Cloud-Based DDoS Protection and Managed DNS Services Helping to Increase Operational Efficiency and Thwart Large Attacks
Sean Leach | Feb 28, 2013As businesses continue to move critical operations online, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are increasing in frequency, sophistication and range of targets. In a 2011 Verisign study, 63% of respondents reported experiencing at least one attack that year, while 51% reported revenue loss as a result of downtime from the attack. Those numbers are undoubtedly higher today as the size, frequency and complexity of DDoS attacks continue to grow. Mitigation against these types of attacks is challenging and generally requires layered solutions across data centers and the cloud management. The success of these attacks and their ability to damage a company’s infrastructure, revenue and reputation is indicative that many IT managers still haven’t found the right protection formula to proactively mitigate them.
A DDoS attack occurs when a “botnet” (a group of compromised computers) is used to send an overwhelming amount of "bad traffic" to an intended target, such as a company’s website. Computers can become “bots” when they're infected with a virus or other malware through a compromised website or malicious email. This usually happens completely behind the scenes with the user having no idea their PC is part of a botnet. The botnet is directed by a botnet command and control that tells all of the bots who/what/when/where and how to attack. The target of the attack usually spends so much time trying to handle the bad traffic that legitimate visitors, or customers, are crowded out and unable to get to the site.
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