DDoS attacks are a constant reality in business today. The most recent, and most well-known, was the attack on Dyn that slowed down popular websites like Netflix, Spotify, and Reddit. While many know about DDoS attacks, many don’t know what strategies to take to prevent them or protect themselves. There are various types of DDoS mitigation, but choosing the right one is often based on company needs.
What is a DDoS attack?
A DDoS attack occurs when someone uses botnets to connect multiple computers on the same network. The botnet then floods that network with data requests, causing the server to overload and crash.
There are two types of DDoS attacks: reflection and amplification. Reflection attacks occur when someone sends a large amount of traffic that is returned back to the attacker. An amplification attack, on the other hand, uses spoofed (fake) requests with an innocent-looking protocol to pump large amounts of data into a network. An example of an amplification attack is when the attacker sends out a request for a Domain Name System (DNS) lookup.
DDoS Mitigation Tools
An online DDoS mitigation tool is a service or product designed to reduce the effects of a distributed denial-of-service attack. When an attacker launches a DDoS attack, they typically take control of many computers and use them to execute requests that overwhelm the target with traffic. This overwhelms the target website and makes it unavailable to legitimate users.
There are many different types of mitigation tools, but the two most common are blacklists and rate-limiting.
Blacklists: Blacklists are preconfigured lists of IP addresses or domain names. With a blacklist, if the user makes a request from the list, it is rejected. This can be done on an entire interface (block all traffic except for what’s on the whitelist) or on a per-rule basis (permit traffic to and from a specific IP address or domain name).
Rate-limiting DDoS mitigation: Rudimentary measures to combat a Distributed Denial of Service attack involve using a firewall to block a service, a router to block a port, or a server to block a single address. However, a cyber-attacker can easily evade these simple security measures by devising an escalating series of attacks that utilize hundreds of servers and thousands of compromised devices.
DDoS Mitigation Strategy
A DDoS mitigation strategy aims to decrease the effects of a Distributed Denial of Service attack. The goal is to reduce or mitigate the impacts of DDOS on a company’s public facing servers, so any legitimate traffic has a chance to access the site. Mitigation can occur at the network level, computer level, and software level. A DDoS mitigation strategy is an organization’s strategy for mitigating the effects of a Distributed Denial of Service attack.
How does DDoS Protection Work
Many types of attacks, like distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, can be carried out by sending tons of spam messages at the same time. One way that organizations protect themselves against this is with “intrusion detection systems.”
Intrusion detection systems are network devices that detect anomalies and changes in a network. They allow a network administrator to identify intrusions before they occur and respond accordingly.
Like all technology, these systems are only as good as the people running them. To protect against intrusions, organizations should ensure their intrusion detection system (IDS) operators are adequately trained and monitored.