The massive DDoS attacks that took down internet address-translation service Dyn and its customers last week raise a lot of need-to-know questions about the overall security of online infrastructure and its performance.

While the attacks were ultimately mitigated and have subsided, the means for carrying out others are still viable and could crop up at any time with other targets. Here are some questions and answers that address what happened, how it happened, whether it could happen again and what the consequences might be.

Is the internet broken?

No, or at least not any more than it was before. It’s made up of a system of independent vendors and institutions working cooperatively to provide access to sites around the world. Each works in its own best interests but also cooperates with the others to make the system work for everybody. Like any such system, it’s got flaws and weaknesses. The Dyn attackers targeted some of these vulnerabilities and exploited them for maximum effect.

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