The Internet has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, it is more than a medium of digital communication, but plays an integral role in diverse areas ranging from collaboration, and commerce, to innovation – and many others.

From startups to enterprises, businesses leverage the Internet to access global markets and enhance internal operations. The Internet’s crucial importance makes its integrity and availability paramount for organisations and economies worldwide.

1.   A growing threat

Like any technological invention, the Internet is hardly immune to abuse and exploitation. One of the most common threats would undoubtedly be the denial of service or DoS. This typically entails rendering a target system inaccessible to legitimate users through network-orchestrated attacks.

This could happen either by overwhelming a targeted system with a flood of Internet traffic generated by multiple Internet-connected systems (Distributed DoS), or state-exhausting attacks that seek to stop crucial services from functioning by inundating them with custom-crafted malicious requests.

Regardless of technique, the consequence is the same: Service disruption, financial loss, and reputation damage as key systems stop responding or slow to an unusable crawl. Moreover, DoS attacks often serve as a smokescreen for other malicious activities that distracted administrators miss amid the chaos.

According to a report from Microsoft, DDoS attacks are happening more frequently and on a larger scale than ever before, with traffic volumes continuing to rise year after year. Indeed, while many DDoS are targeted at major corporations that serve millions of customers, small organisations are not spared either – and may be easier targets for attackers looking to cause disruption and damage.

2.  The impact of DDoS attacks

DoS attacks can severely impact businesses. Customers who rely on uninterrupted service and any disruption could experience a loss of trust and loyalty towards the business. This is especially true for businesses that handle sensitive customer information such as financial institutions or healthcare providers.

Furthermore, regulatory bodies may require businesses to have protective measures in place to safeguard their systems against potential attacks or stipulate minimum levels of uptime. Failure to comply with such regulations could result in hefty fines and other punitive measures that negatively impact the organisation.

The financial implications of a successful DoS attack should not be ignored either. The direct costs of marshalling the urgent resources to remedy an ongoing attack, as well as any indirect costs such as lost revenue from service disruptions, can be debilitating for businesses of any size.

3.  Best practices against DDoS

So how can organisations defend against DDoS attacks? The traditional approach entails the active involvement of both the business and the ISP. This starts with identifying unusual traffic patterns that may signify a DDoS attack using a range of systems such as intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).

Mitigation involves diverting malicious traffic away from the target system, often through third-party service providers to filter incoming traffic and shield the target system from extraneous requests.
In addition, post-attack analysis is important to understand the nature of the attack and make the necessary adjustments to prevent future occurrences. This includes analysing network logs and identifying any vulnerabilities that could have been exploited during the attack.

Finally, collaboration with ISPs is vital for the real-time monitoring of network traffic and dedicated hardware designed to block malicious traffic. On this front, a cloud-based offering can offer scalable protection against DDoS attacks by distributing incoming traffic across multiple servers for enhanced protection.

4.  StarHub Clean pipe

With the increasing frequency and severity of DDoS attacks, businesses understandably want an all-in-one approach to stop DDoS attacks in their tracks. This is where StarHub Clean Pipe comes in with its comprehensive cloud-based DDoS protection solution.

The key advantage of StarHub Clean Pipe is its ability to stop attacks at the upstream core router level. This ensures that malicious traffic never reaches the targeted system and prevents any disruption to normal operations.

Businesses benefit from hassle-free protection. From monitoring and detection to mitigation and reporting, every aspect of online security is managed on their behalf. This allows businesses to focus on their core operations without the need to allocate limited technical resources to address DDoS attacks.

Crucially, the range of automated DDoS capabilities is implemented without the need to purchase and maintain expensive networking systems. Deployed countermeasures can adapt to evolving attack techniques, ensuring that businesses stay protected against both current and future threats.

Conclusion

Uninterrupted service is crucial in today’s digital world. A successful DDoS attack can lead to service disruptions and a corresponding loss of trust, resulting in long-term damage to the business's reputation. To avoid significant financial and operational disruptions from DDoS attacks, the onus is on organisations to put the appropriate defences in place.

A DDoS mitigation service like StarHub Clean Pipe not only prevents service disruptions by offering comprehensive protection, and can be rolled out quickly, but also ensures that businesses are protected from other potential harms like brand damage and non-compliance with mandatory regulations.

Discover how Clean Pipe can help your business, request a consultation today!