DDoS attacks have been stymying online service providers for the last several years. It seems like every day there is another news story about the latest record-breaking Amplification attack or a crippling Layer 7 strike.
Nowadays all website hosts must be educated about the latest threats facing their property. Hosts face the difficult task of differentiating between vast arrays of products and services offered by the cyber defense industry. Even if you’ve got a handle on the technology, how do you compare a protection service’s customer support services or human capital?
Fortunately for consumers, Top Ten Reviews, a well-established product reviewer, has recently come out with its list of the best DDoS protection services in the online security market. They make a thorough comparison ranging from technological might to customer service. If you needed any more evidence that DDoS is here to stay, this list illustrates the considerable growth in cybersecurity in response to growing online threats.
Evaluating the Competitors
Let’s bring our attention to some of the more critical benchmarks on Top Ten’s list. Under the “Attack Mitigation Capabilities†section sits a measure for Application (Layer 7) attacks.
These “low and slow†attacks hit specific applications in the final layer of the TCP protocol. Hackers send simultaneous swarms of botnet requests to exhaust CPU resources and take down the server. Application layer DDoS can be tricky, but to be on this best-of-the-best list, at a minimum you need experience dealing with these threats.
The top companies deal with DDoS attacks every day; they sharpen their defensive strategies with experience. They learn which IPs should be blacklisted, the ‘look’ of untrustworthy bots, and hacker behavior patterns. It’s not necessarily the technological brawn you bring to the table, but how you employ it that matters.
Progressive Challenge Mechanisms
‘Progressive Challenge Mechanisms,’ for example, are methods used to test to see if requests are coming from human users. Most people would agree that these challenges are cumbersome and bothersome, but at times they are important for distinguishing humans from botnet ‘zombies.’ An intelligent security company will have CAPTCHAs and other progressive challenges at their disposal, but they will use them selectively.
In the “Help and Support†section of the review, consumers can find information about the responsiveness of the security companies. Only a few of the competitors offered a variety of methods for reaching them. The last thing you want in the time of crisis is an unresponsive or unhelpful protection service.
But as with most technical aspects of our time, once one hacker discovers a hole to exploit, then the floodgates open up. It has been the case with the recent explosion of NTP attacks. In the last three months, we have seen NTP attacks between 200-400 Gbps, smashing previous records of attack size. DDoS is getting bigger and nastier, and there’s no end in sight.
The Results
Looking at the comparative review, we see several DDoS protection services that fared relatively well while others. Including some prominent ones, were revealed as less reliable. The number one spot went to Incapsula; a well-known security firm, subsidiary of the global security leader, Imperva. In the review, Incapsula was awarded a perfect 10/10 on every section, including the measures of customer support.
Different Pricing Models
One common-sense factor that did not appear on the list was pricing. All of the options on the menu have different methods of payment. For example, cloud services like Cloudflare or Incapsula, offer an “economy of scale†pricing, based on a retention model – which means that their clients can only pay according to their needs and scale up only when required. On top of that, Incapsula even offers a “free trial†option, allowing potential clients to test-drive its various capabilities.
On another hand, the appliance-based anti-DDoS solution offers a slightly different model, with higher TOC (Total Ownership Costs). Simply put, instead of the “pay as you go†cloud model, these require you to pay the money upfront, with costs smoothly rising above 30K-40K, not including ongoing maintenance. Regarding scalability, things are also dramatically different. Because, in the case of appliances, you can’t scale up at all – not without going out and acquiring additional hardware.
Ignoring the Hype
Still, even without the cost comparisons, Top Ten’s list does most of the legwork for you. Allowing you to ignore the marketing hype and false promises. By providing you with the hard facts needed to guide your purchase decision.
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Debbie Fletcher is an enthusiastic, experienced writer who has written for a range of difference magazines and news publications. Follow her here: @Debbie_Fletch18
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