iStock_000012767009XSmallIncreasingly, we are seeing a disturbing trend of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) cyber attacks upon businesses. In particular, financial institutions are targeted in this type of attack, though any type of business can be affected. These attacks are growing in size and complexity, and most institutions are starting to wake up and realize that their old methods of protection are no longer doing the job.

Attackers often target the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure, which can render company websites unavailable to customers. This disrupts business and customer transactions, creates frustration for customers, damages the company’s reputation, and can do major harm to revenue streams.

Luckily, most companies – especially financial institutions – are taking this potential threat very seriously. From large national banks to small, local corporations, these companies are consulting with DDoS experts to ensure that such an attack will be be quickly recognized and remedied if it should occur. Of course, preventing such an attack should be an even higher priority.

Traditional methods of protection, such as firewalls and bandwidth overprovisioning, may no longer be sufficient in preventing attacks. To prevent these more sophisticated attacks, cloud-based DDoS protection services are becoming more popular. This type of protection is often more effective and affordable for a range of needs and budgets, and it helps to ensure critical internet infrastructure will be protected. This prevents damage to both revenue streams and company reputation, by maintaining the all-important internet presence.

The trend of increasing DDoS attacks is disturbing, but the resulting awareness and proactive approach we are seeing by most businesses is a positive reaction. In the future we’re sure to see faster and more seamless reactions to cyber attacks, making all of us a little safer.