Published Paper Details:

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks remain a persistent and evolving threat in the contemporary digital landscape, capable of inflicting significant financial losses, reputational damage, and operational disruptions. While rudimentary DDoS attacks emerged in the late 1990s, the threat landscape has dramatically transformed. Today's DDoS attacks leverage vast botnets, often comprising compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and employ sophisticated techniques such as amplification and application-layer attacks to overwhelm targets. These attacks can cripple critical infrastructure, disrupt online services, and extort businesses. This survey paper provides a comprehensive overview of DDoS attacks, including their historical evolution, contemporary attack strategies, and the diverse array of tools used by threat actors. It further categorizes and analyzes the expanding arsenal of attack and defense mechanisms. Finally, it identifies critical research gaps and proposes directions for future work, emphasizing the need for proactive, adaptive, and collaborative defense strategies to effectively mitigate the growing threat of DDoS attacks in an increasingly interconnected world.