyone can temporarily overwhelm a website, network, or online service using attack infrastructure maintained by service operators.
These services lower the technical and financial barriers for conducting large-scale cyberattacks. DDoS-as-a-service operators advertise their offerings like traditional cloud service providers, differentiating on attack size, duration, and attack types. This commoditization has led to a rise in DDoS attacks, affecting organizations of all sizes by making denial-of-service accessible on demand.
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DDoS-for-hire services first emerged in underground forums around the early 2010s, often disguised as legitimate “stresser” or “booter” tools for testing network resilience. These services were marketed to gamers and small-time hackers, offering simple web interfaces to launch attacks by entering a target IP and selecting the attack duration.
Over time, these platforms matured into more organized businesses. They adopted tiered pricing models, customer support channels, uptime guarantees, and payment options including bitcoin and privacy-focused coins. Many even provided dashboards showing attack status in real-time, mimicking features of legitimate SaaS products.
As demand grew, so did the scale and sophistication of the attacks. Operators began leveraging large botnets, often composed of compromised IoT devices, to amplify their power. This made it possible to conduct high-volume attacks without owning significant infrastructure.
Law enforcement actions have periodically disrupted major DDoS-for-hire providers, but the market has proven resilient. Operators frequently rebrand, move to new domains, and adopt evasive hosting techniques, keeping the services alive despite takedowns. Today, DDoS-for-hire remains a persistent threat, sustained by a mix of amateur users, cybercriminals, and political actors.
DDoS-as-a-service platforms simplify the process of launching distributed denial-of-service attacks by abstracting away the technical complexity:
- Registration and payment: A typical attack starts with a user, often called a “customer,” registering on the platform. Payment is made, usually via cryptocurrency, and the customer gains access to the platform.
- Attack setup: The attacker provides the target’s IP address or domain and selects an attack plan based on parameters like duration, traffic volume, and method. The most common attack types include UDP floods, SYN floods, HTTP GET/POST floods, and DNS amplification.
- Attack execution: The platform initiates the attack using its pre-configured infrastructure. This infrastructure may include botnets, compromised servers, or cloud-based resources, all coordinated to send a massive volume of traffic to the victim system.
- Attack management and analytics: Many services offer real-time dashboards that display the status of the attack, including data on throughput and duration. Some platforms allow the user to pause, resume, or switch attack vectors mid-session. More providers also offer evasion features like randomized packet payloads or multi-vector attacks to bypass mitigation systems.
By providing this functionality through a web-based UI, DDoS-as-a-service platforms allow non-technical users to launch complex attacks with minimal effort. The backend handles the logistics, traffic generation, infrastructure rotation, and uptime, making denial-of-service attacks accessible to a wide range of malicious actors.
Eva Abergel
Eva is a solution expert in Radware’s security group. Her domain of expertise is DDoS protection, where she leads positioning, messaging and product launches. Prior to joining Radware, Eva led a Product Marketing and Sales Enablement team at a global robotics company acquired by Bosch and worked as an Engineer at Intel. Eva holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Ariel University and an Entrepreneurship Development certificate from the York Entrepreneurship Development Institute of Canada.
Tips from the Expert:
In my experience, here are tips that can help you better defend against DDoS-as-a-service attacks:
1. Build ephemeral edge capacity you can turn on fast: Pre-provision burstable, geo-distributed edge capacity (CDN+scrubbing) under contract and automate DNS/route failover so you can flip traffic to that plane within seconds when attack patterns begin.
2. Instrument packet‑level telemetry with eBPF or P4: Push lightweight packet metadata (SYN rates, TTL distributions, TCP options fingerprints) from the host/edge into your pipeline. Those micro‑features catch evolving DDoS fingerprints that signature tools miss.
3. Use challenge puzzles selectively at the application edge: Implement adaptive, low-latency proof‑of‑work or crypto puzzles for suspicious sessions (not blanket CAPTCHAs) to raise attacker cost without blocking legitimate users.
4. Deploy fine‑grained ingress policing at upstream peers: Contractual or automated rate‑limits with your ISPs/peers using BGP communities and uRPF where possible. Dropping attack subnets upstream is often cheaper and faster than scrubbing downstream.
5. Design services for graceful degradation and feature throttles: Make non‑critical functionality (search, analytics, large file downloads) loop out or enter degraded modes automatically under load so core flows stay alive and costs remain predictable.
1. Booters
Booters are commercial DDoS services primarily marketed to novices seeking to disrupt competitors, games, or other online assets. The term originated from tools used to “boot” players off gaming networks but now covers platforms that target any internet-facing resource. Booters offer user-friendly interfaces where clients enter a target’s IP address or domain and select from attack types such as UDP, TCP, or HTTP floods.
