Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are frequently taking down websites and are making headlines. But how exactly do these attacks work? How is it possible to defend against them? Is it even possible? DDoS mitigation providers often take lengths to publicly explain how dangerous new types of attacks are, but hardly ever describe typical mitigation steps except: "just use our services". This book will help readers better understand the technical details of DDoS attacks and give step-by-step guidance in how to defend against them. Key topics are: Introduction to DDoS and its history, Network basics needed to understand DDoS, Datacenter technologies and their relevance, Attack origins of DDoS, Deep-dive into attacks and their mitigation, Designing DDoS mitigation systems, Active network self-defense and Internet hygiene, Introduction to the economical side of DDoS attacks The book features an appendix with DDoS risk and mitigation readiness assessments and several labs you can configure to gain first-hand experience on attack and defense.