What Is A DDoS Attack?
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is one of the biggest potential threats to your trading infrastructure and data security. A DDoS attack is when someone attempts to bring down your website or crash your services by flooding your network resources with too much traffic. The purpose of a DDoS attack is to overwhelm your systems and reduce your ability to serve legitimate customers. Therefore, the attacks are designed to inconvenience customers and cost businesses money.
How do DDoS Attacks Work?
Your network resources – such as your trading servers – have a limited capacity to deal with data requests. This means that there is a maximum number of requests that they can handle at any one time. The network connections that support these resources also have a limited capacity to deal with traffic. This means that the connection paths can be easily overwhelmed as well. During a DDoS attack, the attacker will often send a very high number of requests at once. If the number of requests exceeds your network capacity in any way, then your service will either slow down or stop.
In most cases, the attacker’s goal is to bring your business to a complete standstill. This is known as a total ‘denial of service’. This is so that they can either damage your business, damage your reputation, or ask you for money. In other cases, the attacker’s main goal might be to damage your security infrastructure or steal your data. In these situations, the attackers use the DDoS as a distraction while they infiltrate your system. Whatever the motive, DDoS attacks can have a devastating impact on your business.
How do DDoS attacks affect forex brokers?
Unfortunately, like many other financial service providers, brokers are more likely to face DDoS attacks. This is because, as a broker, you rely on being able to serve clients in real-time. And this, in turn, makes you a more likely target. DDoS attacks can cause major issues for forex brokers. If a DDoS attack slows down your network resources, it will also slow down your ability to serve clients and process trades. If the attack stops your network resources completely, it will stop you from serving clients at all. As you can imagine, this would be bad for your business. It would also be bad for your clients who may lose out financially.
What can brokers do to protect their business?
DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly common. The more you do to protect your business now, the better off you will be in the long run. As a broker, there are a few things you can do to try to reduce your vulnerability to DDoS attacks. Here are a few suggestions.
1 – Know the signs of a DDoS Attack
DDoS attacks can be difficult to detect. If your IT Team monitors your network resources regularly, they might notice a sudden increase in incoming traffic or server load. If your team also monitors your logs, they might also start to notice unusual client activity or suspicious data requests. If your IT Team does not have the time or human resources needed to monitor network performance daily, then you might not pick up on a DDoS attack until it’s too late. If this is the case, you will notice significant connectivity and latency issues. You might also start to receive a higher volume of complaints from clients about service availability. As such, it is important to know the signs of a DDoS attack so you can take quick action and respond accordingly.
2 – Improve your network security
DDoS attacks can be very difficult to stop. That’s why it’s important to have robust security measures in place from the get-go. The first thing you need to do is make sure your company implements basic security protocols. The next thing you need to do is develop a plan for improving your overall network security. This could include regularly checking your network for vulnerabilities, staying on top of essential security updates, and investing in third-party solutions that effectively pinpoint and mitigate threats. These three steps alone can make a big difference and significantly reduce your vulnerability to external threats.
3 – Increase your network capacity
Once you have a plan to increase your overall network security, the next thing you need to do is create a plan to improve your overall network capacity. The first step is to assess your current capacity by analysing your daily logs. The next step is to find a way to reduce your overall server load, for instance, by using proxy servers in addition to your main trading servers. This will help you distribute data transmission more evenly across your network and protect your trading infrastructure against attempts at network flooding. The third step is to find a way to boost your connectivity, for instance, by working with providers who can provide fast, reliable connection paths between you and your traders. This will improve your overall network performance and increase your capacity to deal with large traffic volumes.
How Does MT Proxy Help Brokers Stop DDoS Attacks?
Implementing new security measures and increasing network capacity is much easier said than done. Not all brokers have the resources needed to manage this in-house. That’s where MT Proxy comes in. We specialise in custom-built proxy server solutions. This means we are well-equipped to help you reduce your server load, improve your connectivity, and leverage better connection paths. We are also well-equipped to help you deal with DDoS attacks. Our solutions include automated DDoS threat detection and mitigation. And our proxy server networks provide you with added security, blocking threats before they reach your main trading servers. Sign up for our free trial to find out more.
