Rate Limiting

Rate limiting restricts request volume to protect services from abuse and DoS.

Updated: 2026-03-06

Definition

Rate limiting caps how many requests a client can make in a given time window.

It’s used for DDoS mitigation, API abuse prevention, and brute-force protection.

Key points

Protects availability and reduces abuse
Common for login endpoints and APIs
Works best with WAF/CDN and monitoring

Common mistakes

Applying globally and blocking legitimate traffic spikes.
No monitoring/alerting for rate limit events.

Related exams

CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)

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AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03)

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