Strategies to minimize multi-vector DDoS attacks

The internet has become the main target of malicious attacks due to more and more public availability. The network devices and the system connected to the internet are at risk and are severely compromised due to internet flooding attacks. Unfortunately, the detection of the origin of the source is not easy.

Multi-vector Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are on the rise, which makes it difficult for IT security teams to prevent them due to sophisticated hacking techniques adopted by the attackers. Traditional techniques are simply a no match for modern DDoS attacks. The primary reason these attacks go undetected is that it resembles the usual legitimate traffic and breaches the system, not giving enough time for the security analysts to detect the breach.

Cyber-attackers often dynamically change the parameters and number of vectors in response to the cyber defenses they encounter and build the volume of an attack starting from as simple as a UDP flood to as complex as a DNS flood.

Most DDoS attacks prefer to strike low volumes to prevent detection and degrade site performance. The rate at which these vector attacks are advancing and manual and routine solutions are not enough as they only add latency and inaccuracy to the mitigation process. Here are a few answers to minimize multi-vector DDoS attacks.

Also Read: Strengthening Enterprise Cybersecurity to Combat Rising Cyber Attacks

Diminish Attack Surface Area

The immediate solution to mitigate a DDoS attack is the reduction in the attack surface area. This limits the options for the attackers allowing the cybersecurity experts to establish protections in a single place. Cyber experts need to ensure that the applications or resources are not exposed to ports, applications, or protocols from which the attackers do not expect any communication. On the other hand, placing computation resources behind Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) or Load Balancers and restricting direct internet traffic to certain parts of the infrastructure can also reduce the surface area. Likewise, using firewalls or Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control the applications’ traffic is also an effective method to diminish the surface area.

Detect Normal and Abnormal Traffic

The “rate limiting” concept is crucial in detecting normal and abnormal traffic. When high traffic hits a host, the organization can accept as much traffic as the host can handle without affecting the availability. An initiative to mitigate the issue is to accept legitimate traffic by intelligently analyzing individual packets. This can be achieved only when the cybersecurity officer understands the characteristics of good traffic that the target usually receives and can compare each pack against the baseline.

Station Firewalls for Sophisticated Application Attacks

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) can be deployed against an attack that attempts to exploit a vulnerability in the application itself. Mitigation against illegitimate requests, which can be disguised as good traffic coming from bad IPs and unexpected geographies, is crucial due to the unique nature of the attacks. Getting experienced support to study traffic patterns and create customized protections, at times, might also help mitigate attacks as they happen.

Regular Safety Assessment

For discovering any weaknesses in the network and connected devices, regular safety assessments quarterly will allow the organization to remedy deficiencies or gaps in the security system before the cybercriminals take advantage of it.

Also Read: Reasons why Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture Has Become a Necessity for Modern Enterprises

Implement Security Practices

Adding an extra layer to the network and accounts with a multifactor authentication system is a good practice. The next important step after the multifactor authentication system is to educate the staff to recognize signs of a cyberattack and to report any problems they might encounter readily—consultation with an expert who can assist the team with the best conventional method which can be employed.

With increasing multi-vector DDoS attacks that assault an organization’s network and applications, the highest-performing DDoS mitigation strategy is needed to identify and eliminate attack traffic. By employing the appropriate mitigation methods, the organization is better protected from this menace and the damage they cause.