The digital age is bringing not just a roster of amazing conveniences but a host of serious threats as well, targeting not just consumers, but more often, businesses.
By now, everyone must already be familiar with the term ‘cyber attack’ and its serious implications to affected parties. Globally, the annual cost of cybercrime is estimated by research company Juniper Research to reach $2.1 trillion by 2019 from an average of about $500 billion a year from 2013 to 2015.
Today, one of the most destructive cyber threats targeting organizations and corporations worldwide is what is called as DDoS or distributed denial of service. It is a form of cyber attack wherein an online service is disrupted or rendered unavailable after attackers bombard it with unnecessary traffic from numerous sources.
To make it simple, it is like online kidnapping, as a website is made unavailable and the attackers demand money from the affected business or organization so that they would discontinue the attack and make the site functional again.
Continent 8 Technologies Chief Development Officer Nick Nally
Serious impact
“DDoS attacks are getting larger,” said Nick Nally, chief development officer of Continent 8 Technologies, a global information and communication technologies firm that specializes in resolving and preventing cyber attacks.
“There is so far a 25% increase in cyber attacks volume compared to a year ago,” Nally revealed. He explained that DDoS attacks are particularly threating businesses’ revenue, reputation, and trustworthiness. “More than the costs, the intangible effects like erosion of corporate reputation are more important.”
Nally disclosed the industries that are most affected by threats of DDoS attacks globally—financial services, web hosting, and government agencies (42%), e-Commerce (37%), and gaming (36%).
Companies in the U.S., China, and France are likely to be targets most, although the threat is also high in the Philippines and other developing countries. Attack sources usually come from the U.S., South Africa, and Canada, but Nally explained that this does not mean the attackers come from those nations. He said that many compromised PCs that are used by attackers as host could be located in those areas, although those cyber criminals may be based elsewhere and are cautious of possibly getting tracked.
What to do?
Businesses, which are the primary targets of DDoS attacks should put preventive systems in place to avoid getting hit. This is because according to experts, once a site is compromised by DDoS, it may almost be impossible to get rid of the problem for good as attackers are still holding control even after the victim has agreed to pay ransom.
IPC partners with Continent 8 to provide enhanced cybersecurity service to local businesses. In photo (from left): IPC Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation Niño Valmonte, IPC Chief Operating Officer Dave de Leon, Continent 8 Co-Founder and CEO Michael Tobin, and Nally
In this mess, prevention is still much better than cure. The experts always recommend getting the services of a DDoS mitigation services provider, like IP Converge Data Services (IPC), a pioneer in this niche service. For its offered protection, IPC provides dedicated internet access to customers through its robust network infrastructure.
Recently, IPC has also announced a team-up with Continent 8 Technologies, which has offices in North America and Europe. “This partnership will offer Philippine enterprise highly sophisticated, yet easy to deploy security solutions with truly localized support,” said IPC Chief Operating Officer David de Leon.
To learn more about how companies and organizations can protect their online platforms against DDoS attacks, visit http://ipc.ph/en/ddos.
