A DDOS attack is a common method for distributing the online services of a business. DDOS stands for distributed denial of service. Understanding what a DDOS attack is helps to provide the first step in protecting your business from these attacks or recognizing them when they occur. Here are a few important things that you need to know about DDOS attacks and how they can impact your business.

DDOS Attack or DOS Attack?

There are both DDOS attacks and DOS attacks. The main difference is that a DDOS attack is a type of DOS attack, but not all DOS attacks are DDOS attacks. A DDOS attack is different from other DOS attacks in that it uses multiple bots that form a group called a botnet. This botnet is then used to attack the target in an attempt to disrupt the website’s regular operations. Essentially, these DDOS attacks are intended to be a malicious attempt at making a website’s online services unavailable to its regular users. This is often done by suspending or interrupting the services of the website’s hosting server. This type of attack is launched from multiple compromised devices.

Three General Categories

There are three general categories that make up DDOS and DOS attacks alike. Each of these categories takes a different approach to the attack. However, they generally have the same goal of disrupting the operations of the website. There are volume based attacks, protocol attacks, and application layer attacks.

Volume Based Attacks

Volume based attacks include many common DDOS attacks, like UDP floods or ICMP floods. The goal of volume based attacks is essentially to saturate the bandwidth of the targeted site. The magnitude of volume based attacks is measured in a different way than the other two types of attacks. These attacks are measured in bits per second, commonly notated as Bps.

Protocol Attacks

Protocol attacks take a different approach than volume based attacks. These attacks include things like Smurf DDOS, Ping of Death, SYN floods, and fragmented packet attacks. Protocol attacks function by consuming the actual server resources of the website. This includes various things like the load balances or firewalls of the website. Protocol attacks are generally measured as packets per second, which is notated as Pps.

Application Layer Attacks

Application layer attacks take a more subtle, disguised approach to the attack. It includes types of attacks like GET/POST floods or low-and-slow attacks. The way application layer attacks work by attacking with a series of seemingly legitimate or otherwise innocent requests. The goal of this attack is to crash the web server by overloading it. These attacks are measured in requests per second, which is notated as Rps.

The Motivation Behind a DDOS Attack

Understanding the motivation behind DDOS attacks can help you to avoid them occurring. Sometimes, DDOS attacks are performed due to ideology. During these attacks, a “hacktivist” targets the website of a business that they disagree with the ideals of, such as when there is an ethical conflict with the company. Business feuds are another common reason for DDOS attacks. These attacks are particularly common on days that are important for internet sales for the company, such as Cyber Monday. Boredom can also be a reason that someone might attempt a DDOS attack. Extortion is another motivation. When extortion is the reason, it is likely that the company or individual will be threatened with a DDOS attack if they don’t comply with demands. Cyber warfare is another possible reason behind a DDOS attack.

Protecting your Company

Malicious sources are everywhere on the internet. When your company is impacted by these sources, such as phishing attacks, data breaches, or other issues, it can be devastating to your business. Taking a proactive approach to preventing these sources from accessing your data can go a long way toward protecting your company. There are many steps you can take, such as recognizing phishing attacks or securing your data.

Taking the steps to protect your company’s website and data will go a long way toward preventing substantial issues from arising to your company. Outsourcing your IT management can help to keep your information secure from potentially malicious sources. At Crossaction Computers, we strive to provide the services that are necessary to protect your business. To learn more about the various services that we offer and how they can protect your company, contact our experienced team at Crossaction Computers today!

Disasters come in many different forms and are always inconvenient. In fact, many small businesses never recover from a disaster after it has impacted their facility. Disasters can include anything from natural disasters, like hurricanes or earthquakes, to disasters that specifically impact that business, such as data breaches or fires in the building. Disaster recovery is incredibly important in getting your business up and running again after it has experienced a disaster. Here are a few of the best disaster recovery tips for your business.  

