What is DDoS protection | Console Connect
By Alex Hawkes|8 February, 2024
What is DDoS protection?
Like ransomware prevention, defence patching, data backups and other cybersecurity responsibilities, there’s quite a lot involved in staying safe against DDoS. But it generally relies on three things.
- First, you must have good monitoring tools. Checking for spikes in network and user activity helps you narrow down on any potential DDoS scenarios before they get worse. Any IT security team worth the investment will be able to inspect data packets for signs of an attack, and calculate rate-based measures for speed and volume.
- Next, you have to lock down network services that have been compromised. Remote controls are essential to stopping the flood. By blocking IP addresses and quarantining suspicious systems, you have a better chance of limiting damage.
- Equally, you must have the right emergency contacts to hand when an attack does occur. A DDoS recovery playbook can explain the people, processes and recoveries that are involved; a resource that anyone in your organization can use when they’re under threat. For instance, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should be made aware of what’s happening, as well as the regional cyber security authority if you’re an Operator of Essential Services (OES).
What does DDoS protection mean in practice?
Now that we’ve covered the abstract for how to protect against DDoS, it’s time to zoom in. Here are some of the most effective ways to combat this kind of cyber disruption:
Deploy a solid Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Your apps are vulnerable to both basic and more advanced DDoS attacks. A WAF will help to prevent SQL injections and limit the number of requests from a single IP. As you or your security providers learn more about your network, you can tweak these rules.
Set up Access Control Lists (ACLs)
They can’t stop a DDoS incident on their own, but combined with a richer security strategy, ACLs are worth the effort. An Access Control List is simply a network filter. It can allow or deny requests from certain hosts — those you tell it to.
Distribute your digital assets
Not everything needs to stay in the same main network. Public and private subnets — a network within a network — can house your critical servers and databases, so they’re tougher to infect.
Establish black hole routing
A proxy interface, dubbed a ‘black hole’, can swallow all of the inbound traffic from malicious IP sources. It won’t block compromised endpoints but sheds a lot of the weight from the rest of your network, ensuring it isn’t congested.
Many of the giants in cloud computing services are able to assist or handle DDoS prevention with a range of tricks, specialisms and ongoing research.
Use a trusted network provider
The Console Connect platform offers on-demand access to one of the world’s leading IP networks (AS3491, which is ranked in the top ten globally.
Our Internet On-Demand service also offers the ability to click and add DDoS protection to re-route suspicious DDoS traffic to our scrubbing centres, ensuring your data is always protected against DDoS attacks.