Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks continue to rank as one of the leading cyber threats facing businesses today. They involve the use of a network of hijacked devices. A hacker may take control of tends of thousands of devices, after which he or she may use those devices to spam your business’s network. As your business’s network traffic spikes beyond its capacity, it may experience performance issues or even go offline.
There are DDoS mitigation solutions, however, that you can use to protect your business from DDoS attacks. As the name suggests, DDoS mitigation solutions are designed to minimize or mitigate the otherwise harmful effects of DDoS attacks. What are some of the most common types of DDoS mitigation solutions?
Firewall
One of the most effective DDoS mitigation solutions is a firewall. A firewall is a digital barrier between a private network and a public network. Your business’s network is a private network, whereas the internet is a public network. When installed between them, a firewall will monitor incoming traffic against a set of rules. If a particular traffic packet fails a given rule, the firewall will reject it, meaning it won’t reach your business’s network.
IPS
In addition to a firewall, you may want to use an intrusion protection system (IPS). It’s another DDoS mitigation solution that can protect your business from DDoS attacks. IPSs are similar to firewalls. They are both designed to monitor incoming traffic. The difference is that firewalls are rule based and can filter traffic automatically, whereas IPSs simply notify administrators when they detect potentially malicious traffic.
IP Masking
You can use Internet Protocol (IP) address masking to protect your business from DDoS attacks. All DDoS attacks target an IP address. An IP address reflects the location of your business’s network. Hackers can only target your business’s network if they know its IP address. IP masking is a DDoS mitigation solution that involves hiding your business’s IP address. Rather than revealing your business’s true IP address, you can show an alternative IP address, such as that of a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Scrubbing
Another highly effective DDoS mitigation solution is scrubbing. Scrubbing involves the use of a server to process incoming traffic while simultaneously inspecting it for signs of malicious intent. Like a firewall, it will filter bad traffic so that it doesn’t reach your business’s network. Incoming traffic must go through the scrubbing server before it can reach your business’s network. If the traffic is part of a DDoS attack, the scrubbing server will reject it.