When it comes to protecting your network or your server from every conceivable harm, then only the best protection systems will do. Cyber security is a big deal today. While there can be many ways in which a computer, server or network can be brought down, one of the biggest sources of threats come from something known as distributed denial of service or DDoS attacks. Why DDoS attacks are considered the most lethal?
They take on different forms almost every time
They are diffused attacks which bring down large portions of the network
Not enough information and statistics is available currently on DDoS attacks
DDoS can bring down networks of various kinds including government and corporate networks
It is scarily easy to organize a distributed denial of service attack
Given all these factors, it is extremely important that an organization invests in top-class DDoS protection mechanisms as well.
Types of protection mechanisms
Considering the fact that there are several types of DDoS attacks, an organization also needs to look at the different types of DDoS protection mechanisms. These protection mechanisms can work either at the software or hardware levels or a combination of both these levels. Protection can also be cloud-based protection which is coming to the fore in a big way today.
Cloud-based protection services – one of the most exciting developments as far as repelling DDoS attacks are concerned is happening with companies offering extremely sophisticated cloud-based protection services. There are plenty of advantages of using such DDoS protection systems including the fact that they provide immense cost benefits and can be installed in no time at all.
Being proactive about protection – ideally an organization should spend time when it is establishing its network and look at protection mechanisms right then. This will help it deal with attacks later on. This is a better option than looking at protection only when under a DDoS attack.
Geographical blocking – Geo blocking works by identifying the source of DDoS attacks and then conducting a block and tackle operation which will see geographical locations, perhaps even whole countries, being blocked off from accessing the network. The downside? Legitimate traffic will be blocked out as well.
Aspects of a successful DDoS protection mechanism
While choosing a software or hardware-based DDoS protection mechanism, it is extremely important for an organization to pay attention to a few aspects. Choosing a company that has established a reputation in the DDoS space is a good idea. A long-standing organization would have seen plenty of DDoS attacks and are battle hardened so to speak! It is also important to look for the following features before choosing any company for DDoS protection:
Speed of response, especially if the network is already under attack
Accurate and non-disruptive bot filtering methods. After all, you don’t want to block your real visitors with DDoS bots.
Customer support – because they need to be accessible 24 x 7 when an organization needs to contact them
Proactive monitoring so that in quite a few cases the company can deflect DDoS attacks at the edge of the network or before it causes too much damage
Size of DDoS attacks that they can mitigate or protect against.
James is a writer and blogger with 5 years experience.