Facts About Distributed Denial of
Service (DDoS) Attacks
Crippling distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are a threat to every organization that depends on the Internet to conduct business. DDoS attacks result in loss of profits, damaged reputation, reduced productivity and costly downtime. These attacks may also be used as a smokescreen to disguise a hybrid attack to perpetrate data theft.
A distributed denial of service attack is an attack that overwhelms a server's resources or bandwidth to disrupt users from accessing online applications. A DDoS attack is the most common type of cyber attack seen today, which illustrates the importance of including a SmartWall Threat Defense System (TDS) as part of your network security architecture. DDoS attacks are similar to DoS attacks in that they consume online resources, but pack a bigger punch by using a botnet to deploy the attack. A botnet is created when numerous machines, from 10-1000 or more, with malware; these computers then forward the virus to other computers. These infected machines are then used concurrently to exhaust the targets online resources.
Despite DDoS attacks becoming stronger, longer and more sophisticated and widespread there are still many misconceptions surrounding DDoS attacks today. Check out 10 common DDoS attack myths and find out the facts below!
Myth:
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Enterprises believe they are fully protected with only cloud based DDoS mitigation.
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 Fact:
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Cloud based DDoS mitigation only protects against large, volumetric attacks, and fails to provide adequate protection against low and slow application layer attacks.
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Myth:
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DDoS attacks are only volumetric in nature.
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Fact:
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The reality is that DDoS attacks come in all shapes and sizes. The most damaging DDoS attacks, which mix brute force (volumetric) attacks with targeted, application-specific attacks, have much the same frequency at 39%, as targeted at 42% and volumetric at 41% alone.
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Myth:
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We will not become a target. Our business is too small.
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Fact:
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DDoS attacks do not discriminate. Any organization, big or small, is in danger or experiencing the risks associated with a DDoS attack. Any organization that hasn't taken the necessary steps to protect against these types of attacks, could be at serious risk.
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Myth:
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Our firewall can protect against DDoS attacks.
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Fact:
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Firewalls cannot protect against complex DDoS attacks, and instead, act as DDoS entry points. Attacks pass right through open firewall ports which are intended to allow access to legitimate users.
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Myth:
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My Internet Service Provider (ISP) is protecting me from DDoS attacks.
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Fact:
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ISP’s lack the ability to detect, analyze and mitigate DDoS attacks and other cyber threats before they can have a detrimental impact on the services they have been contracted to deliver to their customers.
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Myth:
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My web properties are managed by a hosting provider, I do not have to worry about DDoS.
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Fact:
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The sheer volume of customers within a hosting environment increases attack surface, and innocent bystanders can easily become collateral damage when an attack occurs.
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Myth:
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Single configuration DDoS protection will provide adequate protection.
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Fact:
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This is not true. You need to make sure your DDoS defense solution is capable of fully protecting you. A complete DDoS solution will provide granular configurations policies that you can set. It must defend against all known DDoS attack vectors and handle the load while under a DDoS attack. The DDoS defense solution cannot be DDoS’ed itself as part of a DDoS attack. DDoS defense support services should be available to you 24x7 as well.
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Myth:
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DDoS solutions are not worth the investment.
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Fact:
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A DDoS attack can cost millions of dollars in lost business, brand damage, threat exposure and customer attrition and even can lead to shutting down business for good. According to a study from the Ponemon Institute, the average downtime due to a DDoS attack is 54 minutes with an average cost of $22,000 per minute. On average DDoS attacks are costing companies close to 1.2 million dollars per attack
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Myth:
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My industry is not a target for a DDoS attack.
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Fact:
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Industry does not matter. Whether you are in the financial, retail, manufacturing or services industry, you are a target for DDoS attacks. The drivers for launching attacks are far-ranging and difficult to pinpoint in many cases - anyone can become a victim at any time.
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Myth:
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We need a different DDoS mitigation tool for each type of DDoS attack.
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Fact:
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Certain DDoS defense systems can provide protection for all different types of DDoS attacks. It is just a matter of finding the right one.
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