Disaster Recovery Tips

Disaster recovery is an incredibly important component in protecting your business after you have experienced a disaster. These disaster recovery tips apply both to preparing before a disaster and handling a disaster after it has occurred. When it comes to the data of your company, it is incredibly important to ensure that you provide effective disaster recovery strategies to minimize issues. Learning these disaster recovery tips can help to protect your business from closing down due to a disaster.

Assess Damage

Immediately following a disaster, it will be important to assess the extent of the damage. This will allow you to make a list of priorities and devise a plan to help you restore the damage. It is crucial to assess the damage. This step will help you to develop the ideal strategy to recover after your business has been impacted by a disaster. In some situations, this will be an assessment of physical damage, such as after an earthquake. In other situations, the assessed damage will be less physical, such as the extent of damage following a data breach. When you are aware of the damage, you will be better equipped to recover from the damage.

Reach Out for Help

You don’t have to do it all on your own when you are attempting to recover from a disaster. Reach out to your insurance company to see if your policy will cover the damage. Many insurance policies won’t cover natural disasters, because they are referred to as an “act of God.” However, other damage, such as damage from a fire, may very well be covered under your insurance plan. It can also be beneficial to consult with companies that are more experienced in disaster recovery strategies.

Get Started Quickly

It is important to act immediately after you have been impacted by a disaster. The longer you wait to engage in disaster recovery strategies, the more difficult it will be to effectively recover from the disaster. Disaster recovery needs to begin as soon as possible following the disaster. This will go a long way toward minimizing damage and ensuring that your data recovery strategies are far more effective.  

Communicate

Communication is incredibly important following a disaster of any sort. You will need to ensure that you communicate both with customers and employees regarding when you expect for your business to reopen or other specific concerns. For example, if your business has sustained a data breach, you will need to communicate with anyone that may be impacted by the breach. It is also incredibly important to be honest with everyone following a disaster. Dishonesty is likely to only make the situation worse.

Plan Ahead

It is important to ensure that you have developed an effective plan for disaster recovery before the disaster happens. When you don’t have a plan, you will be scrambling to develop a disaster recovery strategy. One of the best disaster recovery tips is to ensure that you have a clear, concise plan and that everyone knows what the plan is. This will help to prevent miscommunication and other issues that can arise during the disaster recovery phase. Additionally, the faster you work to recover after a disaster, the more effective your disaster recovery will be.

Consider your IT

The data that your business uses is generally a critical component of keeping your business operating as intended. Due to this, it is incredibly important to consider how your data is stored and various strategies that may be available to help you minimize damage. For example, there are many places in which your data can be stored. You may choose to keep your data stored at a data center or to keep your data in a cloud-based solution. Whatever method you choose, it is incredibly important to ensure that your data is backed up and you are able to recover it after a disaster has impacted your business. At Crossaction Computers, our experienced team is knowledgeable regarding the best options for protecting your data.

Train Employees

You should ensure that your employees are trained thoroughly regarding your specific recovery plan. This will ensure that all employees will be able to react when a disaster occurs. The appropriate steps can go a long way toward minimizing damage, but it is important that your employees react quickly following a disaster. From various evacuation plans to other strategies, it is important to ensure that you thoroughly train your employees in the right approach to take.  

Have a Recovery Team

Having a designated recovery team can go a long way toward improving your data recovery process. This will help to ensure that you are able to direct your resources toward recovering after a natural disaster. Ensure that everyone on your recovery team knows their various roles and are able to act immediately for effective disaster recovery. Our disaster recovery tips are designed to ensure that your business is able to more effectively recover after been struck with a disaster.

Disaster recovery tips can help you to devise the best plan to meet all of your specific needs. Our experienced team at Crossaction Computers is dedicated to ensuring that your data can be protected, even after your building has seen a natural disaster. We are capable of providing expert services to protect your data and minimize the possibility of substantial issues that can disrupt your operations. Your data is a critical component of your building’s regular operations. To learn more about how to ensure that your data can be recovered following a disaster, contact us at Crossaction Computers today!

