September 24th 2013
The prevalence of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is forcing business decision-makers to implement measures that will allow firms to avoid these occurrences or at least reduce the damage breaches cause. A DDoS instance occurs when malicious outsiders prevent users, including both employees and customers, from accessing critical applications and other solutions by overloading the system with false traffic.
Business executives need to be aware of how these attacks can impact operations and the effectiveness of information protection strategies. Fortunately, organizations have numerous options when it comes to defending against these instances, including the conventional do-it-yourself (DIY) approach, according to a Network World report.
Companies often take matters into their own hands when they are developing data protection strategies. While implementing this approach may be the most cost-effective way to launch security initiatives, it may also be the least efficient, Network World noted. In most cases, firms are not experienced with the rapid evolution and progress of the cybercrime landscape, which means they do not have the proper knowledge needed to combat threats.
Still, there are other options when fighting DDoS attacks, including collaborating with an experienced managed security service provider.
Taking steps to the cloud level
Although launching unique premise-based security tools can prove worthwhile at first, cloud strategies are about playing the long game. Network World highlighted how most cloud providers have internal engineers and experts who are constantly monitoring threats in an effort to improve their ability to help customers. This means that deploying managed security services will likely allow executives to vigilantly safeguard critical assets from known and suspicious cybercriminals.
An Infonetics Research report highlighted the growing use of managed security services, noting that the market generated $13 billion in revenue in 2012, up 12 percent from 2011. This was largely due to the ongoing demand for cloud-based security tools.
"Buyers are moving to managed security services to deal with increased attack volume and complexity, manage security product sprawl, deliver consistent security for a distributed workforce and device population and provide security for cloud infrastructure," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research.
As DDoS attacks become more common, organizations must plan ahead and consider working with experienced managed security service providers rather than embarking on the information protection journey by themselves. In doing so, decision-makers can be confident that critical resources are safe without taking away time and energy needed to pursue other crucial objectives.