When thinking about the Internet , it is not surprising that terms such as cyber attacks, hackers or server crashes come to mind since the network, web applications and other online services are not impossible towers to topple. They can all be attacked and fall at some point. The aforementioned shows that, especially in the business field, it is essential to apply cybersecurity techniques that avoid major problems. It is not advisable to forget that anyone is exposed to all kinds of threats, such as DDoS attacks .
Throughout the following sections we are going to focus precisely on this type of cyberattack , which is capable of putting any web server in check . We are going to explain what exactly DDoS attacks are, why they are so dangerous and how hackers take advantage of them . On the other hand, we will also give you some cybersecurity tips that can be useful to prevent this type of threat. If you want to know everything about DDoS attacks , you have come to the right place.
What are DDoS attacks?
DDoS attacks are one of the types of cybersecurity threats to which all servers on the Internet are exposed . DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service , an English expression that can be translated as a distributed denial of service attack , which consists of generating very high data traffic from various computers and directing it to a single server. Most of these attacks are automated, with a network of bots making requests to the same computer.
Regarding DDoS or Denial of Service attacks , we must highlight their simplicity. Technically, it could be done by a large, coordinated group of users repeatedly requesting resources from a server. As you can see, advanced knowledge is not required to launch a cyberattack of these characteristics, beyond what is required to program the bots.
Why is a denial of service attack so dangerous?
DDoS attacks are very dangerous because they are capable of saturating the server in such a way that it becomes inoperative. The consequences of a denial of service attack can be very diverse, depending on the server that suffers the attack. For example, on September 7, 2019, Wikipedia stopped working due to such an attack. In this case, the resulting problems are obvious: users no longer have access to the world's most popular Internet encyclopedia . However, what happens when the server hosts an important web application for your company? In that case, DDoS attacks can shut down a company in a matter of minutes.
There are some symptoms that reveal that a server is suffering from a Denial of Service . Which are? For example, the network may become very slow and access to certain shared files may become unavailable. Similarly, it is also common for certain web resources , such as pages or applications, to be accessible, albeit with poor performance. Ultimately, access to these resources may no longer be possible.
What you have reviewed up to this point will have given you a dimension of how dangerous DDoS attacks can be for your company. How can you prevent them? In the following sections we take a look at some tips that can help you protect the servers of your company, website or online store .
How to prevent DDoS attacks?
There are some techniques and procedures that help you prevent DDoS attacks . Here we leave you five of the most recommended. Thus, you can assess the possibility of implementing them in your case.
Limit requests
Limiting the requests that the server can accept during a given time is one of the most effective solutions to mitigate the effects of Denial of Service attacks . In this way, repeated requests for resources from the same computer are automatically rejected. This is also very useful to prevent brute force attacks that ultimately lead to identity or credential theft.
Monitor to prevent
Prevention is better than cure. And it is that DDoS attacks grow in intensity progressively. In this way, if you implement techniques to monitor the activity of your website and the server, you will be able to detect this type of cyberattack early and take the necessary measures as soon as possible.
Use a firewall
A web application firewall acts as a defense that prevents DDoS attacks from affecting your server. Since it is not possible to prevent hackers from launching a Denial of Service , it is best to protect yourself. Firewalls filter web traffic and deny malicious access .
Activate a content delivery network (CDN)
In addition to the above, a CDN can help mitigate the effects of a denial of service attack by offering copies of your website from more than one server. Thus, even if one falls, the rest of the network is still available.
Choose a service or hosting provider that is prepared
If in your case you use a hosting , make sure that you have considered the necessary measures to avoid this type of cyber attacks by hackers . After all, if you were responsible for the servers, you would expect your company's IT team to do the same. Having a hosting prepared to withstand a Denial of Service like ProximaHost gives you a lot of peace of mind and allows you to not worry in the event of an attack.
DDoS attacks, a very real threat
As you have seen throughout this article, a denial of service attack can have terrible consequences for your company or online business. For this reason, we wanted to tell you about the best ways to prevent Denial of Service .
Remember that the first step is to recognize that this is a very real security threat to any business. Having this mentality will make it much easier to implement the necessary mechanisms to prevent DDoS attacks from completely shutting down your Internet services.
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