The Economics of DDoS Attacks and Their Prevention

DDoS attacks are on the rise. Every year, we see new record figures, with companies around the world succumbing to this prolonged and destructive cyber attack. Part of what makes DDoS attacks so lucrative for hackers is that they’re easy to pull off and can have significant consequences for the business. But, instead of having to pay ransom money to stop an attack, organizations can prevent them entirely by learning about effective DDoS prevention.

Let’s explore why DDoS attacks have become a favorite attack vector in recent years and exactly why your business should invest in protection.

DDoS Attacks Are Cheap

Hackers have numerous potential methods to use at their disposal. From phishing and malware to ransomware and more, there is an endless stream of options they could select when attacking a business. Yet, we constantly see DDoS attacks at the top of lists of the most common attacks due to one reason: they’re incredibly cheap to run.

DDoS attacks work by using botted traffic. Hackers direct large volumes of botted traffic to one site, overwhelming their systems and making them inoperable for real users. To achieve this, hackers don’t need to buy thousands upon thousands of devices. On the contrary, they create bot networks of compromised devices.

These devices could be computers, smart TVs, or any other IoT device that they can access. Over years, hackers will build up a network of compromised devices that they store their bot program on. This program can sit there completely unbeknownst to the person who actually owns the device. When they want to launch a DDoS attack, they then activate this component from their own device, linking all the devices and giving them the command to access a certain site or application.

Especially considering how easy it can be for hackers to build their own bot network or simply buy one from the dark web, this is becoming a leading strategy that malicious actors use. When you think of the hundreds of thousands of IoT devices all across the globe that could be compromised, it’s not hard to imagine how hackers achieve the scale of bots they need to pull off a successful attack.

But They Can Be Costly

According to recent data, a DDoS attack will cost a business the average business that’s targeted around $6,130 per minute of downtime. For every single minute that your company is kept offline by this seemingly endless stream of botted traffic, it’s hemorrhaging money. Unable to get your systems back online, your customers cannot connect to your site, reducing any chance of you making a sale or providing a service to absolutely zero.

For your business, the total amount that you lose out on in profit isn’t the only potential consequence of a DDoS attack. Here are some other things that occur during DDoS down periods:

• Reputation Damages: When a business experiences any form of cyberattack, its customers will typically find out about it. Over the last few years, we’ve seen major companies fall prey to cyberattacks. When it comes to security, no one is completely safe. The aftereffects of a security breach or attack often lead to the impacted company losing customers, as people don’t trust them to protect their private data. If your business experiences a DDoS attack, it could face severe reputational damages, hurting you for years to come.
• Potential Blackmail: Not all DDoS attackers use this strategy for the same reason. Some simply want to attack a company to impact its operations and cause damage. Others do so for purely financial reasons. It’s not uncommon for the hacker or hackers that are operating a DDoS attack to reach out to the business and demand ransom money to stop the attack. Just like with ransomware, companies may be forced to pay extraordinary sums to appease their hackers.
• Employee Impacts: Your customers aren’t the only ones who won’t be able to interact with your business during a DDoS attack. For the vast majority of your employees – and any that need to use your systems or files to get work done – a DDoS attack will bring everything to a complete halt. Not only are you losing money due to the inability to sell products or services, but your company is also paying employees who are unable to do any work.

Especially considering the context of DDoS attacks rising in popularity, it’s no wonder that more and more businesses are now turning to prevention solutions. Incorporating a security solution that actively monitors for signatures relating to DDOS attacks and moving to neutralize them will help avoid any of these scenarios from occurring.

Mitigation is always the best form of managing a threat.

DDoS Prevention Limits DDoS Costs

The single biggest factor that will determine how much DDoS attacks cost your business is whether or not they happen to you. Especially when armed with modern cybersecurity tools, organizations are able to identify signatures that suggest a DDoS attack is occurring and put a stop to it as quickly as possible. While DDoS attacks can be extremely costly to your company, they don’t have to be. By putting in place the correct defenses and investing in modern strategies, you can help enhance your security posture and keep your business safe.

While preparing for yet another potential attack vector may seem costly, nothing is more expensive than picking up the pieces of your business after being inoperational for extended periods of time during a DDoS attack.