You need DDoS protection because of the DDoS attacks, duh! With all seriousness, there are intentional cyber-attacks that hackers direct at websites or applications and use different weaknesses of the DNS. Those attacks are known as DDoS attacks, and you need special protection to keep your site afloat when they happen. Cause it is not a question of if, it is a question of when!
What is a DDoS attack?
DDoS (D – Distributed, D- Denial, o- of S- Service) Attack. DDoS attacks use different methods to generate traffic by using multiple botnets (devices that were compromised and stay in standby ready to attack) or exploiting vulnerabilities in the DNS to multiplicity the attack, and have the purpose of crippling or bringing down their target. The target – site, application, or another, gets so much traffic that its servers can’t respond appropriately and get overloaded or offline for a while.
The DDoS attacks can cause even big sites to go down like Blizzard, BBC, and even Amazon’s AWS.
So, you are not safe and definitely need protection!
What is DDoS protection?
DDoS protection is an additional service that many of the DNS providers offer as an add-on to their typical services. It usually involves several DNS servers with extra protection that can intelligently monitor the incoming traffic and take measures to ensure the DNS’s proper function.
Learn about one of the best Monitoring services!
First symptoms of DDoS attack
How can you see that a DDoS attack is coming? Here you have a few signals that can show you that a problem is coming:
- A wave of traffic, from random devices, but with a similar profile like a group of old Android devices or Windows XP computers.
- Strong traffic that is coming from one particular IP address.
- Strange traffic that results in spikes in a particular interval that could be 10 minutes, a half-hour, or another.
- Long-lasting connection to a specific IP address.
- Connection attempts to another port that should not be in use.
Why do you need DDoS protection?
Having DDoS protection means that you almost won’t suffer from any downtime. 100% uptime is getting impossible, but 99.9% is still good. Your site or application could still stay up, and your clients can still perform actions (buying or using your products). You will keep earning instead of being offline and just waiting for the attack to stop.
The secure DNS or protected DNS will analyze the traffic coming to it. It will apply filters and take decisions based on the information that it gets. It has patterns of behavior that triggers different actions to save your DNS and allows it to run smoothly even under attack.
Suggested article: Benefits of using Managed DNS
The benefits of DDoS protection
- Resisting botnet attacks. If you have deployed a big enough loading balance, you will manage the traffic and resist the attack.
- Increased speed. A network of recursive DNS servers, geologically located worldwide, will deliver DNS records resolving faster to your international clients.
- It is cost-effective. It cost relatively cheap, and it can keep your site up. For just a few more dollars per month, you can get that extra security that your website will keep going even if it gets attacked.
Conclusion
So, it is quite clear that everybody needs DDoS protection. It can keep your site or application running, even if somebody really tries to hurt you with a strong traffic attack. Now what you have to do is to find the best option for your case. Check different DNS protection plans and compare them with your needs.