Holiday DDoS Cyberattacks Can Hurt E-Commerce, Lack Legal Remedy

Cyberattacks that knock internet platforms offline temporarily—a particular concern on Cyber Monday—are likely to spike this holiday season, but victims have few legal avenues to seek recovery, attorneys and industry professionals say.

Ransomware attacks that take control of victims’ systems garner more media attention, but distributed denial-of-service attacks are one of the most common cybersecurity incidents to disrupt a company’s business operations.

Cybercriminals use DDoS attacks to overwhelm targeted platforms with internet traffic from many devices. The objective varies depending on the perpetrator, but the most common goals are to extort money or cause chaos, attorneys say. The tactic recently ...