A Distributed Denial of Service Attack, also called a DDoS attack, is the most dangerous tool a hacker has on a company or individual’s computer. It is an ongoing concern due to the damage it can do to your computer, hard drive, and network. No matter how large your company website is, the DDoS can get through many of your additional security measures. Ensuring proper protection from a DDoS attack, such as obtaining cyber crime insurance, is essential if you have a company website, no matter how big or small.
What is a DDoS attack?
A DDoS attack is a frightening concept to any business with a company website, especially one that may handle sensitive and confidential customer information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other personal information. When the attack hits, your entire website can be rendered offline anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to several days. Not only is your information infected and hacked into, but with your website down, you lose thousands of dollars or more. You may even have to spend large sums of money to get your servers working and your website up and running again. After an attack hits, consumers will also be less willing to visit your site, and existing customers may decide to do business elsewhere. While it is more common for DDoS attacks to occur on large websites such as Visa or PayPal, small websites should also be concerned with type of cyber crime.
Why should I worry about a DDoS attack on my business?
Any company with a website needs to be worried about a DDoS attack. This type of attack can have astronomical consequences including the loss of income, important and private data, and return customers. Imagine how much you earn on any given day and multiply that by several days or weeks; that is only a small percentage of the financial cost it would take to recover from such an attack.
How can I protect my business against a DDoS attack?
The prospect of your company website getting a DDoS attack is scary, but there are several ways you can protect your business.
- Have proper insurance. For starters, you should have cyber insurance. Cyber insurance will offer protection against such attacks, including income assistance for the length of time your servers are down, the replacement of important data, and even cover the cost of some repairs or replacements of your computers and other electronics.
- Know your system. Knowing your system is also an important aspect of protecting it against such attacks. You should understand exactly what information the DDoS hack can receive and how they go about it. By having a better understanding of your own system and servers, you can make actions to prevent it.
- Have security measures. You should also have adequate hardware and software defense, though it isn’t always enough to prevent a DDoS attack.
- Develop a response plan. Have a response plan in place in the event that your other security and preventative measures have not been successful. This will help to eliminate money and business lost by acting quickly.
DDoS attacks can be debilitating to a business and cause you to go under if you don’t act fast enough. With the right security measures to prevent such attacks, a fast response time, and proper cyber crime insurance, you can protect your business following an attack if you were unable to prevent it.