If your company has seen a data breach, it is crucial to have a plan in place to mitigate the total amount of damage. A data breach can be devastating to a business, especially if it isn’t handled appropriately. While it is incredibly important to prevent data breaches in the first place, it is just as important to handle the data breach appropriately following the occurrence. Here are a few of the important steps to take immediately after a data breach.

Find out What was Stolen

In order to rectify the situation, you will need to find out what information was stolen. If you don’t know what information has been stolen by the hacker, you won’t be able to take the steps to fix the issue. This will also help you to determine the extent of the damage that has occurred from the data breach. Once you have identified what information has been stolen, you can take the best following processes to rectify the situation.

Identify the Source of the Breach

It is critical to find the point at which your data was breached. When you don’t know the source, you can’t prevent future attacks through the same avenues. In order to fix the data breach, you will need to know how the breach occurred. After you have identified the source of the breach, you will be able to fix the initial issue.

Alert your Response Team

Prior to a data breach, you should have an IT team that is designed specifically to handle emergencies. This will help to ensure that you will know precisely what to do immediately after a data breach. After you have experienced a data breach, you will need to immediately alert your response team. When the response team isn’t notified regarding the data breach, they won’t know to take the steps to secure your IT and prevent any additional data from becoming lost due to the breach.

Test your Fix

It isn’t adequate to simply patch the problem where the breach occurred. It is crucial to make sure that the fix will work and hold up against potential attacks. When you don’t test your fix, it is possible that it will be inadequate and additional data breaches will occur. You should regularly test your security solutions to ensure that they will protect your data. This is an important component in preventing additional issues from arising. A company that has many data breaches will lose the trust of their customers. It is important to prevent these data breaches from occurring and handle them correctly when they do occur.

Inform Authorities

You will need to inform the relevant authorities when your business has experienced a data breach. It is also important to consult with your legal team regarding the breach. They will be better equipped to advise you how to handle the legal aspect of a data breach. While you need to secure your data and prevent additional loss of data, you should inform the authorities as soon as possible.

Reach Out to Affected Customers

Communication is a crucial component following a data breach. You need to reach out to your affected customers and inform them of the situation. It is important to tell them about the breach, provide information regarding the extent of the breach and how it occurred, and inform them about how you intend to remedy the situation. This is an incredibly important step. The sooner your customers are aware of the data breach, the better prepared they will be to protect themselves from the consequences of a data breach.  

Complete Damage Control

A data breach is highly likely to lose the overall trust of your customers. This can lead to a public relations disaster. You may lose customers that no longer trust you to secure their sensitive information. After a data breach, you will want to reach out to your customers and ensure they know the steps you are going to take to prevent a repeat incident in the future.

Monitor your Accounts

During the time period immediately after a data breach, it will be incredibly important to monitor your accounts. This will help to provide you with information regarding unauthorized access or attempts to do anything with your accounts. Pay careful attention to your accounts and advise any of your affected customers to do the same thing.

Change Affected Passwords

You may need to change your passwords following a data breach. This will help to prevent additional sources from gaining access to your critical information. By changing passwords, you can help to provide additional protection for your data. You also need to ensure that you use strong passwords to reduce the likelihood of repeat incidents.

What to Avoid

There are several things that are important to avoid following your data breach. For one thing, it is absolutely crucial to have a plan in place before a data breach. You shouldn’t try to improvise a solution after the situation has arisen. You should also never go silent or lie about the problem. Communication is important, because your data breaches could have a significant impact on the lives of your customers, employees, and other individuals. You have to be honest, which includes admitting any fault that your company may have in the data breach.

What you do following a data breach is just as important as putting security measures in place to prevent these breaches from occurring. Quick action will help to mitigate the total amount of damage that your company sees following the incident. It is crucial to have a team of IT professionals that are available and experienced enough to handle emergencies like data breaches when they arise. At Crossaction Computers, we offer IT-related services to help protect your business. We can also help you to implement high-quality security measures to help protect the data of your company. To learn more about our services or how to effectively handle a data breach, contact our experienced team at Crossaction Computers today!