In a proactive move to bolster cybersecurity defenses, the US government has unveiled new guidance aimed at helping public sector entities combat distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This initiative seeks to safeguard critical services from disruption by providing a comprehensive resource tailored to the unique needs and challenges faced by federal, state, and local government agencies.
DDoS attacks, characterized by a flood of traffic or requests overwhelming a target system, are notoriously difficult to trace and block. These attacks are often politically motivated, with government websites frequently targeted by hacktivists and nation-state groups. Recent incidents include attacks by Russian and Ukraine-linked hackers, as well as a notable disruption of the UK Royal Family's official website in October 2023, claimed by the Russian hacktivist group Killnet.
The joint advisory from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) highlights three main types of DDoS attacks: volume-based, protocol-based, and application layer-based. Each type presents distinct challenges, from overwhelming bandwidth to exploiting weak protocol implementations and targeting specific application vulnerabilities.
To prevent DDoS incidents, the guidance recommends risk assessments, robust network monitoring, Captcha challenges, firewall configurations, regular software updates, and employee education. In the event of an attack, strategies such as increasing bandwidth capacity, implementing load balancing solutions, and establishing redundancy and failover mechanisms are advised to maintain service availability.
Stephen Gates, Principal Security SME at Horizon3.ai, emphasizes the evolving nature of DDoS threats: "Although volumetric DDoS attacks have been pretty much defeated by those who offer cloud-based DDoS defenses, protocol-based attacks and application layer-based attacks are still a resounding problem. These attacks are often low-and-slow attacks are extremely difficult to defeat in the cloud since defenses regularly end up blocking legitimate traffic. For those who are concerned about DDoS attacks, the best approach is a hybrid one. Subscribe to cloud-based DDoS defensive services to defeat volumetric attacks and deploy specialty-built DDoS defenses on-premises in front of your border firewalls to defeat the low-and-slow attacks. This way, all types of DDoS attacks can be defeated."
The US government's new DDoS attack guidance underscores the importance of a comprehensive and adaptable approach to cybersecurity, encouraging public sector entities to stay vigilant and prepared in the face of evolving threats.