As experts in cybersecurity in Miami, we see many types of cyber attacks in our day-to-day work. But DDoS attacks are in a league of their own. The purpose of a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack is to use brute force to either slow down or crash a server.
The purpose of these attacks isn’t to breach your security perimeter and steal data. Rather, the goal is to prevent people from accessing your website.
While DDoS attacks may not sound serious, they can wreak havoc on your website, your reputation and your bottom line. Let’s look at some of the negative effects of a DDoS attack.
The Negative Effects of DDoS Attacks
A DDoS attack can have many negative effects on a website, including:
Downtime and Loss of Revenue
A DDoS attack can lead to a complete crash of the server, making your website inaccessible to users.
If your website is inaccessible, then you will lose out on visitors and potential business until your site is up and running again.
If the issue isn’t fixed quickly, it can affect your SEO and your online reputation.
According to a study from Kaspersky Lab, a DDoS attack can cost a business more than $1.6 million.
Greater Website Vulnerability
In some cases, a DDoS attack could make your site more vulnerable to hacking, especially if the attack puts your security out of action.
Hackers may then find it easier to access your site and may even be able to cover their tracks using multiple IP addresses.
If an attacker does make their way onto your site, then you’ll have even bigger problems than just the DDoS attack.
Reputational Damage
For some businesses, a DDoS attack can do reputational damage. Industries such as hosting, financial services, data centers or gaming must have their servers up and running 24/7 to ensure customers can access their services.
If their service suddenly becomes unavailable and is down for an extended period of time, customers may deem them untrustworthy. They may also spread word of the attack or unavailability of the service, further damaging the company’s reputation.
Remediation Costs
The cost of remedying a DDoS attack can be significant, depending on the extent of it and may include:
- Additional labor costs
- Consulting fees
- Additional customer support hours
If your business has to win back customer trust and rebuild its reputation, the remediation costs can be even higher.
How to Mitigate DDoS Attacks
Prevention is the best way to mitigate a DDoS attack. Some best practices for preventing DDoS attacks include:
Traffic Monitoring
Traffic monitoring will play an essential role in mitigating a DDoS attack. Most attacks use high volume traffic to slow down or crash a server.
A monitoring application will alert you of traffic spikes before they reach a critical point. These notifications allow you to address the problem as early as possible and mitigate the damage.
Activating a WAF
A WAF, or web application firewall, is a set of policies or rules that help protect APIs or apps against malicious traffic. WAFs sit between the traffic and application and serve as a gatekeeper. It filters common exploits to help prevent attacks that affect availability.
SaaS DDoS Mitigation
Another option for DDoS mitigation is to use a SaaS solution. One advantage of going this route is that the company will have a dedicated staff and a quicker reaction time to prevent or respond to an attack.
Protect Against DDoS Attacks with Professional Cybersecurity in Miami
Working with a professional cybersecurity service can help you protect your website and business against a DDoS attack.
Contact us to see how we can help you improve your cybersecurity.