Identify a DDoS Attack Early

If you run your own servers, then you need to be able to identify when you are under attack. That's because the sooner you can establish that problems with your website are due to a DDoS attack, the sooner you can start to do something about it.

To be in a position to do this, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with your typical inbound traffic profile; the more you know about what your normal traffic looks like, the easier it is to spot when its profile changes. Most DDoS attacks start as sharp spikes in traffic, and it's helpful to be able to tell the difference between a sudden surge of legitimate visitors and the start of a DDoS attack.

A good Managed IT Service Provider can monitor your traffic profile, so your company can be prepared for any DDoS attack that may occur.

Keeping control over your inbound traffic

The risk of being affected by a DDoS attack can be greatly reduced by utilizing the proper tools. A good Managed IT Service Provider can analyze your network to identify security holes and work with you to implement valuable resources that can help protect you. With the proper business-class firewall protection, the following are examples of just a few of the tools available:

Antivirus Enforcement: Provides continuous protection against viruses, web attacks, and email intrusions. The awareness of viruses and malicious activity strongly increases for network administrators. And through the use of alerting and managed reports, surprises are reduced if not fully eliminated.

Gateway Monitoring: Provides continuous protection against viruses by integrating high performance virus scanning and definition updates in real-time. By stopping infections at the gateway level, the risk of reaching servers is eliminated.

Intrusion Prevention: Proactive monitoring of network access attempts which are compared against a continuously updated database of signature files. Sources are blocked when they are matched to known attackers.

Proactive Monitoring: A good Managed IT Service Provider can proactively monitor your infrastructure. Network security logs are continuously monitored and analyzed by our IT professionals. If any suspicious attempts are detected, our professionals will block the source of the traffic.

Location-based filtering: A skilled Managed IT Service Provider can configure your network to only allow inbound traffic from locations/countries that you approve of. This would limit your network's exposure and reduce the potential for inbound attacks.
Having more bandwidth keeps systems stable

It generally makes sense to have more bandwidth available to your Web server than you ever think you are likely to need. That way, you can accommodate sudden and unexpected surges in traffic that could be a result of an advertising campaign, a special offer or even a mention of your company in the media.

Even if you add more bandwidth by 100 percent or even 500 percent that likely won't stop a DDoS attack. But it may give you a few extra minutes to act before your resources are overwhelmed.