Let’s get this straight: having a DDoS protection plan ready to go is something your business should have already done.

The landscape of the internet and modern day technology makes business much easier, and more difficult at the same time. We have tools for efficiency. We can host our services in the cloud. Information moves at light speed, and through applications we can collaborate and work together like never before.

The problem with a dependence on technology is that at any moment, if you are not prepared, your website can be taken offline. This can happen in a matter of minutes.

Should you run out and buy DDoS protection right now? Absolutely not. If you don’t need it, I would recommend that you don’t use it because it is expensive in comparison to regular hosting.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have a plan ready to go if disaster strikes, though.

Why Your Business Should Have A DDoS Protection Plan

Let’s put together a hypothetical. Let’s say that our good friend Bob runs a large ecommerce site that brings in about 1 million visitors per month. Now, imagine that out of those visitors 50,000 end up purchasing widgets from Bob’s website. If each one of those customers averages a $100 ticket, Bob’s looking at a nice tidy sum of $5,000,000.

Now imagine that 5% of that traffic never made it to the website because of a DDoS attack. See the big picture? That 5% loss translates into a even bigger loss of $250,000 in a given month.

That is the impact a sustained DDoS attack can have on your business.

How To Create A DDoS Protection Plan

Having a DDOS protection plan is like having a playbook to getting back online. If you have policies in place and established procedures it should only come down to making some calls. Protection can happen in minutes.

Remote DDoS protection works without you having to change hosts or install anything on your server. All it takes is a DNS change. If your hosting provider does not provide DDOS protection it is in your best interest to have a pre-established company you can turn to that offers remote DDoS protection.

To create a DDOS protection plan for your company you should get together with the decision makers and IT personnel and establish which vendors you will reach out to first. You should also plan for customer support issues. Often times during a DDoS attack you may have to deal with upset customers. You’ll want someone monitoring company social media channels and assuring customers that the problem is being handled.

You should also consider hosting your email separate from your website. This way if your website goes down you can still receive emails and respond to customers. However, it’s still recommended that you use social media or use something like WordPress.com for updating your customers should your website be offline longer than expected.

Key Things To Consider

• Know that you’re vulnerable.
• DDoS attacks are only getting easier to launch.
• Plan ahead, don’t hope for the best.
• Secure bottlenecks.
• Watch what’s happening on your network.
• Look beyond large attacks.
• Beware application-layer attacks.
• Watch for blended attacks.
• Make upstream friends.
• Consider countermeasures.
• Pitfalls of not having a plan.

Not having a DDoS protection plan ready when you need it means you often end up paying more money. A DDoS attack is a stressful thing to deal with when you have a company to run. You do not want to be making blind decisions in the heat of the battle.

Not only will it cost you more, chances are it’ll take longer to get you back online.