How To Fix Vulnerabilities Regularly And Block DDoS Attacks

This blog was originally published by MazeBolt here.

In cybersecurity, a vulnerability is a weakness in a computer system or a network, making it susceptible to a cyberattack. Attackers exploit network vulnerabilities when they launch DDoS attacks that cause the target system or service to crash. Vulnerabilities are created because of unanticipated interactions of different software programs, system components, or flawed individual programs. Based on the location of the vulnerability, the reason for its cause, and how criminals can exploit it, vulnerabilities can be divided into broad categories.

• Operating System Vulnerabilities - Kaspersky explains vulnerabilities within an operating system or an application can result from an error in the program code; and from legitimate, documented ways in which applications are allowed to access the system.
  
  
• Process Vulnerabilities - Some vulnerabilities occur because of the failure of existing protocols or by introducing a new one in business operations, for example, allowing weak passwords, lack of 2 step verification, no backup data policies, limited automation, etc.

• Network Vulnerabilities - DDoS attackers often exploit network vulnerabilities. A network becomes vulnerable because of hardware, software or manual errors. Examples include poorly configured firewalls, bad reconfigurations, etc.

Vulnerabilities Continue to Grow and Remain Undetected

Organizations undergo continuous digital transformation to build a modern infrastructure. In the process of adding software and devices, new vulnerabilities contribute to the network surface risks. One of the most critical steps towards blocking a DDoS attack is identifying DDoS vulnerabilities before an attacker can exploit them. However, security personnel rely on traditional vulnerability identification tools, which are time-consuming and inefficient, and therefore, organizations suffer from poor surface risk visibility.

Traditional DDoS testing requires maintenance window and is highly disruptive to ongoing operations. As a result, organizations can perform Pen Tests on production environments a few times a year; each test lasts for short 3-4 hours and includes few DDoS vectors. Because of the limited efficiency of Pen Tests, networks remain in a constant vulnerability state.

Need for Continuous Fine-tuning and Improved Visibility

Regularly Reconfigure Mitigation Solutions - Whether deployed DDoS mitigation is based on a Cloud Scrubbing Service, On-premise device (CPE) or a Hybrid solution, the technology does not work on a plug and play mechanism. The mitigation solution blocks DDoS attacks only when it’s perfectly configured on a network level and on an IP address level to the underlying network it’s protecting. As vulnerabilities occur in continually changing networks, security personnel need to reconfigure DDoS mitigation’s settings for each separate network.

Improved Surface Risk Visibility for Immediate Action - Mitigation solutions need human assistance to fine-tune the policies. Security officers can manage reconfiguration quickly and easily if they receive ongoing insights into their network surface risks. Organizations must insist on understanding highly vulnerable points in the network across the IPs on live production environment so security teams can undertake immediate action against DDoS attacks.

Fix Vulnerabilities Regularly and Block All DDoS Attacks

Organizations need a solution that works with their existing mitigation solution to identify vulnerabilities, reconfigure mitigation policies, and revalidate remediation continuously on a live environment without any maintenance window. Security personnel can then detect ongoing attack surface risks and ensure remediation without disrupting business.