In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cyber attacks that are classified as DDoS.
Previously, DDoS attacks were considered to be harmless nuisances carried out for fun by inexperienced individuals, and they were relatively easy to mitigate.
However, things have changed. DDoS attacks have become increasingly complex.
InfoSecurity Magazine estimates that there were 2.9 million DDoS attacks in the first three months of 2021, representing a 31% increase compared to the same time period in 2020.
DDoS attacks are almost always reported in the news. In fact, the number of DDoS attacks increased by 434% in 2021, which is 5.5 times greater than in 2020. The number of DDoS attacks in Quarter 3 2021 was 24% higher than in Quarter 3 2020.
According to Cloudflare, the first three months of 2022 saw a considerable rise in the number of DDoS attacks directed at the application layer, but an overall decrease in the number of DDoS attacks directed at the network layer.
Despite the decline, the observed volumetric DDoS attack grew by up to 645% QoQ and even prevented a new zero-day reflection DDoS attack with an amplification factor of 220 billion percent.
What Is DDoS Attack?
A distributed denial-of-service attack, also known as a DDoS attack, is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal flow of Internet traffic on a particular server, service, or network by flooding the target or its surrounding infrastructure with Internet traffic.
This type of attack is known as a distributed denial-of-service attack.
DDoS Attacks Can Take Many Forms
DDoS assaults take on a variety of forms according to which tier of a computer network they are directed towards. The following are some examples:
- The third layer is known as the network layer. There are many different types of attacks, such as IP/ICMP fragmentation, Smurf attacks, and ICMP flooding.
- The fourth layer is called the transit layer. Attacks can take many forms, including SYN Floods, UDP Floods, and TCP Connection Exhaustion to name a few.
- The application layer is the seventh layer in the stack. More specifically, attacks that use HTTPS encryption.
Important Tips to Prevent DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks can be avoided if strong cybersecurity is in place.
Even though it is difficult to stop a hacker from attempting to initiate a DDoS attack, it is possible to decrease the danger of an attack and the potential damage it could do by taking proper precautions and preparation measures.
1. Develop a plan to counter DDoS attacks
In the event of a DDoS attack, the security team should develop an incident response strategy in order to ensure that staff members respond in a timely and effective manner.
The following should be included in this strategy:
- Guidelines in a step-by-step format for responding to a DDoS attack
- How to keep the business operating well
- Make contact with the necessary employees and interested parties.
- Escalation procedures and protocols
- A list of all the tools required
2. Have Redundant Servers
When data is stored on multiple servers in different locations, it makes it more difficult for a hacker to simultaneously attack all of the servers where the data is stored.
Even if a DDoS attack is carried out against a single hosting device and is successful, other servers will continue to function normally and will continue to accept additional traffic until the compromised system is repaired.
Servers should be hosted in data centres and colocation facilities located in several countries to eliminate the risk of network bottlenecks and single points of failure.
A content delivery network, often known as a CDN, is another option.
Because a DDoS attack works by overpowering a host, a CDN might split the demand evenly across several other servers that are spread out across the network.
3. Ensure the Highest Level of Network Security
When it comes to protecting against DDoS attacks, having strong network security as part of a comprehensive cyber security strategy is absolutely essential.
People may rely on the following methods of network security to safeguard the organisation from distributed denial-of-service attacks:
- Firewalls and intrusion detection systems both provide the function of acting as barriers to scan network traffic.
- Anti virus and anti malware software for detecting and eliminating viruses and malware.
- Endpoint security ensures that network endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and so on, do not become a point of entry for malicious activity. Endpoints include: desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile devices, and so on.
- Tools for removing web-based threats, blocking strange traffic, and searching for known attack signatures.
- Tools that stop spoofing by checking to see if a message’s source address is the same as its origin address
- Using different security measures and protocols, network segmentation divides systems into subnets.
4. Pay Attention to the Warning Signs
If a company’s cyber security strategy and cyber attack detection systems can quickly recognise the characteristics of a DDoS attack, the company can mitigate the damage caused by the attack.
The following are common signs of a DDoS attack:
- Inadequate connectivity
- The performance is somewhat sluggish
- There is a significant need for a single page or endpoint
- Strange activity originating from a single IP address or a small group of IP addresses
Keep in mind that not all DDoS attacks include a huge volume of traffic.
An attack with a low volume and a brief duration is likely to go unreported since it appears to be a random occurrence.
These DDoS attacks could be a test or a distraction leading up to a more severe breach (such as ransomware).
Because of this, being able to recognise a low-volume DDoS attack is equally as crucial as being able to recognise a full-fledged DDoS attack.
5. Constantly Monitor the Network Traffic
Continuous monitoring, sometimes known as CM, is an excellent method for tracing the origin of DDoS attacks. The following is a list of advantages offered by CM:
- The use of real-time monitoring ensures that a DDoS attack will be discovered by the cybersecurity team before it can have any significant impact.
- The team has a solid awareness of the typical traffic patterns and activities that occur on the network. When the team has a better understanding of how normal operations are carried out, it will have an easier time recognising unusual actions.
- Continuous monitoring makes it possible to identify the signs of an attack even if it takes place outside of normal business hours or on the weekend.
6. A Reduction in Network Broadcasting
If a hacker wanted to maximise the damage caused by a DDoS attack, they would most likely send requests to each and every device connected to the company network.
Restricting network broadcasts between devices is one useful and effective strategy.
Limiting broadcast forwarding or, if at all possible, totally turning it off is a viable approach to stop a high-volume DDoS attack.
It is also important for companies to advise their employees to turn off echoes and to charge for services whenever it is possible to do so.
7. Prevent DDoS Attacks Using the Cloud
Although hardware and software installed on the premises are essential for mitigating DDoS attacks, cloud-based mitigation does not face the same capacity limits.
In this regard, cloud-based defence is able to easily expand and control even big volumetric DDoS attacks.
DDoS protection could be outsourced to a cloud provider like Exabytes. Working with a third-party provider has a number of benefits, the most important of which are the following:
- The cloud service provider offers comprehensive services for the prevention of cyber crime, such as the most advanced firewalls and threat monitoring software.
- The bandwidth of the public cloud exceeds that of any private network by a significant margin.
- A high level of network redundancy may be provided by data centres thanks to the storage of duplicates of data, systems, and equipment.
All In All, About DDoS Attacks
The most effective strategy to protect against a DDoS attack is to respond to it as a group and to collaborate throughout the process.
Although it is not difficult to conduct a DDoS attack, the intricacy of these attacks varies widely and can have severe repercussions for the target company.
Because of this, businesses need to make sure they have a strong protection such as Acronis Cyber Safeguard and Sucuri Website Security (provided by Exabytes).
These products enable businesses to protect their data from any kind of cyber threats using a single solution.
Get in touch with Exabytes and speak with our Acronis Cyber Protect consultants for further details.
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