Data-driven DDoS defence decision making

By Mike Hemes, Regional Director of A10 Networks.

  • 6 years ago Posted in
The unrelenting wave of multi-vector DDoS attacks has blossomed into a full-fledged systemic problem for organisations of all sizes. And it shows no signs of slowing. To calm the mounting concern over inadequate multi-vector DDoS protection and defence capacity, organisations find themselves tapping already strapped budgets to increase spending on DDoS detection and mitigation. In fact, 74 percent of respondents to a recent A10 Networks-commissioned IDG Connect survey specifically mention multi-vector attacks as the reason they plan to increase spending on DDoS protection in the next six months.
Industry statistics echo that attitude: DDoS protection is the fastest growing sector in the cybersecurity market, and it’s expected to maintain that status through 2021.
That is great news for the DDoS defence vendor community, but it presents unique challenges for you as you wade through data sheets with speeds and feeds to find the solution that’s the best fit for your organisation.
The DDoS Defence Decision Crossroads
Making a purchasing decision is hard enough as it is. And when the stakes are high, the difficulty of that decision mounts exponentially. That’s the intersection where large enterprises and service providers stand today: How do you build an affordable and effective defence strategy for today while planning for it to double or triple every year?
We see familiar responses from business decision makers when you find yourself at this crossroads. Here’s the two-step process:
Step 1 Contact your legacy vendor.
This is a normal response for companies, because leveraging sunk costs and expanding from there seems to be the prudent approach. That perceived prudence is often short-lived, however, and gives way to panic as the enormous quote causes sticker shock. Next comes the realisation that the current path may be unsustainable.
Step 2 The search begins.
You realise you need to find better ways to ensure you’re investing in solutions that are more effective and scalable, and that make sounder economic sense, all while ensuring future protection.
Changing vendors is hard, but in many cases using modern approaches can save money in the long run and even in the near term. What you need is data. Vendors like ourselves (A10 Networks) create data sheet, app notes and use cases to help understand individual solution capabilities. But there are limits to what these documents can tell you about how solutions will behave in real-world scenarios and how they will protect the various types of infrastructures. To combat the swell in DDoS activity, organisations must make new investments in DDoS defence solutions. But which vendor solution is best? It is now imperative that defenders need proven data to ensure they’re investing in solutions that are more effective, scalable and that make economic sense.
By Barry O'Donnelll, Chief Operating Officer at TSG.
By Dr. Sven Krasser, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist, CrowdStrike.
By Gareth Beanland, Infinidat.
By Nick Heudecker, Senior Director at Cribl.
By Stuart Green, Cloud Security Architect at Check Point Software Technologies.
The cloud is the backbone of digital cybersecurity. By Walter Heck, CTO HeleCloud
By Damien Brophy, Vice President EMEA at ThoughtSpot.