Backoff is a retry strategy that increases the delay between repeated attempts after a failure. Instead of sending requests at a constant rate, a client waits longer after each error, often using linear or exponential growth. This reduces pressure on an unhealthy service and gives it time to recover.
In cyber security and operations, backoff matters because outages, rate limits, and transient network errors can look like attacks if systems keep hammering a failing endpoint. Well-designed clients use backoff with retries to avoid overwhelming APIs, login services, or security controls. Defenders also watch for the absence of backoff in abusive automation: bots that ignore delays can create noisy traffic, trigger denial-of-service conditions, or burn through account lockout protections. Used correctly, backoff improves resilience; used poorly, retry storms can worsen an incident.