A denial of service (DoS) attack uses one computer and internet connection to flood a target server with packets, overloading its bandwidth and resources and making it inaccessible. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack utilizes many compromised computers to flood the target server with much more traffic, causing even more damage due to the multiplied sources of traffic. DDoS attacks can potentially use thousands or even millions of devices to take down even large, robust servers by overwhelming them with requests.