A User Datagram Protocol (UDP) flood is a volume-based attack where a hacker sends IP packets, including UDP packets, to random ports on the host.
The host looks for applications connected with these data sets to address the problem, but if none are discovered, the host returns a “Destination Unreachable” packet to the sender. As a result, the system grows saturated and hence inaccessible to good traffic due to being battered by the flood.
UDP flood is free and easy to use, which is why this sub-type of DDoS attack is widely accepted. However, the success rate of UDP is roughly 98.5%.
UDP is ideal for low-cost broadcasts. The threat was developed with time-sensitive applications in mind, such as games, video playback and DNS lookups. UDP allows for faster communication because it does not spend time establishing a secure connection with the destination before delivering data.