In today's fast-paced business world, poor server performance or the inability to access mission-critical resources can impair companies of all sizes, hindering their ability to stay competitive and provide high-quality service to customers. For this reason, IT directors are more afraid of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks than ever before.
Because a DDoS assault makes a machine or network resource virtually unavailable for a certain amount of time, the event can essentially cripple an organization. A recent study of more than 100 businesses by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Corero Network Security revealed that more than 40 percent of decision-makers were "highly or extremely" worried about falling victim to a DDoS attack. This is largely due to two reasons: the encounter can be extremely dangerous in today's competitive business world, and the events are becoming more prevalent.
In fact, the study found that approximately 25 percent of respondents have experienced an attack within the last year, compared to 18 percent that claimed they did in 2012. Due to the concern that web application performance and cloud resource availability can be impaired by a DDoS assault, organizations are being more proactive by implementing security tools to keep them safe from malicious outsiders.
"What's clearly apparent from this survey is that IT managers still do not properly understand the variety and sophistication of DDoS attacks and the risks that their organizations are taking in relying on firewalls to protect them," said Ashley Stevenson, CEO of Corero.
What's happening in the prevention landscape?
The survey revealed that IT decision-makers are implementing a number of different strategies to ensure that DDoS incidents do not impair their organizations' ability to operate. In fact, 31 percent of respondents said they have deploying DDoS-specific security tools to protect them from potential assaults. Unfortunately, 36 percent of companies said they were relying solely on firewalls to keep sensitive assets safe.
"Organizations believe they have the basis for protection against targeted attacks, such as DDoS, when in fact they are referring to traditional security technologies," said Bob Tarzey, analyst and director at U.K.-based analyst firm Quocirca. "To be fair, many do understand the changing nature of the threats faced but overestimate their capability to mitigate them."
Fortunately, executives can take a proactive stance against DDoS and implement innovative techniques to ensure that  the attacks do not cripple operations. An IT Business Edge report highlighted the fact that firewalls cannot prevent DDoS assaults all by themselves. Firewalls generally address zoning and traffic inspections, not necessarily network availability, which is the primary target for most DDoS incidents.
IT Business Edge also recognized the importance of leveraging advanced server monitoring tools to identify any potential weaknesses in a firm's infrastructure. If decision-makers allow vulnerabilities to go unnoticed, companies of all sizes and backgrounds will find it increasingly difficult to patch the network and make it more difficult for outsiders to attack mission-critical resources.
In other words, just because IT executives implement a variety of security services doesn't necessarily mean that their businesses will be completely safe. Managers need to understand the risk landscape and implement advanced solutions that will effectively mitigate any attacks on performance and availability – two critical characteristics of any successful technology.
As the private sector grows increasingly competitive and adopts advanced tools to stay efficient, it will be increasingly important for decision-makers to take the time to understand how DDoS attacks can jeopardize operations and hinder a company from getting anything done. In doing so, firms will be able to address these challenges and improve their odds of success.