Flooders are malicious software often used to send out a huge payload of garbage data to a target system. This garbage data, also known as a “flood,” is capable of disrupting the user’s communications. The flooders are commonly sent out through network channels like IRC, even though flooder types for SMS, email, and instant messaging are also available.
Often mistaken for network flooding attacks such as DDoS attacks, flooders intend to disrupt user communication merely as a diversion from a bigger attack or a show of cybervandalism.
Examples of flooders
- ICQBomber
- KillZone
- CriminalMSN
- IRCKill
How to stop a flooder
- Utilize bots to identify floods on communications channels. Several IRC clients now come equipped with scripts capable of detecting and banning flooders.
- Set up messaging restrictions on your communications channels to block users from spamming.
- Use trustworthy antimalware software on your communications server to identify and erase malicious software that can lead to flooder attacks.
