You have been told that you cannot access your applications over the internet and/or your web site is down due to an unfortunate DDOS Attack! What is this? Who is to blame for this? How long before the problem is resolved? Can we protect ourselves from a DDOS Attack in the future? Should I switch to another iSaaS Provider to solve this?
This article is designed to answer these common questions for our ManageMore clients who may likely be down and can no longer access ManageMore from their iSaaS Provider.
What is DDOS and is it Illegal?
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to make a targeted system, such as your Internet Provider, a website or application, unavailable to end users. To achieve this, attackers use a variety of techniques that consume network or other resources, interrupting access for legitimate end users. Basically, each computer server on the internet can only handle X number of requests for information from other computers on the internet. Given a large enough number of simultaneous internet requests to a single computer (i.e. specific IP Address) will most certainly bog down any computer and bring it to its knees. An orchestrated DDOS attack is illegal under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and comes with very stiff penalties. Unfortunately, this criminal act is on the rise and most of the perpetrators doing it are from third world countries not afraid of U.S. laws.
Want to know more about about how a DDOS attack is capable of orchestrating hundreds of computers to attack one system? Click Here for an excellent short video which shows how a DDOS attack works.
How does a DDOS attack relate to ManageMore not working?
It doesn’t. ManageMore is a desktop software application only and is not affected by internet traffic. If you have chosen to put the ManageMore application onto an Internet Web Server for purposes of cloud-based remote access, you are relying on this Web Server being able to communicate to your pc’s so that you can access your business applications. A DDOS attack interrupts your ability to connect to the server that is running your ManageMore application. Contact your internet provider to help resolve A DDOS attack as soon as possible.
How long has this internet exploit been around?
The first documented DoS-style attack occurred during the week of February 7, 2000, when “mafiaboy,” a 15-year-old Canadian hacker, orchestrated a series of DoS attacks against several e-commerce sites, including Amazon and eBay.
Why would someone want to perform a DDOS Attack on my business or to my Internet Provider?
Sadly, we have a lot bad people in the world and they all have different motives.
A malicious individual or organization may have many reasons they want to cause harm to a business that relies on internet connected server(s). It used to be something that was done for fun by bored/demented adolescents. But today, the trend is more often for political reasons and/or financial reasons.
Can I avoid a DDOS Attack?
Simple Answer is No. If you want to use the internet for running applications remotely (like ManageMore) or rely on the internet for any other aspect of your business, then it is typically a matter of WHEN a DDOS Attack will happen to you. Most ISP’s and Cloud-Based Service providers have DDoS protection services that attempt to analyze/block internet traffic that is bad. However, like, Email SPAM, the attackers are always making adjustments and finding clever ways to bypass these automated defense systems. The largest tech companies in the world (i.e. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.) spend millions of dollars annually to prevent a DDOS attack and still run into this problem periodically. In a certain sense, A DDOS attack is akin to a natural catastrophe (e.g. Hurricane, Tornado, Wild Fires, etc.). You can do many things to help prepare for these rare situations, but you simply cannot prevent it from happening. Building your own private network could ultimately thwart a DDOS attack permanently, but this would come at a very high cost in hardware infrastructure that is way too much for most small businesses to implement.
How long can a DDOS Attack last?
Most DDOS attacks cool down after a few hours, but some can last for a few days or more. Don’t Panic! Your affected internet web service provider will often begin a process known as blacklisting in order to get their servers responding again to legitimate clients as quickly as possible. Although the DDOS attack may continue for a few days or more, your internet provider’s IT staff should get things under control within a few hours or less.
Should I Switch to another Internet Web Service Provider to solve my DDOS Attack?
If your Provider is unable to resolve the attack within a reasonable timeframe, you should certainly consider switching providers. However, given that switching providers can be a resource-intensive process all on its own, you are better off letting cooler heads prevail and give your Internet Provider the opportunity to resolve an unfortunate situation not caused by them. How long to wait depends on the sophistication of the DDOS Attack, but we would suggest looking for an alternative internet solution if you have been down for 48 hours or more and no real progress has been made to get the network attack under control.
What does the future hold for Internet attacks such as this?
Much like electricity, the internet has become part of our daily lives as we know it. Just like electric companies, there are weakness in the internet infrastructure that can never guarantee 100% uptime all the time. The best course of action is to have an emergency preparedness plan to ride out the problem until it gets resolved. This may require some planning involving a manual invoice booklet or a standalone laptop/computer for recording sales during the interruption. Each business must determine the cost impact of being down and the practical solution for dealing with it.
