The acronym DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. It refers to a malicious attack where multiple compromised systems flood a target server with excessive traffic, rendering it unable to serve legitimate users. DDoS attacks can disrupt online services, overwhelm network resources, and cause significant downtime for businesses. Organizations often implement various strategies, such as firewalls and rate limiting, to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks and enhance their cybersecurity defenses.