The technology world isn't exactly starved for acronyms. These days, however, one stands out: DDoS.
It's short for distributed denial of service, tech-speak for cyber attacks that overwhelm computers and make websites disappear. The cost in revenue, customer service and brand equity is often huge.
E-commerce companies, for example, have taken losses in the millions of pounds. And while an attack might last a day or two, a company's call centre could field questions about it for weeks.
When customers, partners and shareholders hear you were knocked offline, your public reputation takes a major hit.