In recent years, we’ve seen a notable rise in the number of DDoS attacks in the forex industry. These attacks have affected brokers of all sizes, in many different countries around the world. This rise in the number of security threats has made brokers more concerned about their network security. This in turn has made them seek out more robust DDoS protection tools. In this article, we will give you more information about DDoS attacks and how MetaTrader Access Servers help prevent them.
What Is A DDoS Attack?
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a serious risk to your trading infrastructure. The most common example of an attack is when a person (or organisation) attempts to bring down your company website or online services. They do this by flooding your network resources with a large amount of traffic. The aim of a DDoS attack is usually to overwhelm your servers and reduce your ability to operate online. Or, in business terms, the aim is to interrupt your service and cost you money.
How Do DDoS Attacks Work?
A DDoS attack happens entirely online. The attacker will start by trying to overwhelm your network resources. As you may already know, your network resources (e.g. your trading servers) only have limited capacity and can only process a limited number of requests. If they get too many requests, then it will take longer than usual to process them. As you may also know, your network connections also have a limited capacity and can only transfer a certain amount of traffic. If there is too much traffic, then the traffic will take longer to travel from the trader terminal to your trading server. During an attack, the attacker sends a large number of data requests at once, from multiple different sources. This will overwhelm your network resources and your network connections – causing everything to slow down.
In the best case scenario, the attacker will fail to completely overwhelm the systems and you will only see a small slowdown in services. In the worst case scenario, the attacker will bring your services to a complete standstill. This is called a total ‘denial of service’. In most cases, if a DDoS attack is successful, the attacker will threaten your company and demand money to restore your system. In other cases, the DDoS is just a distraction and if the attack is successful, then the attacker will try to infiltrate your servers, steal your data, and damage your infrastructure.
How Do DDoS Attacks Affect Brokers?
Unfortunately, forex brokers are becoming a frequent target for DDoS attacks. This is because, as an online company, they need to be able to offer online trading services to clients in real-time. And this, in turn, makes them a more popular target. A DDoS attack can cause serious problems for forex brokers. This is because a DDoS attack slows down their network resources, and their ability to process trades. If the attack is successful, then it will bring their network resources to a standstill, and prevent them from serving clients at all. As you can imagine, this would be very bad for the business and cost them a lot of money. It would also be very bad for their traders and lead to more unsuccessful trades.
How Can Forex Brokers Use MetaTrader Access Servers?
When it comes to security, it’s best to be prepared. The more tools forex brokers have in place to protect their network now, the easier it will be for them to prevent DDoS attacks in the future. There are a few tools forex brokers can use to try to reduce their vulnerability to DDoS attacks. MetaTrader access servers can definitely help.
A MetaTrader access server is a specialised proxy server. It functions as an intermediary point between a trader terminal and a broker network. This intermediary point enables forex brokers to better manage the data that is sent to and from their main trading servers. Here are a few suggestions on how to use access servers to improve your network security and prevent DDoS attacks.
1 – MetaTrader Access Servers Increase Network Capacity
If brokers want to reduce their vulnerability to DDoS attacks, then one way to do this is by increasing their network capacity. The first thing they need to do is to get an idea of their current capacity by analysing their daily logs. Then, they need to figure out how to best reduce their overall server load. One way of doing this is by using access servers in addition to their main trading servers. The access servers will enable them to distribute their data transmission more evenly across their network. This, in turn, will enable them to protect their trading infrastructure against any network flooding.
2 – MetaTrader Access Servers Block Malicious Traffic
If brokers want to minimise the impact of DDoS attacks, then they also need to be able to block malicious traffic. The first thing they need to do is assess their current security measures. Then, they can find a way to implement extra security. One way of doing this is to use access servers as an intermediary point between the attacker and the broker’s trading server. The access servers will enable the broker to detect bad traffic earlier, and to block it before it reaches their main trading servers. The access server network will also re-route any good traffic via the next fastest (safe) route.
How Does MT Proxy Help Prevent DDoS Attacks?
Implanting access servers is much easier said than done. Not all brokers have the staff and resources to set up and manage access servers in-house. That’s where MT Proxy comes in. We specialise in custom-built MetaTrader access server solutions. This means we are able to help you increase your network capacity and prevent future DDoS attacks. Our solutions include automated DDoS threat detection and mitigation. And our MetaTrader Access Servers networks provide you with added security, blocking threats before they reach your main trading servers. To find out more, sign up for our free trial.