The infrastructure behind booters typically combines hijacked devices (botnets), public cloud instances, and sometimes open proxies. While portrayed as benign “testing” services by their operators, most booters aid unauthorized attacks. The low cost and simplicity attract both script kiddies and more serious offenders, contributing to frequent and sustained DDoS incidents across industries.
2. Stressers
Stressers are services claiming to provide legitimate traffic load-testing tools for web applications or servers. In reality, many stressers are indistinguishable from booters and are frequently used for illicit DDoS attacks. These platforms justify their existence by advertising “authorized use only,” but rarely verify if clients own the infrastructure they’re targeting.
Stressers commonly support a range of attack vectors and allow customizable parameters to mimic authentic user traffic. The overlap with booter services means stressers are equally implicated in the DDoS-as-a-service ecosystem. Many stressers operate openly until detected by authorities, moving frequently to evade detection and keep their services available.
3. Full Featured DDoS as a Service Platforms
Booters are commercial DDoS services primarily marketed to novices seeking to disrupt competitors, games, or other online assets. The term originated from tools used to “boot” players off gaming networks but now covers platforms that target any internet-facing resource. Booters offer user-friendly interfaces where clients enter a target’s IP address or domain and select from attack types such as UDP, TCP, or HTTP floods.
The infrastructure behind booters typically combines hijacked devices (botnets), public cloud instances, and sometimes open proxies. While portrayed as benign “testing” services by their operators, most booters aid unauthorized attacks. The low cost and simplicity attract both script kiddies and more serious offenders, contributing to frequent and sustained DDoS incidents across industries.
1. Volumetric floods
Volumetric floods are attacks that saturate a target’s internet bandwidth with massive amounts of traffic. Methods include UDP floods, DNS amplification, and NTP amplification, all leveraged to exhaust capacity and effectively disconnect the victim from the internet. These attacks are ubiquitous in DDoS-for-hire platforms due to their scalability and immediate impact.
Operators offering volumetric attacks maintain access to large botnets or harness open resolvers to magnify attack volume. When purchased as a service, even attackers with no technical background can trigger terabit-scale floods with a few clicks. Mitigating these attacks requires high-capacity upstream filtering or scrubbing services.
2. Protocol exploits
Protocol-based attacks exploit weaknesses within network layers, targeting resources such as firewalls, load balancers, or connection tables. Examples include SYN floods, TCP connection exhaustion, and fragmented packet attacks. These are designed to consume server resources or disrupt networking devices rather than merely saturating bandwidth.
DDoS-as-a-service offerings often include protocol exploits as part of their package, since these attacks require less total bandwidth but can still be highly effective. The modular nature of these attacks allows service customers to combine them with other vectors for greater impact and extended outages.
3. Application layer attacks
Application layer (layer 7) attacks aim at the most resource-intensive aspects of web servers and applications. Rather than overwhelming network pipes, these attacks mimic legitimate user behavior like HTTP GET/POST requests or API calls, seeking to exhaust server-side resources and create a denial-of-service condition.
DDoS-for-hire services market these attacks as “precision” tools, capable of bypassing basic DDoS protections. Attackers can select payloads that target login pages, search functions, or other dynamic elements, forcing the server to perform database queries or complex computations that quickly drain capacity.
4. Multi-vector campaigns and adaptive targeting
Multi-vector DDoS campaigns combine different attack types, volumetric, protocol, and application layer, sometimes switching between them mid-assault to evade detection and mitigation. DDoS-as-a-service platforms often support such strategies, allowing clients to tailor campaigns that adapt in real time.
Sophisticated multi-vector attacks exploit the limitations of single-layer defenses and create confusion for responders. By frequently shifting attack signatures and exploiting different parts of network stacks, these campaigns prolong downtime and increase mitigation costs for targeted organizations.
Related content: Read our guide to DDoS examples.
1. Implement web application firewalls
A web application firewall (WAF) helps shield online services from application-layer DDoS attacks by inspecting incoming HTTP/S requests and filtering malicious payloads. WAFs are typically deployed as cloud-based services or hardware appliances in front of public-facing applications.
With customizable rulesets and anomaly detection, WAFs block common attack vectors like HTTP floods and malicious API requests. Automated learning features enable rapid adaptation to new and evolving attack techniques, making WAFs a critical part of modern DDoS defense strategies.
