Technology definitely has its advantages, we can all agree with that. Unfortunately, there will always be people who want to exploit technology to their personal advantages on the expense of others.
Small and online businesses should be wary and educated about the potential threats such as DDoS attacks and various security threats such as HeartBleed bug and some general safety precautions to take if you suspect you are going to be in an attack and also to prepare for the unsuspecting cybercriminal.
What is a DDoS attack?
DDoS is the abbreviation for distributed-denial-of-service attacks. What the term refers to is this: Hackers will flood your site with excess illegitimate traffic with the aim of slowing down or completely taking down your site.
A powerful DDoS attack can render your online business inoperable as none of your readers or customers can access it. Therefore, for example, if your connection / website server has a limit of taking in 500 clicks on a link / transactions per second, a hacker will only need to create that amount of fake requests to overwhelm your web servers and slow your website down.
The most prevalent type of attacks are now becoming more complex as cybercriminals are now better at mimicking the behavior of real users versus just sending basic floods of traffic. The hacker this time copies the movement of an actual user — so you cannot distinguish between a real user and a bot.
For example, they will make the bot search for a product and then click on the buy button. You will have no way to tell if that user is different from a real user or not which now creates a growing demand for behavioral intelligence and security services.
Here are some options for securing your online assets.
Using a Cloud Mitigation Provider
Cloud services are the globally preferred solution for making a good defensive stance against DDoS hackers. What they have is access to huge amounts of internet bandwidth which will make it next to impossible for hackers to flood your servers out. Moreover, cloud networks have multiple ISPs which mean that if one goes down, they will automatically failover to multiple providers. A good mitigation service should also have a team of experts specializing in web security and are dedicated to being on the cutting edge of web security; above the average network or systems administrator.
In addition, cloud providers have invested a great deal in technology and equipment that could easily cramp the cash flow of ordinary businesses who try to do it on their own. Cloud services are built as superior powerhouses for allowing real-time monitoring of your assets, effectively identifying and mitigating threats like DDoS, spam and SQL injections and the ability to respond immediately without loss to your system. The services they provide are now affordable and miles ahead the average web hosting provider or standard ISP.
Using a cloud security provider is the absolute best route for the average individual or business owner trying to protect against DDoS attacks. Most other options are usually temporary fixes.
Making use of your internet service provider (ISP)
Bear in mind that your ISP on its own will not offer maximum protection against attacks, since that is not their focus. However, they can buy you some time.
If you’re experiencing an attack, you may start by requesting an IP change from your ISP. This will resolve the damage of a DDoS attack considerably since the hackers will now need to look for the new IP address. However, it will not hold for long periods since IP discovery and tracking is not that difficult.
Moreover, many firms opt for greater bandwidth provisions from their ISP when under attack and due to this; a basic hacker cannot easily flood the servers since the server capacity has been enhanced. The main problem with ISPs is that they do not invest in latest DDoS protection services since they are not in this industry.
Purchasing Specialized Security Appliances
Ever since cyber-attacks got popular, many firms operating in the technology world today for example, Cisco, now offer specialized equipment to deal with DDoS attacks. You can purchase this equipment and have it set up in your data center. When you are under a DDoS attack, you can avail these to mitigate the damage.
Unfortunately, these do not come cheap and very specialized IT personnel are required to operate them. You cannot hope to operate them yourselves since years of training and valid qualifications are needed to know what is happening and when.
Typically, in many companies, IT professionals are delegated other duties other than security to make the best use of their employment for efficiency and cost containment; and yet this is a grave mistake since these workers will not have security as their primary focus and dedicate the time necessary to keep at the bleeding edge of both the daily evolving industry threats and maintaining fast updates to network security appliances. The investment of both appliances and staff is huge but is an option for large enterprises who can afford it and willing to dedicate.
All in all, if you want the best protection for your servers against DDoS attacks out there in the market today, you will need to avail the services of a cloud mitigation provider sooner or later. Especially if you have a website that has a large traffic base and attracts a lot of attention; otherwise there’s a serious risk to your revenue and reputation.
Photo credit: Tayla Lyell / Flickr
