10 Best Practices for Protecting Your Business Against Devastating DDoS Attacks with Anti-DDoS Protection

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a coordinated effort to make a website, mobile app, or API unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources. Unlike simple cyber attacks that come from a single computer, DDoS attacks use networks of compromised computers to flood their targets with requests, making them unreachable to real users.

Recent data paints a stark picture of the growing DDoS threat. According to Zayo Group’s latest DDoS Insights Report, the average DDoS attack in 2023 lasted 68 minutes and cost unprotected businesses an average of $6,000 per minute, totaling over $408,000 per attack.⁽¹⁾

But the business impact goes beyond direct costs. A Kaspersky study found that 38% of companies were unable to conduct their core business during a DDoS attack because it caused so many disruptions, while 33% of companies lost valuable business opportunities and contracts.⁽²⁾

While these statistics are concerning, a business can protect itself with proper planning and DDoS mitigation. This article will guide you through the different types of DDoS attacks, examine available protection solutions, and provide 10 best practices for implementing effective defenses. Whether you’re just starting to think about DDoS protection or looking to strengthen your existing security measures, you’ll learn how to evaluate your needs and choose the right solutions for your business.

Here’s the TDLR with the key things to understand about DDoS protection:

• DDoS attacks target different layers of network infrastructure and require a multi-layered defense
• Effective protection combines traffic filtering, behavioral analysis, and real-time response
• Solutions range from hardware to cloud solutions, each with distinct advantages
• Implementation speed and automation are crucial for minimizing attack impact

Understanding DDoS Attack Types and Protection Techniques

DDoS attacks come in three main forms, each of which requires a specific protection strategy:

Volumetric attacks flood networks with massive amounts of traffic, often using techniques like UDP floods and ICMP floods like smurf attacks. These attacks aim to consume all available bandwidth between the target and the internet. Protection requires large-scale traffic filtering with DDoS mitigation “scrubbing centers” that can separate legitimate requests from malicious bots.

Protocol attacks exploit vulnerabilities in network protocols through tactics like SYN floods and fragmented packet attacks. These attacks target server resources directly and attempt to overwhelm system protocols. Effective DDoS prevention and attack mitigation requires analyzing traffic patterns and blocking suspicious protocol behaviors before they reach your infrastructure.

Application layer attacks (layer 7) are more sophisticated. They mimic legitimate user behavior to target a specific web application. These attacks, including HTTP floods and slow-rate attack traffic, are particularly challenging because they appear as normal traffic. Protection requires advanced behavioral analysis to distinguish between real users and automated threats.

The Anti-DDoS Solution Landscape

If you want to protect your business against DDoS attacks, you need to understand the available defense options. Each solution type has distinct advantages and limitations, and many businesses use a combination of approaches for the best protection. The key is to select the solutions that match your specific needs, infrastructure, and security requirements.

Software Solutions

Software-based DDoS protection offers flexibility, especially when it comes to their pricing. These solutions analyze traffic patterns and filter out malicious requests using sophisticated machine learning algorithms. While more affordable than hardware options, software solutions must be carefully chosen to match your infrastructure’s scale and needs.

Hardware Solutions

Physical, on-premise anti-DDoS appliances provide a dedicated layer of protection between attackers and your network. While effective against certain attack types, hardware solutions have limitations. They require significant upfront investment, dedicated space in data centers, ongoing maintenance, and may struggle with DNS-based attacks that occur before traffic reaches the device. Additionally, hardware solutions need regular updates to defend against evolving threats.

Firewall Protection

Traditional firewalls often struggle with DDoS attacks and can become bottlenecks during high-volume incidents. Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) offer more sophisticated protection by validating requests through various challenges, like cookie verification and behavioral analysis. But WAFs must be properly configured and maintained to effectively distinguish between legitimate and malicious traffic.