2. Implement network segmentation and redundancy
Network segmentation divides infrastructure into isolated zones, limiting the impact of successful DDoS attacks on core business operations. By deploying redundant resources and failover paths, organizations increase resilience, ensuring one compromised section doesn’t bring down the entirety of their services.
Segmentation also streamlines response and recovery, making it easier to isolate affected segments and re-route legitimate traffic. Combined with geographic dispersion, redundancy protects against single points of failure and supports business continuity amid sustained DDoS events.
3. Harden public-facing services and APIs
All public-facing services and APIs should be hardened by disabling unnecessary ports, enforcing strict authentication, and keeping software up to date. Vulnerable services are frequent targets for protocol- and application-layer DDoS attacks, so basic hygiene and timely patches are essential for defense.
Network-level protections, such as rate-limiting, geo-blocking, and bot detection, further mitigate automated attack traffic. Routine audits and vulnerability scanning help identify attack surfaces before they can be abused by DDoS-as-a-service tools.
4. Deploy real-time threat intelligence feeds
Real-time threat intelligence helps organizations anticipate and respond to DDoS attacks as they emerge. By integrating threat feeds into network monitoring platforms and security appliances, defenders gain visibility into ongoing attacks and evolving tactics.
Threat intelligence platforms can automatically update blacklists, respond to new attack signatures, and inform incident response teams about global DDoS trends. This proactive posture lets organizations block malicious traffic faster and adapt defenses to emerging threats.
5. Conduct periodic stress testing and simulation
Regular stress testing, often called red teaming or DDoS simulation, helps validate the effectiveness of defensive measures. By simulating realistic DDoS scenarios, organizations can identify bottlenecks, gauge detection and response times, and improve overall preparedness.
Stress testing should mimic different attack vectors and magnitudes, providing actionable insights into where defenses might fail. Frequent simulations also train staff to recognize genuine incidents, reducing panic and improving coordination during real events.
6. Develop coordinated incident response procedures
A well-documented incident response (IR) plan is essential for managing large-scale DDoS attacks. IR procedures should establish clear communication channels, escalation paths, and decision matrices, ensuring stakeholders act quickly and consistently during real assaults.
Regularly reviewing and rehearsing incident response, through tabletop exercises or live drills, ensures that all involved parties understand their roles. Coordination with upstream ISPs, mitigation partners, and law enforcement further strengthens resilience, allowing for rapid containment and minimal business disruption.
Radware offers a complete suite of solutions to protect against DDoS attacks:
DefensePro X
Radware's DefensePro X is an advanced DDoS protection solution that provides real-time, automated mitigation against high-volume, encrypted, and zero-day attacks. It leverages behavioral-based detection algorithms to accurately distinguish between legitimate and malicious traffic, enabling proactive defense without manual intervention. The system can autonomously detect and mitigate unknown threats within 18 seconds, ensuring rapid response to evolving cyber threats. With mitigation capacities ranging from 6 Gbps to 800 Gbps, DefensePro X is built for scalability, making it suitable for enterprises and service providers facing massive attack volumes. It protects against IoT-driven botnets, burst attacks, DNS and TLS/SSL floods, and ransom DDoS campaigns. The solution also offers seamless integration with Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Service, providing flexible deployment options. Featuring advanced security dashboards for enhanced visibility, DefensePro X ensures comprehensive network protection while minimizing operational overhead.
Cloud DDoS Protection Service
Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Service offers advanced, multi-layered defense against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It uses sophisticated behavioral algorithms to detect and mitigate threats at both the network (L3/4) and application (L7) layers. This service provides comprehensive protection for infrastructure, including on-premises data centers and public or private clouds. Key features include real-time detection and mitigation of volumetric floods, DNS DDoS attacks, and sophisticated application-layer attacks like HTTP/S floods. Additionally, Radware’s solution offers flexible deployment options, such as on-demand, always-on, or hybrid models, and includes a unified management system for detailed attack analysis and mitigation.
DefenseFlow
Radware's DefenseFlow is an SDN-native, network-wide cyber control and orchestration solution designed to deliver automated, scalable DDoS protection across hybrid, cloud, and service provider environments. It integrates seamlessly with behavioral detection engines and SDN/OpenFlow networks to detect and mitigate multi-vector cyberattacks in real time. Using machine-driven workflows, DefenseFlow dynamically diverts malicious traffic to mitigation devices like DefensePro, automating detection, diversion, and response without manual intervention. Its centralized architecture provides full network visibility and policy control, enabling consistent and intelligent attack management across distributed environments. Supporting both always-on and on-demand protection models, DefenseFlow empowers organizations to deliver built-in, low-latency DDoS mitigation as a network service—improving uptime, scalability, and operational efficiency.
