DDoS Attack Protection: How to Keep Your Business Safe

Early in June 2022, Cloudflare detected and stopped the largest HTTPS DDoS attack on record. The attack was detected and mitigated at 26 million requests per second (rps) and has been given the name Mantis due to it originating from a small but mighty botnet. According to Cloudflare’s official report, the attack used approximately 5,000 hijacked virtual machines and powerful servers across 121 countries to generate that staggering volume of traffic — a shockingly small number of devices to produce such an overwhelming level of traffic.

Over the past year, Cloudflare has witnessed continuous record-breaking DDoS attacks on business networks and servers worldwide. Many businesses are reevaluating their network security to help prevent such attacks from threatening their operations. What is an HTTPS DDoS attack, and what can you do to keep your business safe?

What Is a DDoS Attack?

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to flood the network of a targeted server, network, or service with excess internet traffic. According to CISA, every network or business website has limits on the amount of online traffic it can handle. Commonly, the limit is much higher than needed to continue operating effectively and seamlessly.

A DDoS attack takes advantage of the network’s capacity limits on any resource, such as a company’s website, and sends multiple requests to the targeted resource. These requests exceed the server’s capacity to handle them, resulting in the targeted website being unable to function normally.

DDoS attacks effectively use multiple compromised systems — such as IoT devices, computers, and other network resources — as a source of attack traffic, collectively known as a botnet. By overwhelming your network resources, the botnet prevents you from utilizing your online services and hinders your business operations. DDoS attacks can be both frustrating and costly to manage if they successfully infiltrate your system.

How to Protect Your Business from DDoS Attacks

You can take several security measures to help protect your network. You first want to ensure you and your team understand the basics of network security. Some of the standard best practices include strong passwords, phishing awareness, and deploying firewalls. Maintaining firewalls helps prevent unauthorized access to your network.

While these measures provide a baseline, protecting your network further requires more advanced steps. You need to set up security to prevent your firewall from failing by keeping your systems updated and incorporating a DDoS response plan into your business continuity strategy. CISA’s guidance also recommends conducting a thorough risk assessment to understand your organization’s specific vulnerabilities before an attack occurs.

Another effective way to protect your business from DDoS attacks is to leverage the cloud for more aspects of your operations. The cloud is better equipped to handle these attacks with its larger bandwidth and built-in security designed specifically to minimize the impact of DDoS traffic. Content delivery networks (CDNs) in particular provide strong protection by absorbing and distributing malicious traffic before it reaches your infrastructure. These layered security measures can help protect your network from being overwhelmed by a botnet.

Why DDoS Attacks Are a Growing Threat to Businesses

The Mantis attack was notable not just for its size, but for what it revealed about the evolving threat landscape. Unlike traditional botnets that exploit low-powered IoT devices like routers and security cameras, Mantis leveraged hijacked virtual machines and servers — giving attackers far more computational power per device. This shift means that even a relatively small botnet can now generate record-breaking attack volumes.

HTTPS DDoS attacks are particularly resource-intensive because establishing an encrypted TLS connection requires more processing power on both ends. That raises the cost for attackers, but it also raises the cost of mitigation for businesses without enterprise-grade defenses in place. Small and midsize businesses are increasingly in the crosshairs: many lack the dedicated infrastructure to absorb volumetric attacks and may not have managed detection and response capabilities to identify an attack in progress before significant damage is done.

The CISA, FBI, and MS-ISAC joint guidance on DDoS attacks recommends that organizations of all sizes implement proactive defenses, including network traffic monitoring, rate limiting, redundant infrastructure, and a documented incident response plan that specifically addresses DDoS scenarios.

Strengthen Your Network Security Before the Next Record Is Broken

The Mantis attack set a record in 2022, but DDoS threats have only grown since then. Attackers continue to evolve their tactics, and businesses that rely on basic firewall configurations alone are leaving themselves exposed. A layered approach to cybersecurity — combining perimeter defenses, cloud-based mitigation, continuous monitoring, and a tested incident response plan — is the most effective way to reduce your organization’s exposure.

At WheelHouse IT, we work with businesses in South Florida and New York to assess their current security posture, close gaps before they can be exploited, and build resilient IT environments that can withstand modern threats. Whether you are looking to understand your DDoS risk, improve your network defenses, or build a comprehensive managed IT strategy, our team is ready to help.