While it would be obvious to say that DDoS attacks are \u201cbad for business\u201d, the threat is often underestimated, overlooked, or neglected. Surveys show less than 40% of companies take preventive measures against DDoS, which clearly means the risks these sort of attacks pose aren\u2019t always clearly understood. At least until the attack takes place. In this post, we take a look at understanding these risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo\u201d targeted<\/strong><\/p>\n Because a DDoS attack is always a very narrowly-targeted event, the chances of getting hit with such an attack are a bit lower than to \u201ccatch\u201d a Cryptolocker or some other \u2013 generic \u2013 Trojan. However, DDoS attacks have become the most common and affordable cyberweapon (launching it may cost around 50 dollars a day<\/a>), \u2013 i.e. the easiest way to inflict targeted damage that may have long-lasting consequences.<\/p>\n Overwhelmed<\/strong><\/p>\n The first \u2013 and probably primary \u2013 problem with DDoS attacks is that they can bog down all business processes in the company that may require use of the network. The amount of junk traffic, depending on the nature of the attack, overwhelms servers or bandwidth. Either way, the target\u2019s web services or web sites become unreachable from the outside, which means normal workflow stops until the DDoS attack subsides or the junk traffic gets filtered off.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s where most of the risks reside.<\/p>\n Estimates<\/strong><\/p>\n Some businesses are more sensitive to a disruption of their processes than the others, and for them, risks of getting hit with a DDoS attack are far greater. Still, with probably 99.999% of the world\u2019s businesses depending on internet communication, everyone is at risk \u2013 more or less.<\/p>\n