While the software world has fought diligently to reduce the number of affective attack on the personal computer at home through anti-virus programs, hackers have turned their attentions to that which is most vital, but often not very well protected – the hosted website. A variety of tactics are being used by hackers against websites without regard to the size or industry of the business or organization. An American-based Internet security agency recently reported that Internet threats rose by two-thirds in April of 2009.

Many of these attacks are related to phishing -  the attempt to illegally acquire sensitive information from site visitors and internet goers. With login credentials and other information, hackers can mount attacks against an organization’s intranet, their website or their data with valid, stolen information. In some cases information can be solicited from the web hosting company itself, with a hacker posing as an employee of the company.

Also on the rise is a form of attack known as Denial or Service (DOS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. With a DDoS attack, unknowingly, users’ computers across the world can be under the control of a hacker. A hacker can cause hundreds to thousands of computers to hit servers that are hosting websites. This mass attack can cause servers to stop, crash or restart resulting in one to hundreds of websites going down. Most recently, there were 4 major attacks against web hosts. This strategy affected thousands of web hosting companies’ clients, taking thousands of websites and web applications offline. The affect of having your lead- or revenue-generating website offline for an extended period of time can be devastating.

Protection from human manipulation, DDoS attacks and other common Internet attacks can and should be handled at the hosting level by a secure hosting company. Human manipulation can be mitigated through change management protocol. Change management protocol requires a level of interaction to help prevent unauthorized access to hosting information from falling into the wrong hands. A secure, redundant network infrastructure, top-tier equipment and superior data centers will mitigate Denial of Service attacks from effectively bringing servers down.

Industry-leading, web host security means much more than just a firewall, more than just a system monitor that tells you when something goes wrong after the fact. Contact a FireHost agent now to see how FireHost‘s managed, proactive, secure hosting can protect you against a new rise in Internet attacks.

You may have heard about DoS/DDoS Attacks in the news, including reports of high profile DoS attacks in Georgia last summer and more recently the attack against Register.com. As a business website owner, it’s important you understand these attacks, how they work, and how a secure hosting environment can prevent them from ruining your revenue and reputation.

In general terms, hackers use denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to tie up processor resources rendering the computer useless to you, the user. DoS/DDoS attacks can manifest in a number of ways. The target computer may be forced to reset numerous times consuming processor resources and incapacitating the machine. These attacks can also disrupt your service by obstructing communication with end-users.

Victims of a DoS/DDoS attack often experience the following common symptoms:

• Unusually slow network performance.
• Unavailability of a particular website.
• Inability to access any website.
• Dramatic increase in spam emails.

FireHost customers are protected from DoS/DDoS attacks by industry-leading security.

Network Layer Security
We run dual high availability routers and firewalls providing full network redundancy for every client. This network layer design safeguards websites, emails, and databases from unauthorized intrusion by a DoS/DDoS attack.

Application Protection
On top of that, we run web application firewalls (WAFs). This closes the holes within your websites and applications and provides another layer of DoS/DDoS protection

As an industy leader in secure web hosting, we pride ourselves in providing clients peace of mind. Contact a FireHost Agent today for more information about our world class DoS attack prevention and website security services. ]]> http://www.fireblog.com/secure-hosting-environment-can-prevent-dos-and-ddos-attacks/feed/ 0