What are the common types of DDoS attacks?
A few common examples include:
- Volumetric attacks: Comparable to a traffic congestion, these attacks flood a network with such copious amounts of information that nothing else is able to pass through.
- Protocol attacks: These take advantage of the communication protocols to use up the server’s resources, preventing it from serving actual requests.
- Application layer attacks: These types of attacks try to exploit certain vulnerabilities in the application or the website, attacking it with a large number of ordinary looking requests attempting to make it collapse.
How does DDoS protection work?
A DDoS protection service prevents harmful traffic from reaching your website or application by filtering it. Specialized systems check the incoming requests for suspicious activity patterns. They block the attacks while letting the users who have no bad intentions access the system.
What are the key components or techniques used in DDoS protection?
DDoS protection is key on multiple fronts as described below:
- Traffic monitoring: Keeping track of network traffic to look for unusual spikes or patterns.
- Filtering: Blocking harmful traffic based on predefined characteristics.
- Rate limiting: Controlling the maximum number of requests made from a single source so as not to inundate the server.
- Content delivery networks (CDN): Storing website content in multiple servers, making sure one attack can’t take down everything.
- Web application firewalls (WAFs): Aimed at protecting web applications against multiple forms of attacks, including some DDoS methods.
Who needs DDoS protection?
People with a website or any online business that requires uninterrupted access should definitely think about getting DDoS protection. This is even more critical for businesses that use the internet for sales or customer service, as experiencing outages for any duration can be immensely damaging; therefore, if your website’s unavailability can result in losses to your business, then you will probably benefit from this protection.
What should you do if you suspect you are under a DDoS attack?
Benefit from the following measures in case you think that a DDoS attack is targeting your website:
- Verify the attack: Ensure that the attack isn’t just an unusual spike in traffic.
- Get in touch with your provider: Notify your hosting service or DDoS protection service right away.
- Follow your plan: If you have an incident response plan, execute it.
- Track performance: Monitor your website’s speed and uptime.
- Record everything: Keep track of what is going on.
As an example, let’s say you own an online store. If you notice a dramatic slowdown or unresponsiveness right during a sale, that may indicate a possible DDoS attack; hence, having a DDoS protection service in place can automatically detect and mitigate this, keeping your store online. Some popular DDoS protection providers include Cloudflare and Akamai.
Conclusion
Safeguarding web services against DDoS attacks is no longer optional; it has become an imperative part of keeping online businesses reliable and trustworthy. Knowing the threats and taking conscientious precautions appropriately protects business continuity and reputation.
