Denial-of-Service Attacks

Hackers use denial of service (DoS) attacks to disrupt traffic to your website. Discover how to protect your business from these types of attacks.

Step 1:Recognize

Red Flags of a DoS Attack

There are a few warning signs that your website or online service is under a DoS or DDos attack:

  • Unusually high traffic levels: If you notice that your website is receiving significantly more traffic than usual, it could be a sign that someone is trying to overload your server with requests in order to cause a denial-of-service.
  • Slower performance: A DoS or DDoS attack can also cause your website to run more slowly than usual. This is because the extra traffic can overload your server, making it difficult for legitimate requests to be processed in a timely manner.
  • Errors when trying to access the website: If you receive errors or are unable to access your website, it could be due to an ongoing DoS or DDoS attack. This is because the attacker may be specifically targeting your website’s IP address, making it difficult or impossible for you to connect.
  • Emails or contact forms not working: Another common sign of a DoS or DDoS attack is if your email service or contact forms are no longer working. This is because the attacker may be flooding your server with requests, making it difficult for legitimate messages to get through.
  • Hosting provider notifies you of an attack: If you receive a notification from your web hosting provider that they are seeing unusual activity on your account or that your website is offline, it is likely due to a DoS or DDoS attack.

If you think your website is under a DoS or DDos attack, click the report tab to learn about reporting the incident, then head over to the recover tab and follow the immediate action steps.

Step 2:Immediate Actions

DoS and DDoS attacks can be extremely damaging to your business, so it is important to take action immediately. There are a few things you can do to try to mitigate the damage:

  • Contact your hosting provider: The first thing you should do is contact your web hosting provider. They will likely have experience dealing with these types of attacks and will be able to help you stop them and prevent these attacks in the future.
  • Implement a rate-limiting system: Rate-limiting is a method of limiting the number of requests that can be made to your website in a given period of time. This can help to stop a DoS or DDoS attack by preventing the attacker from flooding your server with requests.
  • Use a content delivery network (CDN): A CDN is a system of distributed servers that can help to deliver content to users more quickly and efficiently. This can be helpful in mitigating the effects of a DoS or DDoS attack, as the attacker will not be able to overload your server if your content is being delivered from multiple locations.
  • Implement security measures: There are a number of security measures you can put in place to help protect your website from DoS and DDoS attacks. These include firewalls, intrusion detection systems and rate-limiting systems.
  • Stay up to date: Keep your software up to date with the latest security patches. This will help to make it more difficult for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities in your website.

Step 3:Report

Reporting any type of cybercrime, including DoS attacks, is imperative to help others avoid being scammed. As a society, the more people that report online scams and fraud, the more national reporting data that is collected, and the better chance law enforcement has to catch the criminals and decrease cybercrime.

Step 4:Recover

How to Protect Your Business from Cyber Attacks

There are steps you can take to protect your business from all kinds of cyber attacks. Here are some tips:

  • Protect your website and online services with firewalls, intrusion detection systems and rate-limiting systems.
  • Back up your data regularly. This is the most important thing you can do to protect your data. Store your backups offline, so they can’t be encrypted.
  • Keep your software up to date. Install security updates for your operating system and applications as soon as they’re available.
  • Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders. Don’t click on links in email messages from unknown senders.
  • Don’t download software from untrustworthy websites. Only download software from websites you trust.
  • Use a security suite that includes anti-malware protection. A security suite can protect your computer from ransomware and other malware.
  • Educate your employees about cyber threats. Search for free cybersecurity training videos on YouTube.
  • If you have the budget, consider investing in cybersecurity training for your employees to educate them about threats, and what they can do to help protect themselves and the business from cyber attacks.
  • Instruct your employees to report anything suspicious to you or their supervisor.
  • Implement security measures such as two-factor authentication and email filtering.
  • Monitor your organization’s email and website traffic for any suspicious activity.
  • Have a plan in place for what to do in the event of a breach, so you can quickly contain the damage and minimize the impact on your business.

Take 5 Steps for Better Online Security

It’s important to strengthen your business’ online security to help avoid all cyber attacks. Take action to improve your digital posture by following these steps:

  1. Implement Multi Factor Authentication (MFA): Passwords are generally easy for scammers to crack, and even if you use strong passphrases, there’s still the possibility that a cybercriminal can obtain your passphrase in a data breach. Implementing MFA is a great way to maximize your security and ensure that you are the only one who can gain access to your accounts. MFA should be implemented on all accounts where it is available. Check your account’s security settings to see if it is something you can set up.
  2. Update Your Privacy Settings: Privacy settings allow you to control your personal information (name, address, phone number, date of birth, financial details, photos or videos, etc) and how that information is used. Review your privacy settings on all of your accounts including your social media accounts. Consider restricting who can see your friends list, contacts, photos and posts.
  3. Activate Automatic Updates: Automatic updates are a set of changes to an app, software or operating system that are automatically pushed by the developer to fix or improve it. Oftentimes, cybercriminals take advantage of security flaws to plant malicious software on your devices. By activating automatic updates, you will automatically patch security vulnerabilities to protect your data.
  4. Use a Password Manager or Create Strong Passphrases: A password manager is a software tool that securely stores all of your login credentials in one place, allowing you to create and manage strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts. If you are unable to afford a password manager, use strong passphrases. A passphrase is a combination of random words or a sentence that is much longer and more complex than a typical password. Using a passphrase instead of a password makes it much harder for hackers to guess or brute-force their way into your accounts.
  5. Learn the Elements of a Phishing Attempt: Familiarize yourself with the elements of a phishing email. Phishing emails tend to include a sense of urgency and multiple grammar and spelling errors. If they are asking you to reveal personal information, be suspicious. If you get a strange email, try contacting the company another way to confirm they sent that email. If the email is suspicious, mark it as spam.

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Without Fightcybercrime.org, I don't know if I would have been able to react as quickly to protect my personal information.
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