Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming rampant as more companies provide more of their services online. As you hear of reports about surges in DDoS attacks, you may be wondering how to stop a DDoS attack from affecting your site. Read on to learn more.
How to Stop a DDoS Attack From Affecting Your Site
If they are not detected and mitigated early on, DDoS attacks can affect the availability of your website and disrupt business operations. Learning how to stop a DDoS attack starts with:
- Identifying the various types of DDoS attacks
- Discovering which strategies and DDoS attack tools are available
- Implementing best practices for preventing a DDoS attack
Implementing DDoS protection will help prevent DDoS threats from materializing and protect you from future attacks, especially when partnering with a web filtering services provider.
What is a DDoS Attack?
A DDoS attack disrupts the availability of a specific service or device with the goal of limiting access by the end user. To better understand what happens during a DDoS attack, it helps to compare DDoS vs. DoS attacks. A DoS attack involves one system sending requests to a target whereas a DDoS attack involves multiple systems.
Types of DDoS Attacks
In general, three types of DDoS attacks exist:
- Volume-based attacks overwhelm a service with large amounts of malicious traffic
- Protocol or network-layer attacks overwhelm a network or system infrastructure with immense packet traffic
- Application-layer attacks overwhelm applications with significant requests
Identifying the different types of DDoS attacks is critical to stopping them from affecting the availability of your website or server.
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Can DDoS Attacks be Stopped?
Yes, DDoS attacks can be stopped with the right tools in place. However, each device or service may require different DDoS attack stoppage mechanisms. For example, figuring out how to stop a DDoS attack on your router may require a different process than the one you implement to safeguard your cloud servers.
How to Stop a DDoS Attack
It is challenging to stop a DDoS attack while it’s happening. If you are looking for guidance on how to stop a DDoS attack in progress, the first option may be to shut down the source of abnormal traffic. However, this may disrupt the availability of your website.
Contacting a web application security expert might be a better idea.
The same applies if you are figuring out how to stop a DDoS attack on your IP address. These attacks are often complex and may require the assistance of an expert.
Warning Signs of DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks are difficult to identify. However, warning signs of DDoS attacks often include:
- Unusually slow-performing websites or networks
- Large amounts of traffic directed towards a specific server
- Limited availability of components on your website
In most cases, DDoS traffic has different patterns than regular traffic.
How to Prevent a DDoS Attack
Preventing a DDoS attack requires IT security hygiene and web application security best practices. Beyond that, partnering with a web filtering service provider will help you prevent these attacks in the short and long term.
Best Practices to Prevent DDoS Attacks
Conducting a web application risk assessment can help you prevent DDoS attacks by identifying potential sources of these attacks and reducing the attack surface area.
For example, a web application risk assessment can identify vulnerabilities that contribute to DDoS attacks, such as those listed in the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
Investing in security tools recommended by a web application security expert can also help differentiate abnormal traffic from normal one to protect your website from DDoS attacks.
DIY Protection for DDoS Attacks
The most effective DIY protection from DDoS attacks is educating your team about how these attacks unfold. Cybersecurity education for your team goes a long way in helping them identify sources of DDoS threats before they can even become full-blown attacks.
How DDoS Protection Services Work
DDoS protection services like web filters protect your website by preventing users from accessing malicious content on the Internet, especially if it comes from untrustworthy sites.
DDoS Attacks FAQs
How Long Do DDoS Attacks Last?
It depends on the attack, but some DDoS attacks can last anywhere from minutes to hours.
How Long Does it Take to Stop a DDoS Attack?
With the right security tools in place, you can stop a DDoS attack within minutes. However, total downtime depends on the source of the attack and its target device, system, or network.
Can DDoS Attacks Be Traced?
In general, it is difficult to trace DDoS attacks because attackers forge source addresses and conceal the sources of these attacks.
Can a VPN Stop DDoS?
Yes, if configured appropriately, a VPN can stop DDoS attacks by limiting the flow of web traffic to specific devices or IP addresses.
Can a Firewall Stop a DDoS Attack?
Similar to a VPN, a firewall can stop a DDoS attack if configured and managed appropriately to ensure that unknown external traffic does not interact with specific servers or addresses on a network.
Does Changing Your IP Stop DDoS?
In most cases, you can stop a DDoS attack by blocking the specific IP address that is the source of the attack. You can apply that same logic and change your own IP address, preventing the DDoS attacker from targeting your server.
Final Thoughts
Mitigating DDoS attacks is critical to keeping your website safe and making it consistently available for end users. Although DDoS attacks can be challenging to address, being prepared with the right tools will help you mitigate these attacks. It starts with partnering with a web filtering services provider, whose solutions can protect you from DDoS attacks.
Secure Your Website from DDoS Attacks
When faced with web application security challenges, learning how to stop a DDoS attack will help keep your website fully operational. With the help of RSI Security’s web filtering services, you will filter any web content users in your organization access, protecting you from potential DDoS attacks. To learn more, contact RSI Security today!