How does a Content Delivery Network (CDN) help mitigate DoS/DDoS attacks?

• A. Distribute traffic and cache content to reduce load
• B. Encrypt data in transit
• C. Require user authentication
• D. Create new domains to confuse attackers

Answer: (A)

A CDN helps against DoS/DDoS by distributing traffic and caching content across many edge locations, which reduces the load on the origin server and can absorb large floods. By serving cached content from the nearest edge server, fewer requests reach the origin, so the system handles higher volumes without overwhelming a single point. In a flood, traffic is spread across multiple edge nodes, and many CDNs offer scrubbing centers, rate limiting, and traffic engineering to filter malicious requests before they reach the origin. Encryption in transit doesn’t stop floods, authentication doesn’t prevent volumetric attacks, and simply creating new domains isn’t an effective mitigation strategy.