DDoSGuarD Blog Top 10 Simple and Effective Ways of DDoS Protection in 2022

Today, DDoS attacks are one of the biggest threats to a digitized society dependent on smoothly running websites. Because of attacks, companies lose profit and reputation, and their customers are unable to get even basic services such as ordering a taxi, which causes a tangible inconvenience. DDoS attacks are a problem that won't just disappear, instead they will get worse over time because of the steady increase in the number of devices that can be converted into botnets, as well as cheaper costs, and the simplified launching of DDoS attacks. Only professional services can provide full and effective protection of your site or network from DDoS attacks. However, you can take a number of steps to improve your resource security. Have a look at our top 10 tried-and-tested ways of DDoS protection. Just remember that each of them by itself is not a one-size-fits-all method! Method 1: Start at the Beginning When planning and preparing a new Internet project, choose a secure hosting provider that offers reliable protection, gives you access to statistics, and, most importantly, has 24/7 technical support. Make sure you don't use vulnerable software, update it in time, and back it up regularly. If you develop your own software, check it thoroughly for vulnerabilities. Method 2: Take Care of Basic Security Access to your network infrastructure should be restricted to third parties and strictly regulated to your own employees. There should be several levels of access to the server network services and the project version archive, and it should be disabled for irrelevant employees. If you suspect that the site has been compromised, reset all passwords. Needless to say, they should be different and complex. Method 3: Use a Firewall, VPN, and CDN You will need firewalls or ACLs (Access Control List) to filter incoming traffic and make sure it's secure. Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network) for website protection and optimization: site content will be stored on multiple servers around the world, reducing the load on the origin server and speeding up the display of pages for users. As for VPN, it can also be quite useful for DDoS prevention: when your encrypted data is protected by a VPN tunnel, it's harder for cybercriminals to identify your network as a target for attack. Method 4: Secure DNS Purge your DNS cache regularly to ensure attackers don't spoof your IP address from the server cache. Constantly monitor network traffic and requests sent to the server. Use DNS RRL (Response Rate Limiting), a tool developed for protection against DNS amplification attacks. Build a geo-distributed Unicast network to assign a unique IP address to each DNS server or install additional DNS hardware for protection. Method 5: Prevent Spam A very popular method of attack is to spam feedback forms, through which plenty of homogeneous, meaningless requests are sent. Add captcha wherever there's a data entry field on the user's side to prevent spam. The security of the resource is more important than the minor user inconvenience of having to go through verification. As an alternative, convert your feedback forms to JS components. Method 6: Make Sure You Have Redundant Resources Check if your hosting provider has excessive bandwidth - you will be able to achieve a higher data transfer rate, which is vital during abnormal outbursts due to DDoS attacks when you have to handle large amounts of traffic. Ensure that your server performance is scalable and buy more resources than you need. It's also better to have several working servers so that you can redistribute the load in case of an attack. Method 7: Filter Incoming Traffic Ensure that you can gather information about typical and abnormal traffic and determine the characteristics of "good" traffic to detect the "bad" one. As with CDNs, block/allow lists can be used as a complementary measure to basic DDoS protection. It's important to check who you add to the allow list and remember this method doesn't guarantee protection against powerful attacks. Method 8: Choose the Best Protection Configuration There are DDoS attacks of different types (see the OSI model) depending on your business sector. Assess what's really threatening and what could potentially be threatening in terms of DDoS and try to shape a vision of protection, its type, and levels. This will help you decide if you can secure your project yourself or if you should contact a specialist. Click on layers 3, 4, and 7 to see what happens during the attack. OSI Model Attack Protected Unprotected User Bot Customer Infrastructure Data center 7 4 3 Method 9: If All Else Fails, Discard Traffic Into a Black Hole This method is good only for stopping an attack promptly if you missed any of the points mentioned above and your site is now unable to handle the flood of malicious requests. Blackholing is traffic redirection from the targeted page to a non-existent resource (a so-called black hole) or blocking it. Using this method, you will face performance degradation, reduced traffic, and the targeted page or asset will become inaccessible, i.e. the hackers will achieve their goal. Nevertheless, blackholing is a good option if you plan to stop the attack and then start improving your site security. Method 10: Get Professional DDoS Protection If you can't handle cyberattacks yourself, or if it's important to protect your site as soon as possible, contact the experts who can help you find the best option. You will be able to choose a virtual or physical secure server to move your website to, protect your network from DDoS and, if necessary, connect additional services. This option costs more than the previous nine ones, but it's more convenient and guarantees fault tolerance, which can be critical. Conclusion As you can see, there are many ways to mitigate the damage from DDoS attacks or even to completely stop some powerful attacks. On a time/price/benefit ratio, the best solution is to enable professional DDoS protection services. For small businesses, it will pay for itself quite quickly, for large businesses, it will save time and effort, and for socially important services, it will ensure uninterrupted website operation for the public.