smurf attack

In reference to the Smurf cartoon characters, suggesting a large number of small attackers overwhelming a larger opponent.

smurf attack (plural smurf attacks)

1. (computer security) A largely obsolete form of denial-of-service attack, involving broadcasting ICMP packets with the intended victim's IP address to a large computer network, causing the victim's computer to be overwhelmed by the response packets from the network.

• smurfable