Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

26th December 2019 | Cybrary

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a type of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. A DDoS attack involves multiple connected online devices, collectively known as a botnet, which are used to overwhelm a target website with fake traffic.

Unlike other kinds of cyberattacks, DDoS attacks don’t attempt to breach your security. The DDoS attacks aim to make your website and servers unavailable to legitimate users. DDoS can also be used as a smokescreen for other malicious activities and to take down security appliances, breaching the target’s security perimeter.

A successful distributed denial of service attack is a highly noticeable event impacting an entire online user base. This makes it a popular weapon of choice for hacktivists, cyber vandals, extortionists, and anyone else looking to make a point or champion a cause.

What Does This Mean For My SMB or MSP?

SMBs typically shouldn’t have to worry about the threat of a DDoS attack, but if you’re in certain industries (politics, social causes, etc.) it may be a good idea to look into it. One of the best ways to mitigate against DDoS attacks is to simply have the capacity to withstand large amounts of inbound traffic. Depending on your situation, that might mean beefing up your own network, or making use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN), a service designed to accommodate huge amounts of traffic. Your network service provider might also have their own mitigation services you can make use of.

Additional Cybersecurity Recommendations

Additionally, these recommendations below will help you and your business stay secure with the various threats you may face on a day-to-day basis. All of the suggestions listed below can be gained by hiring CyberHoot’s vCISO Program development services.

Govern employees with policies and procedures. You need a password policy, an acceptable use policy, an information handling policy, and a written information security program (WISP) at a minimum.
Train employees on how to spot and avoid phishing attacks. Adopt a Learning Management system like CyberHoot to teach employees the skills they need to be more confident, productive, and secure.
Test employees with Phishing attacks to practice. CyberHoot’s Phish testing allows businesses to test employees with believable phishing attacks and put those that fail into remedial phish training.
Deploy critical cybersecurity technology including two-factor authentication on all critical accounts. Enable email SPAM filtering, validate backups, deploy DNS protection, antivirus, and anti-malware on all your endpoints.
In the modern Work-from-Home era, make sure you’re managing personal devices connecting to your network by validating their security (patching, antivirus, DNS protections, etc) or prohibiting their use entirely.
If you haven’t had a risk assessment by a 3rd party in the last 2 years, you should have one now. Establishing a risk management framework in your organization is critical to addressing your most egregious risks with your finite time and money.
Buy Cyber-Insurance to protect you in a catastrophic failure situation. Cyber-Insurance is no different than Car, Fire, Flood, or Life insurance. It’s there when you need it most.

All of these recommendations are built into CyberHoot the product or CyberHoot’s vCISO Services. With CyberHoot you can govern, train, assess, and test your employees. Visit CyberHoot.com and sign up for our services today. At the very least continue to learn by enrolling in our monthly Cybersecurity newsletters to stay on top of current cybersecurity updates.