Although digitization has made life a lot easier, it’s not without flaws. Hacking attacks are among the main disadvantages of this system. They happen when a third party gains access to confidential information, takes control of the computer and network, or cuts off some services.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are rapidly increasing with the increase of data on the internet. They are some of the worst threats a business can face, and without early detection they can lead to loss of revenue, freezing of online services, and dent a company’s reputation.
This article takes a closer look at what DDoS attacks are and how businesses can protect themselves.
What Is a DDoS Attack?
DDoS is a hacking attack targeting specific computer systems or networks and aims at paralyzing the site or application. It can make the whole system, such as a website, not function completely.
DDoS attacks are aimed at blocking a business from its traffic. Attackers usually send too many requests to a server at the same time over the internet. As such, it leads to the server crashing such that it doesn’t load.
DDoS attacks are of two types:
- Volumetric: The hacker sends a large amount of unwanted data to a specific server, making it unacceptable for the internet connection.
- Application: They aim at making some parts of an application unavailable to its users. Although less common, they are sophisticated since they resemble “real” tasks, thus difficult to detect.
5 Ways to Protect Against DDoS Attacks
An effective and reliable DDoS prevention plan can help you fight these attacks. That means investing in an integrated security strategy. Here is how to protect against DDoS attacks.
#1. Increase Your Bandwidth
It’s a basic step, but effective in protecting against DDoS attacks. If your hosting infrastructure is DDoS resistant, it prevents these attacks from occurring. Companies need to have enough bandwidth to handle the increase in traffic that hackers cause.
However, note that buying more bandwidth alone is not a complete solution to safeguard against DDoS attacks. But it does increase the level attackers have to overcome before launching a successful DDoS attack.
#2. Minimize Attack Surface Area
Reducing the surface area that hackers can attack allows you to build your protection strategy in one place. So, don’t expose your application or resources to ports, protocols, and other places where there’s no communication. Doing that reduces the risk of possible attacks and lets you focus on your mitigation strategy.
#3. Take Advantage of a CDN or Multi CDN Solution
Such a solution offers various cybersecurity tools that keep your website safe from hackers. A CDN network identifies and eliminates malicious requests that are targeting your resources. Plus, it also balances your website traffic such that it won’t be overwhelmed by multiple requests.
Additionally, this network spreads a website’s traffic in various server locations. Therefore, hackers will have a difficult time finding the original server to launch an attack.
Additionally, when using a multi-CDN solution, you can use PoPs of various CDN providers. As such, your website will be able to handle DDoS attacks using a larger network.
#4. Differentiate Between Normal and Abnormal Website Traffic
Business owners love a high traffic level on their sites. However, sometimes extremely high levels mean you could have a DDoS attack. That’s why it’s essential to know how much traffic is good for your website to handle without tampering with its availability.
When you understand the characteristics of good traffic, you can know when something is wrong and take immediate remedial steps. Additionally, look out for warning signs like spotty connectivity, website shutdowns, network slowdown, etc.
#5. Using a Cloud-based Solution
Using a cloud-based service provider for DDoS prevention offers various advantages. One is that you get more bandwidth and resources compared to what a private network offers. Also, now that the DDoS attacks are rapidly increasing, on-premises hardware is at risk of failing.
Additionally, the cloud is a diffuse resource. Various cloud apps can detect and mitigate dangerous traffic even before it reaches your website. Again, cloud-based providers constantly monitor the web for DDoS tactics and develop solutions towards mitigating them.
Final Thoughts
DDoS attacks are common and target all companies. Thankfully, although the threats are constantly developing, security technologies are also rapidly growing. Therefore, you can take advantage of them to protect your company from these attacks.
If you are ready to take the next step and secure your business, contact Cask Government Services. We can offer advice on how to protect against a DDoS attack, among other things. Contact us today for more information.