Cloud Application Protection Services
Radware’s Cloud Application Protection Service provides a unified solution for comprehensive web application and API protection, bot management, client-side protection, and application-level DDoS protection. Leveraging Radware SecurePath™, an innovative API-based cloud architecture, it ensures consistent, top-grade security across any cloud environment with centralized visibility and management. This service protects digital assets and customer data across on-premise, virtual, private, public, and hybrid cloud environments, including Kubernetes. It addresses over 150 known attack vectors, including the OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks, Top 10 API Security Vulnerabilities, and Top 21 Automated Threats to Web Applications. The solution employs a unique positive security model and machine-learning analysis to reduce exposure to zero-day attacks by 99%. Additionally, it distinguishes between “good” and “bad” bots, optimizing bot management policies to enhance user experience and ROI. Radware’s service also ensures reduced latency, no route changes, and no SSL certificate sharing, providing increased uptime and seamless protection as businesses grow and evolve.
Cloud WAAP
Radware’s Cloud WAAP (Web Application and API Protection) provides advanced, unified security for applications and APIs. It combines robust application-layer protection, API discovery and security, bot management, and DDoS mitigation into one integrated service. Designed for modern cloud environments, it leverages machine learning and behavioral analysis to defend against a wide range of threats, including OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and automated attacks. The service includes centralized visibility and management, ensuring consistent security across on-premise, private, public, and hybrid cloud infrastructures. Radware’s innovative SecurePath™ architecture ensures minimal latency, no route changes, and full traffic visibility without requiring SSL certificate sharing, enabling seamless protection and high availability. This solution empowers businesses to scale securely while optimizing user experiences and operational efficiency.
Cloud WAF
Radware’s Cloud WAF service is part of our Cloud Application Protection Service, which includes WAF, API protection, Bot Management, Layer-7 DDoS protection, and Client-Side Protection. The service analyzes web applications to identify potential threats and automatically generates granular protection rules to mitigate them. It utilizes advanced threat intelligence to identify and respond to emerging threats, ensuring robust defense against vulnerabilities. Key features include device fingerprinting to detect bot attacks, AI-powered API discovery and protection to prevent API abuse, full coverage of OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, and data leak prevention to block the transmission of sensitive data. Radware Cloud WAF is NSS recommended, ICSA Labs certified, and PCI-DSS compliant, making it a trusted solution for comprehensive application security.
Web DDoS Protection
Radware’s Cloud Web DDoS Protection is engineered to counteract sophisticated Layer 7 (L7) DDoS attacks that evade traditional defenses by mimicking legitimate traffic. Utilizing proprietary behavioral-based algorithms, it detects and mitigates high-volume, encrypted attacks in real-time, generating precise signatures on the fly. This solution effectively handles Web DDoS Tsunami attacks, which use techniques like randomizing HTTP headers and cookies, and IP spoofing. It ensures comprehensive protection without disrupting legitimate traffic, minimizing false positives. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with Radware’s broader Cloud Application Protection Services, offering a holistic defense against a wide range of web-based threats, including zero-day attacks.
Alteon Application Delivery Controller (ADC)
Radware’s Alteon Application Delivery Controller (ADC) offers robust, multi-faceted application delivery and security, combining advanced load balancing with integrated Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities. Designed to optimize and protect mission-critical applications, Alteon ADC provides comprehensive Layer 4-7 load balancing, SSL offloading, and acceleration for seamless application performance. The integrated WAF defends against a broad range of web threats, including SQL Injection, cross-site scripting, and advanced bot-driven attacks. Alteon ADC further enhances application security through bot management, API protection, and DDoS mitigation, ensuring continuous service availability and data protection. Built for both on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, it also supports containerized and microservices architectures, enabling scalable and flexible deployments that align with modern IT infrastructures.
Emergency Response Team (ERT)
Radware’s Emergency Response Team is operated by 120 security experts who provide real-time support during DDoS attacks. The team offers fully-managed services, allowing organizations to rely on their expertise for best practices, strategy, and support throughout any attack.
Threat Intelligence Service
Radware’s Threat Intelligence Service offers real-time, actionable insights derived from active Layer 3 to Layer 7 cyber-attacks observed in production environments. This service empowers security operation center (SOC) teams, threat researchers, and incident responders by providing enriched, contextual information that enhances threat detection and reduces mean time to response (MTTR). Key features include IP reputation alerts, seamless integration with existing security workflows via a REST API, and the ability to investigate suspicious IP addresses using large, diverse data sets. The service also integrates external data feeds and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) to provide comprehensive threat visibility.