It has become common practice for businesses in the digital age to carry out most operations via the Internet. This aids them in interacting with clients, providing various services, and ensuring they keep the money rolling in. However, a whole new threat capable of turning up in the middle of these continued operations arises from attacks. For businesses or organizations willing to operate on the web, knowing what ddos attack is, how it operates, and how to prevent it is extremely crucial. Therefore, in simple terms, this blog will help one understand how DDoS attacks work and what businesses need to know to remain safe.
Understanding DDoS
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a cyber attack conducted by numerous computers aimed at bombarding a website with immense traffic, to the point of exhausting the resources of the targeted system, thereby slowing it down or rendering the website completely inaccessible. Unlike other cyber attacks that are aimed toward stealing data or damaging software, a DDoS is intended to displace the operations of the business to which it is directed by rendering its services unreachable. These attacks are composed of a network of computers, most commonly referred to as a “botnet,” which comprises machines that have been infected with malware. Once these devices have been compromised, the device can be used to send huge amounts of fake traffic to a target. This overwhelms the server and results in either a crippling delay or a crash. This also results in the extended downtime of a website, thereby causing a loss of revenues.
Why DDoS Attacks Are Dangerous for Businesses
Downtime means lost opportunities and loss of revenues for business enterprises. A site or online service taken down for even a few minutes will directly hit customer goodwill and sales. DDoS attacks are dangerous for the simple reason that they can happen at any random hour of the day and without a warning. They are also simple for the attackers to execute, and the defenses set to save the system from getting compromised tend to be of little help. That’s why quite a few cyber criminals find this kind of attack quite appealing.
All that, along with the direct financial consequences, leads companies to bring damage to their brand. If customers cannot access the services or purchase something from a company, they will look for services from other companies and share negative public opinions via social media. This is so many people because even a small downtime for businesses like e-commerce, banking, or gaming can result in very long-lasting effects.
DDoS Attacks Mechanisms
DDoS attacks work by flooding a victim’s targeted website with too many visits at once. To do this, attackers infect a large number of devices, called a botnet, and send requests to the server of the target. The server, which needs to be able to process these requests, is under the influence of excessive traffic generated by that botnet. At a certain point, the server just fails to be able to process all those requests because of the huge amount of requests, and the victim’s site or service just crashes.
The volume-based attacks, protocol attacks, and application-layer attacks can be considered the broad categories of DDoS attacks. Each type targets a different portion of the system. However, what they have in common is that they aim to incapacitate legitimate users from reaching the website or service.
How Organizations Can Guard Off Attacks
The good news is that there are available ways to safeguard against DDoS attacks. First and foremost, businesses consult with cybersecurity experts on network monitoring and identification of abnormal activity. They would eventually need advanced DDoS protection services to filter malware-infested traffic before reaching the companies’ servers.
Another preventive measure could be to augment carrying capacity by increasing one’s bandwidth to handle higher traffic in and out of one’s business, using firewalls to filter out suspicious traffic, and continuously updating security measures as they evolve. Another option is to consider cloud-based services, which provide rapid resource scaling during attacks to keep companies running even during strikes.
Conclusion
So, to sum it up, DDoS attacks are detrimental to any form of business performed online. The attack can disturb service, injure reputation, and yield lost revenue. However, with the knowledge of DDoS attacks and through some preventive measures, a business can reduce its exposure and, therefore, conduct business without interruptions. With the correct cyber security tools and strategies in place, businesses can be prepared for any rampant DDoS threat.