Most
certainly, you have heard about WordPress DDoS attacks if you’ve been in online
business for some time. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) is not a new
concept. The term DDoS was known from the early 90s and was used to bring out
of order web services by sending hundreds of requests to the attacker's server.
A DDoS attack
is incredibly easy to carry out and affects millions of websites all over the
world each year, with the number of attacks growing. Fortunately, just like
other cybersecurity risks, you may take steps to reduce the opportunities of
WordPress DDoS attacks on your website. Implement a security program will help
to stop your online business and prevent cybercriminals from crippling it.
In this
guide, we will discuss what the WordPress DDoS attacks are? And how they work?
Let’s begin!
What are DDoS Attacks?
DDoS stands
for distributed denial service but is usually referred to as a simple denial
service. A DDoS attack is a website that is overwhelmed with requests over a
short period to overload the site and causes it to crash. The' distributed'
aspect means that such attacks come simultaneously from several locations, as
compared to a DDoS that comes from only one place.
You will receive
thousands of requests from various sources over minutes if your site
experiences a DDoS attack. Such requests aren't the result of getting a spike
in traffic unexpectedly from a website: they are automated and can come from a
small range of sources, based on the scale of the attack.
How do WordPress DDoS Attacks work?
A target
server or network gets requests from compromised devices during WordPress DDoS
attacks. The requests are regular that a server maxes out the bandwidth
capacity of a network or resources. This reduces server response and is made
useless in severe cases.
Few Methods to Secure your WordPress site against DDoS Attacks:
DDoS attacks
maybe dangerous, but there are several ways you can set up security for
WordPress DDoS attacks:
1. Using a content delivery network (CDN)
CDNs are
services that cache copies on their data centers of your website. The world's
most popular CDNs provide data centers, and they serve as a middleman between
you and the visitors to your site.
If possible,
your CDN will serve from its servers a cached copy of your website, which
translates less burden on yours. Moreover, since they are designed with
efficiency in mind, CDNs can also enable you to decrease overall loading times.
By preventing the resulting traffic from flooding your website, CDNs serve as a
sort of firewall to DDoS attacks. They can identify abnormal trends in traffic
and can act to minimize the attack if things scale too quickly.
Many CDNs,
such as Cloudflare, also serve as a reverse proxy that will further secure your
WordPress site from WordPress DDoS attacks.
2. Sign up for a DDoS-protection service
Most CDNs
provide extra DDoS security because other services are designed to avoid DDoS
attacks. For instance, Google provides a service called Project Shield, which
is made accessible via invitation.
When it comes
to costs, other DDoS security providers tend to be on the high-end. It is the
kind of service which is generally paid for only by businesses. AWS provides a
Shield service for DDoS security to give you an idea and charges $3,000 a month
for its Advanced tier.
3. Switch to a new hosting provider
Most web
hosts are raving about the results. It's evident, though, that not all of them
are performance-wise at the same stage. Many web hosting servers, even under a
modest burden, are slowing down dramatically, which makes those providers
horrible choices if you experience WordPress DDoS attacks.
The good
thing is that the most respected web hosting companies are introducing some
form of server-level security against traffic floods. For example, SiteGround
uses a hardware firewall and searches for unusual connection numbers. Another
example is the WP Engine that combines from the box with Cloudflare to provide
DDoS security for all of its plans. These are two of our favorite web hosts for
WordPress, but they are far from being the only choices that provide security
for DDoS.
4. Set up a Firewall
The concept
of firewalls is possibly familiar to you already. A firewall is that it is a
piece of software that uses its own set of pre-programmed rules to secure your
device from unauthorized access. You can customize your firewall to help you to
restrict the number of users who are likely to be bots accessing your website
over a specified period and filter out users. When you set the amount to
reasonable, this can be sufficient to prevent most WordPress DDoS attacks
without affecting the user experience. One way to do this is by plug-ins in
WordPress. For instance, Wordfence has a function that you can use to restrict
the number of users and automated crawlers that can access your website.
Conclusion
Even small
websites may fall victim to DDoS attacks these days. Additionally, many groups
use it as a form of blackmail against companies, which means setting up
security for WordPress DDoS attacks can be a wise step.
If you need
to prioritize WordPress site care and maintenance, but are confused whether you
have the resources to do so, then you can consult expert WordPress Support Services. These WordPress Support services have extensive site care
plans that will help you with everything from installing
the appropriate plugins to carrying out comprehensive site security checks to
strengthen your WordPress website security.
