Denial of service (DoS) usually refers to an attack that attempts to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users by flooding a network or server with requests and data. It can also simply refer to a resource, such as e-mail or a Web site, that is not functioning as usual. Often, the denial is accidental rather than a planned attack, resulting from too many legitimate requests. However, malicious DoS attacks are still prevalent against network devices, and a newer breed of DoS attack targeted specifically at applications is becoming more and more common.
As a full reverse proxy, BIG-IP® product family and TMOS™, coupled with Application Security Manager, can recognize DoS attacks against both the network and applications, and they can then block those attacks at the perimeter, keeping them from critical applications and servers. The F5 BIG-IP product family increases Web application performance by directing traffic to the most available resource and by protecting against targeted denial of service attacks. Stringent signature-recognition standards and packet filtering stop malicious attacks before they cost time and money.