Modern business owners leave no stone unturned to increase the visibility of their websites. This means more exposure to their sites and site contents. While this may translate to more traffic, it could also increase the chances of cyber threats. There’s no doubt that, as a site owner, you want to increase the traffic volume but not at the cost of risking your site’s security. One of the most common forms of attacks that are disguised as traffic is DoS attacks. DoS or Denial of Service Attack floods the sites with requests and make them look like sudden traffic spike. It results in extremely slow loading time and often causes the site to crash. DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service happens when these requests are routed through multiple sources.
So how do you protect your site from such threats?
Look for indications
The first step to addressing any threat is to prepare for it. DDoS always shows visible symptoms. If you are experiencing sudden network slowdown (despite having required bandwidth), or if your site is suddenly shutting down, then know that a threat is imminent. These might look like operational hiccups, but if they go on for long, then you must prepare for a possible attack.
Keep your system security in place
Always have your basic server security in place. It might not be the ultimate safeguard from the actual DDoS, but it will buy you some time before you can incorporate advanced measures. Depending on what kind of hosting platform you are using, you can integrate necessary security measures, ranging from basic to most advanced ones. Use identity and access controls, run secure firewalls, etc.
Ensure a secure hosting architecture
Your web host has a vital role to play in keeping your site safe. If you are on a traditional hosting platform and have been at risk, then it is high time you switch to more efficient and secure alternatives like VPS Hosting. It uses multiple virtual servers, and each such server is kept separate and remain unaffected by the other.
Harness the benefits of cloud
Cloud-based hosting services are also a great way to evade DDoS attacks. Such environments have better and more resources, more storage, and are much safer than on-ground systems, particularly for high-traffic sites. You can choose the kind of cloud service that you need based on your storage, data, and other hosting requirements.
DDoS as a service
These attacks have become so common that many hosting service providers offer DDoS as a service. This provides more dedicated protection and better site management. Such services use cloud resources and dedicated hosting to bring high standards of security.
Summing up…
DDoS attacks happen for a lot of reason, some of them being political or corporate protests or a mere criminal activity. Your site might not be the ultimate target but more of collateral damage. Whatever the reason might be, it should not damage a website which has been built with creativity, effort, time, and money. As a site owner, you have to do everything possible to keep it safe and prevent such harmful activities.
