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Protecting Your Azure Network with Azure DDoS Protection





March 4, 2023 | By: Suzaril Shah



Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a growing threat to businesses of all sizes. They can cause significant damage, including lost revenue, damage to brand reputation, and legal liabilities. In this blog post, we'll explore how Azure DDoS Protection can help protect your Azure network from DDoS attacks. We'll cover the differences between Azure DDoS Protection Basic and Standard, how to enable them for your Azure resources, and best practices to follow when implementing Azure DDoS Protection. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your Azure network is fully protected against DDoS attacks.





Introduction

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a major concern for businesses of all sizes. In a DDoS attack, an attacker floods a network or server with traffic, overwhelming it and causing it to become unavailable. DDoS attacks can be devastating, resulting in lost revenue, damage to brand reputation, and even legal liabilities. In recent years, DDoS attacks have become more frequent, sophisticated, and damaging. According to a report by Neustar, the average cost of a DDoS attack to an organization in 2020 was $730,000, up from $2.5 million in 2017. It's clear that businesses need to take DDoS protection seriously to avoid the damaging consequences of these attacks. Thankfully, Azure offers a comprehensive DDoS protection service that can help businesses protect their Azure networks from DDoS attacks. In this blog post, we'll dive into Azure DDoS Protection, how it works, and how to implement it to protect your Azure network.




What is Azure DDoS Protection?

Azure DDoS Protection is a service offered by Microsoft Azure that helps protect Azure resources from DDoS attacks. Azure DDoS Protection provides traffic monitoring and automatic mitigation of DDoS attacks, helping to keep your resources available during an attack. Azure DDoS Protection consists of two layers of protection: Basic and Standard. The Basic tier is automatically included in all Azure services at no additional cost. The Standard tier provides additional features and protections but comes at an additional cost.

Azure DDoS Protection Basic

Azure DDoS Protection Basic is a foundational level of protection that's automatically included in all Azure services. Azure DDoS Protection Basic provides the following features:
  1. Network-level traffic monitoring: Azure DDoS Protection Basic provides real-time traffic monitoring for your Azure resources, allowing you to detect and respond to DDoS attacks quickly.
  2. Automatic mitigation: Azure DDoS Protection Basic provides automatic mitigation of common DDoS attacks, including volumetric attacks, protocol attacks, and resource attacks.
  3. No additional cost: Azure DDoS Protection Basic is included with all Azure services at no additional cost.

Azure DDoS Protection Standard

Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides additional features and protections beyond Azure DDoS Protection Basic. Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides the following features:

  1. Advanced analytics: Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to gain deeper insights into your network traffic and identify potential DDoS attacks.
  2. Customized mitigation: Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides the ability to create custom mitigation policies based on your specific network requirements.
  3. Virtual network integration: Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides the ability to integrate with Azure Virtual Networks, allowing you to protect your entire network infrastructure.
  4. Improved protection against multi-vector attacks: Azure DDoS Protection Standard provides improved protection against multi-vector attacks, which are DDoS attacks that use multiple attack methods at once.
  5. Additional cost: Azure DDoS Protection Standard comes at an additional cost, based on the number of protected resources and the level of protection required.




Implementing Azure DDoS Protection

Implementing Azure DDoS Protection is a straightforward process that can be done through the Azure Portal. Here's how to enable Azure DDoS Protection Basic and Standard:


Enabling Azure DDoS Protection Basic

  1. Open the Azure Portal and navigate to the resource you want to protect.
  2. Click on the "DDoS protection" tab in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click "Enable DDoS protection" and select the "Basic" option.
  4. Configure the protection policy by selecting the traffic threshold and the action to take in case of a DDoS attack.
  5. Click "Save" to enable Azure DDoS Protection Basic for the resource.




Enabling Azure DDoS Protection Standard

  1. Open the Azure Portal and navigate to the resource you want to protect. Click on the "DDoS protection" tab in the left-hand menu.
  2. Click "Enable DDoS protection" and select the "Standard" option.
  3. Configure the protection policy by selecting the traffic threshold, the action to take in case of a DDoS attack, and any custom mitigation policies.
  4. Click "Save" to enable Azure DDoS Protection Standard for the resource.




Best Practices for Azure DDoS Protection

While Azure DDoS Protection can help protect your Azure network from DDoS attacks, it's important to follow best practices to ensure you're fully protected. Here are some best practices to follow when implementing Azure DDoS Protection:

  1. Enable DDoS Protection for all Azure resources: Ensure that all of your Azure resources are protected with Azure DDoS Protection, including virtual machines, load balancers, and application gateways.
  2. Use Azure DDoS Protection Standard for critical resources: Consider using Azure DDoS Protection Standard for critical resources that require additional protection.
  3. Set appropriate traffic thresholds: Set appropriate traffic thresholds for your protected resources to avoid false positives and ensure effective protection against DDoS attacks.
  4. Monitor network traffic regularly: Regularly monitor your network traffic to detect any anomalies or potential DDoS attacks.
  5. Develop and test incident response plans: Develop and test incident response plans to ensure you're prepared to respond to a DDoS attack.




Conclusion

DDoS attacks can have devastating consequences for businesses, including lost revenue, damage to brand reputation, and legal liabilities. Azure DDoS Protection provides a comprehensive solution for protecting Azure resources from DDoS attacks. By following best practices and implementing Azure DDoS Protection, businesses can ensure they're fully protected against these attacks.



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