The IT universe is fraught with risk as increasing security threats pose complex challenges for CIOs every day. For most companies, it is a constant struggle to maintain complete and total protection of their business-critical data. From CRM records and financial forecasts, to strategic plans and customer records, keeping critical data safe from both internal and external threats can mean the difference between success and failure for a business. One need only look at the latest security attacks plaguing retail giants, costing millions of dollars, to see why CIOs lose sleep over data protection. With so much at stake, now is the time for companies to get on board to prepare for the latest wave of threats.
Perhaps one of the most damaging external threats is the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. In this instance, hackers attempt to “flood” an online application or network with an overwhelming amount of bogus traffic from multiple sources, with the goal of making the network or application unavailable for legitimate traffic to pass, and thus impossible for customers to access needed information. Recent articles estimate typical DDoS attacks can cost banks up to $100,000 per hour. The marked rise in DDoS attacks is why the analysts at Forrester Research explored this topic in their report: “The Forrester Wave™: DDoS Services Providers, Q3 2015.”1
The report evaluates nine DDoS vendors in depth and explores their offerings. According to Forrester, all vendors in this market share core similarities; however the best ones clearly have advanced features including:
- Application/network protection as their centerpiece
- Defending BOTH networks and applications
- Broad-based protocol support
- Employing talented sales, professional services and technical staff
- Maintaining good networks of technology, reseller, and systems integration partners
According to the report, while application Layer 7 attacks are significantly less than that of their Layer 3 and 4 attack cousins, they do present big challenges to security pros now and will continue to do so in the future.
A focus on both application and network protection is particularly important – as most DDoS attacks aim to overwhelm servers with fake network traffic. Other tactics include launching events to confuse Web applications with malformed server requests. Elite service providers can automatically detect and resolve these threats on both the network and application layers.
Top service providers realize attacks don’t just target the network, and thus deliver automated technology that is capable of identifying and resolving issues on both layers. Equally important is protocol support. As hackers evolve attack methods, it’s critical that solutions protect a broad range of devices and protocols. A lack of preparation against the full spectrum of possibilities can result in major data loss.
Backing this expertise and deep technology is a mandate for broad-based resources across professional services, sales and technology. Leading service provider models bring deep resources and teams across these core areas – ensuring comprehensive support necessary to build the foundation for a reliable protection plan. Taking this one step further, partners must also bring a comprehensive universe of alliances – across technology, resellers and system integrators. Various types of skills are required to create a reliable protection strategy, partner with the resources in-house or via alliances to implement a customer’s program.
The IT universe is in a constant state of change. As hackers get smarter, they’re finding new ways to access and exploit corporate data. To stay one step ahead, CIOs must deploy a strategy and infrastructure to guard against emerging threats such as DDoS. Valued service providers can help – deploying advanced security approaches to keep your business safe.
Data breaches aren’t going away – and the time is now for CIOs to take the next step.
You can learn more about the challenges and opportunities companies face in the new age of IT security at the CenturyLink live meet-up — “The Weakest Link” series – on August 26th in Washington D.C.The event will include presentations by IDC and CenturyLink executives on “Preparing in the Hostile IT World” and “Best Practices in Security that can Save Your Business” – and help attendees build strategies suited for their own businesses. You can also take advantage of the opportunity to tour CenturyLink’s federal government compliant data center.
CenturyLink was named a Leader in the Forrester Research report. Download a copy to learn more.
1Forrester Research; The Forrester Wave™ DDoS Services Providers, Q3 2015; Ed Ferrara and Rick Holland; July 22, 2015
