Volumetric attacks.
WHAT THEY ARE
Attempts to overwhelm a service or a connection with traffic.
WHY THEY WORK
A connection has finite capacity, and filling it denies service regardless of how capable the server is.
WHAT THAT MEANS
You cannot defend against volume larger than your connection by acting on your own server.
WHERE MITIGATION MUST HAPPEN
Upstream, before traffic reaches your connection.
WHAT PROVIDERS OFFER
Detection and filtering at their network edge Diversion of traffic through scrubbing facilities Capacity absorbing large volumes
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether mitigation is included or charged What volume is covered How quickly it engages Whether it engages automatically
WHAT SMALLER ATTACKS TARGET
Application weaknesses rather than volume: expensive requests repeated.
WHAT DEFENDS AGAINST THOSE
Rate limiting Caching Efficient application design
WHAT TO PREPARE
Who to contact What you would do How you would inform customers
WHAT TO AVOID
Discovering your mitigation arrangements during an attack.
