Be on guard against growing threat of DDoS attacks

If you’re still handling your IT security the same way you did several years ago – or even a year ago, your company could be much more vulnerable than you realize. If major organizations like Target, eBay, Sony Pictures and the federal government aren’t immune to these data breaches, every IT industry professional needs to take heed.

Threats getting plenty of attention lately include the denial-of-service (DoS) attack, which targets a network resource in an attempt to disrupt or suspend services of the host. Its more damaging relative is the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), with the attack involving multiple unique IP addresses, often numbering in the hundreds or thousands to cripple the host’s ability to provide services to its authentic clients..

While they’re not new, these attacks are not only growing in volume; they’re becoming more complex and malicious, according to NSFocus. The network security firm tracked more than 168,000 DDoS incidents within a six-month period in 2013. According to Akamai’s State of the Internet 2014 study, it only has gotten worse since then. Year over year, DDoS attacks are increasing by 50 percent. In some cases, DDoS was used as a distraction to avoid detection of other criminal activity.

You may not think your company is high-profile enough for a sophisticated attack, but more than half of IT companies reported some type of DDoS attack in 2014, according to a recent study by B2B International and ITProPortal.

Steps to protect your company

Yes, it’s true that DDoS attacks are becoming more complex, aggressive and numerous, yet there are steps your team can take to defend your company against them. They include hiring top level security professionals internally or externally; installing filtration appliances in your company’s IT infrastucture; and partnering with your Internet provider to assist in filtering the traffic generated by attackers. The essential ingredient is constantly assessing the state of your IT security plan to ensure that you’re keeping up your defenses against increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Contact Lifeline Data Centers if you’re considering the possibility of using a colocation center with built-in security solutions and security experts. Many clients in various industries entrust us with their data center needs because of our years of experience and commitment to continually invest in the latest security measures.

Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.