The season holiday is a pleasant time for everyone, but especially for merchants and online store managers, as there is more work and therefore more revenue. However, this period is also chosen by many hackers to carry out DDoS attacks on such businesses.
Researcher Madeline Cyr interviewed Forrester security analysts David Holmes and Joseph Blankenship to help marketers understand the threat of DDoS attacks during the holiday season.
The researcher's first question was: "Last year, DDoS attacks on online stores peaked during the weekend after Black Friday. Could such an attack completely destroy Black Friday/Cyber Monday online sales?"
According to Blankenship, DDoS attacks are a common occurrence these days. They happen every year. The bad thing is that the victims cannot be predicted so that there is prevention.
For what reasons are DdoS attacks usually carried out?
According to the company Radware, which specializes in these attacks, the main reasons are:
- Site shutdown and ransom demand
- Attack to reduce sales
- Redirecting buyers to other sites, since they cannot access the one that has been attacked
- Attack for political reasons
Another question from the researcher was: "What strategies and protections should marketers use to prevent DdoS attacks?"
According to Holmes, online store managers should work with a company that protects their customers from DDoS attacks. Such a partnership should be in place before an attack occurs. Dealing with a DDoS attack without any protection measures is every IT team's nightmare, especially during the holiday season, when there is increased work.
"If a site receives a DdoS attack, how does it get back up and running?" was the last question.
Holmes said that most online stores these days have moved to cloud services or networks (CDNs), which usually have built-in DDoS protection. This protection is usually provided for free, so sites can weather the attacks and continue to operate normally. However, researchers have expressed doubts about the quality and effectiveness of this protection.