DDoS-Ready Hosting

Some cybersecurity providers offer specialized hosting with built-in DDoS protection through their global network of data centers. While this approach can work for smaller organizations, it also comes with some limitations:

• Higher ongoing costs regardless of whether you’re under attack
• Limited flexibility in scaling protection during large attacks
• Potential gaps in application-layer protection
• Restricted ability to customize security policies

10 Best Practices for Implementing Anti-DDoS Protection

DDoS protection isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process that requires careful planning, regular testing, and continuous improvement. These comprehensive strategies will help ensure your business can withstand DDoS attacks with minimal impact on operations.

1. Know Your Network’s Traffic

Establish baseline metrics for normal traffic patterns, including typical request rates, payload sizes, and geographic sources. Monitor system resource usage, including CPU, memory, and network utilization. When you understand your typical patterns, you can quickly identify unusual activity that could indicate an attack.

2. Build Network Resilience

Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. Distribute your infrastructure across different networks and data centers. Place web servers in different locations, ensure there are no traffic bottlenecks, and maintain redundant resources. This approach helps absorb attack traffic and maintain service even if some components are compromised.

3. Implement Multi-Layer Protection

Different types of DDoS attacks target different OSI layers of your infrastructure. Implement protection at multiple levels:

• Network layer: For volume-based attacks
• Protocol layer: To handle SYN floods and similar threats
• Application layer: To protect against sophisticated HTTP floods
• DNS layer: To maintain name resolution services

4. Use Rate Limiting Effectively

Configure intelligent rate limiting to restrict the number of requests from single sources. This helps prevent resource exhaustion without impacting legitimate users. Set different thresholds for different types of requests and adjust them based on historical patterns.

5. Monitor and Analyze Continuously

Set up comprehensive monitoring across your network layers. Establish alerts for sudden changes in traffic patterns. Keep detailed logs of all security events for post-incident analysis. Use this data to improve your protection strategy over time.

6. Maintain Updated Response Plans

Create detailed playbooks for different types of attacks. Define clear roles and responsibilities for your response team. Include contact information for all relevant personnel and service providers. Document procedures for communicating with customers during an attack.

7. Scale Your Infrastructure

Ensure your infrastructure can handle traffic spikes significantly larger than your normal volume. Consider using cloud-based services that can automatically scale during attacks. Build relationships with multiple upstream providers to maintain connectivity during large-scale attacks.

8. Implement Challenge Systems

Use systems that can challenge suspicious traffic, such as:

• CAPTCHA for human verification
• JavaScript challenges for browser validation
• Cookie challenges to verify legitimate clients
• Custom challenge-response mechanisms

9. Practice Good Network Hygiene

Keep all systems updated with the latest security patches. Remove unnecessary services and close unused ports. Regularly audit your network for potential vulnerabilities. This reduces the attack surface available to potential attackers.

10. Set Up Early Warning Systems

Configure alerts for common attack indicators:

• Unusual spikes in traffic
• High rates of failed requests
• Abnormal geographic traffic patterns
• Sudden increases in specific types of requests

Stop DDoS Attacks in Real-Time with DataDome

DataDome’s approach to DDoS protection addresses the limitations of traditional cybersecurity solutions. As the only dedicated Layer 7 DDoS protection service, it deploys in minutes without requiring architecture changes or DNS rerouting. This means you can implement robust protection quickly without disrupting business continuity.

DataDome’s key advantages include:

• Automatic threat detection and response
• No single point of failure in the protection system
• Real-time traffic analysis and filtering
• Protection that scales with your traffic needs

The system operates on autopilot once deployed. It automatically blocks unwanted traffic while allowing legitimate users to access your services without adding any latency. This automation is crucial when every minute of downtime costs thousands of dollars.

For businesses generating revenue online, DataDome’s solution provides peace of mind with comprehensive protection against both basic and sophisticated DDoS attacks. The platform’s ability to deploy quickly and operate autonomously ensures your business stays protected without requiring constant oversight or manual intervention.

Want to learn more about protecting your business from DDoS attacks?

Schedule a live product demo with our security experts.

Sources

1. https://www.silicon.co.uk/press-release/average-ddos-attack-cost-businesses-nearly-half-a-million-dollars-in-2023-according-to-new-zayo-data
2. https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/absence-of-anti-ddos-protection-putting-business-critical-systems-at-risk-in-quarter-of-companies
3. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/annual-review-2023