DDoS attacks are some of the most common threats to service availability and performance, and Hosting Providers and Internet Service Providers are frequently targeted by DDoS cybercriminals. One of the less known attributes of modern DDoS attacks, is that they need not be massive to cause application or service performance issues; indeed, malicious actors often launch stealthier attacks that are intended to degrade performance yet escape the attention of security analysts, or the mitigation abilities of older-generation DDoS mitigation solutions. Thus, providers are constantly trying to stay a step ahead of the threat actors to filter this bad traffic, but avoid resorting to service-disrupting blackholes to block the attacks.
As they strive to protect their own networks from the damaging effects of DDoS, more and more providers— of all types and sizes — are realizing that providing a high-quality DDoS Protection as a Service to their downstream customers delivers multiple benefits. By investing in the latest generation of highly-effective DDoS protection, they not only add a layer of defense for their infrastructure, which can help delay the need for expensive capacity upgrades, they acquire (and retain) more customers, because they are able to meet their service level agreements a lot more consistently.
Giving tenant customers peace of mind
By offering high-quality DDoS protection as a service, ISPs and hosting providers give their customers peace of mind, and save them money. Many, particularly non-profit or smaller organizations, don’t have the budget or staff resources available to acquire a DDoS protection solution, or manage it with an in-house security team. By looking upstream, to an ISP that offers that protection as a service for an affordable monthly fee, organizations won’t have to worry or think about it. And, so long as the upstream provider has chosen to use the latest generation of always-on, automated, real-time DDoS protection, ensuring defense against potentially damaging attacks will be seamless and invisible, tenant customers can rest assured they will receive only clean traffic.
Generating incremental revenue
Some providers include DDoS protection as a service for all tenant customers, which increases the value of their overall offering, while some choose to get a return on their investment by selling that DDoS protection as a value-add subscription service. Either way, it can be a lucrative new service offering that generates significant incremental revenue. Furthermore, with some DDoS solution vendors offering fully subscription-based OPEX models, as an alternative to the regular CAPEX plus annual support approach, it can be an attractive proposition for Service and Hosting Providers to gain a rapid return on their investment.
Competitive advantage
Offering DDoS protection as a service to clients is a huge differentiator in the competitive, and often crowded, Service and Hosting Provider marketplace. Furthermore, many end-user organizations now expect DDoS protection from their providers. In light of the variety of implementation choices (hybrid, on-premises, and cloud), offering always-on DDoS protection as a service is a common-sense way for Service and Hosting Providers to stand out from the competition, as well as defend their and their customers’ networks from the threat of business damaging DDoS.
For over a decade, Corero has been providing state-of-the-art, highly-effective, real-time automatic DDoS protection solutions for enterprise, hosting and service provider customers around the world. Our SmartWall® ONE DDoS protection solution protects on-premises, cloud, virtual, and hybrid environments. For more on Corero’s diverse deployment models, click here. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.