What is a DDoS attack and how modern companies protect against it

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A DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) is one of the most common types of cyberattacks, aimed at disabling a server, website, or online service by sharply increasing incoming traffic. As a result, legitimate users cannot access the resource, and the business incurs direct financial and reputational losses.

Unlike a regular DoS attack, DDoS uses a distributed infrastructure. The source of the load becomes a botnet – a network of infected devices (PCs, servers, IoTs) that simultaneously send requests to the target server. In a DDoS attack diagram, it usually shows thousands of nodes directing traffic to one point, creating an overload of communication channels and computing resources.

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Main types of DDoS attacks

There are several types of DDoS attacks, differing in their mechanics of impact. The most common are volumetric attacks, aimed at overflowing the channel’s bandwidth. Protocol attacks (SYN flood, UDP flood) are also common, exploiting the features of network protocols. A separate category is application-layer attacks, which mimic the behavior of real users and target web applications.

An example is an HTTP flood, where attackers send thousands of requests to the dynamic pages of a site, burdening the application server and the database. Visually, this appears as a sharp spike in traffic on the monitoring graph.

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How DDoS attacks are dangerous for business

Even a short-term DDoS attack can lead to a stoppage of online sales, disruptions in client services, and SLA violations. For companies operating in e-commerce, the financial sector, or SaaS, a few hours of downtime can mean significant losses. Moreover, regular attacks undermine the trust of clients and partners.

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Methods of protection against DDoS

Effective DDoS protection is based on a multi-layered approach. The first layer involves traffic filtering and anomaly detection. This is followed by load-balancing systems, CDN networks and anti-DDoS services capable of absorbing excess traffic. The protection diagram typically shows how malicious traffic is blocked before it reaches the main server.

In addition, companies implement continuous monitoring, automated incident response and backup communication channels. This approach minimises the impact of attacks and ensures the resilience of the digital infrastructure, even under high loads.

In order to effectively address the issue of DDoS prevention and ensure the continuity of business processes, it is necessary to implement state-of-the-art security systems. One of the most powerful and scalable tools on the market is the A10 Defend solution from A10 Networks, for which iIT Distribution is the official distributor in Ukraine.

This comprehensive package enables organisations to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks. A10 Defend Detector provides continuous traffic monitoring and early attack detection, whilst A10 Defend Mitigator employs intelligent traffic filtering techniques to repel even the most sophisticated multi-vector threats.

Thanks to Zero-Day Automatic Protection (ZAP) technology and machine learning-based protection, DDoS server protection becomes autonomous: the system independently blocks anomalous behaviour and large-scale botnet attacks, preventing traffic overload on the server. By choosing A10 Defend, Ukrainian companies gain not only industry-leading performance (up to 220 Gbps per 1 RU), but also reliable DDoS protection in Ukraine.

Given the consequences of a DDoS attack and just how devastating a distributed attack can be, Ukrainian companies would do well to start considering a move to the proactive DDoS protection provided by A10 Networks’ solutions.

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