I know what you’re thinking: what does DDoS protection have to do with business communication? Well, imagine a situation where an attack cripples your network. Your online services are inaccessible, and that includes customer service and internal communication channels.
A single attack has made interactions between customers and staff impossible. That’s how destructive DDoS hacks can be. So, investing in DDoS protection can have far-reaching benefits for your business, and in this guide, we’ll focus on how it can improve business communication and security. Let’s dive in:
How Does DDoS Protection Work?
While the technologies for DDoS protection have evolved from traditional methods to artificial intelligence, the stages for preventing the attacks have stayed more or less the same. Below is a snapshot of how DDoS threats are handled across organizations:
Monitoring and Detection
Preventing a DDoS attack begins with monitoring traffic within a network for suspicious requests. Usually, cybersecurity companies like Datadome.co use AI technologies that are trained on specific data to enable them differentiate authentic traffic requests from the malicious ones.
These tools monitor the network in real-time and can spot abnormal traffic faster than traditional technologies have been able to do so.
Response
After identifying a threat, DDoS protection tools can execute a number of actions based on programming. They can activate rate limiting—a process that determines the amount of requests an IP address can send to a network. If it exceeds the mark, it is immediately blocked.
Alternatively, rerouting procedures can be implemented to redirect the malicious requests from the servers to a virtual black hole. Other possible response methods include scrubbing and filtering via firewalls.
Analysis
After an attack, it’s important for companies to review the threat to enable them to combat future recurrences. The analysis stage can pin-point vulnerabilities in the network, attack patterns, and any potential damage in the organization’s systems. It can also help IT teams develop more efficient defense techniques.
Interestingly, businesses aren’t the only ones that learn from previous DDoS attacks. AI prevention tools also analyze past threats to predict recurrences and adapt to handle upgraded attacks.
Four Ways Effective DDoS Protection Improves Business Communication and Security
Prevent Communication Disruption
Usually, when we talk about DDoS protection, we’re focused on keeping your web services continuously accessible to your customers. But that creates the impression that malicious actors only focus on your website.
However, DDoS attacks can target any part of your network, and that includes emails, customer support platforms, and internal systems that are required for employee productivity. Losing any of these channels can cripple communication between teams and potential clients.
In other words, prioritizing comprehensive DDoS protection is a critical step to keeping all aspects of your business online always and ensuring there are no disruptions in the interaction channels between customers and employees.
A Safety Net Against Other Cyber Attacks
Malicious actors sometimes use DDoS hacks as distractions to infiltrate an organization with other cyber threats. With your IT team fully focused on the attack, they can use the opportunity to execute other activities, such as using a phishing scam to steal sensitive information from the company.
So, protecting your business against DDoS threats can be a safeguard against other cybercrimes. Of course, we’re not asking you to focus all your cybersecurity efforts on these types of attacks alone. But comprehensive DDoS prevention is a necessary first step towards robust online security for your organization.
Improved Service Delivery
If you’re like most businesses, you probably still rely on traditional DDoS protection. These tools often require manual monitoring of traffic requests in your network, thereby keeping your IT team busy round-the-clock.
However, a more effective approach would be real-time and automated monitoring using AI cybersecurity techniques. With automation at the center of your DDoS protection efforts, you’ll significantly reduce the workload on your IT staff.
As such, they’ll have more time to focus on improving other aspects of the business, such as the internal networks required for team communications.
Prevent Financial Losses
DDoS attacks are security breaches that can result in severe monetary losses for your organization. For instance, it can negatively impact your customer base. When your network is down due to an attack, customers cannot access your services.
Prolonged downtime can damage your reputation in your industry, resulting in potentially losing millions of clients. If the breach leads to stolen or leaked data, it can also lead to lawsuits. Cybersecurity litigation can cost your company millions of dollars in settlements.
That’s why you need to shore up your cybersecurity architecture against DDoS attacks to prevent any financial ripple effects that can come from these threats.
Closing Thoughts
DDoS protection isn’t only about preventing a disruption to your web services. Malicious actors can target any point in your network, including communication channels between customers and teams.
Effective DDoS protection safeguards the entire network, ensuring all sides of the business are always online, including customer support and internal tools for staff interactions. It's also a safety net against other forms of cyber attacks.
Last Updated 4 hours ago
