When the Internet Attacked: Our DDoS Defense Story

Let’s talk about a rough couple of days. We got hit with a DDoS attack. Not just any attack, but a massive one. Think of it as the entire internet deciding to throw a digital tantrum at our door. It was intense.

The Scale of the Attack: Overwhelmed

Our systems, usually humming along just fine, were pushed to their limits. It was like trying to drink from a firehose, but the firehose was full of malicious traffic. Even a tiny leak would have brought everything crashing down.

Our Counterattack: Fighting Back

We didn’t just sit there. We jumped into action:

• Fortified the Firewall: We beefed up our defenses, blocking the bad stuff at the gate.
• Human Verification: CAPTCHAs, because bots aren’t people.
• Reorganized Defense: We prioritized our security rules, making sure the most important ones were front and center.
• Rate Limiting: We put a cap on how much traffic could come from any one place.

After two days of this digital wrestling match, the attackers gave up. It was a deliberate, malicious attempt, no doubt about it.

The Everyday Threat: Cloudflare to the Rescue

While this massive attack was exceptional, we deal with smaller ones all the time. That’s where Cloudflare comes in. Their security infrastructure, with its AI and machine learning, automatically blocks a lot of the bad traffic. It lets us focus on our work, not constant worry.

Lessons Learned: Staying Ahead

This experience taught us a lot:

• Cyber threats are always evolving. We need to be ready for anything.
• Continuous adaptation is key. We’re investing in better threat detection and response.
• Our team’s resilience is invaluable. They worked tirelessly.

Conclusion:

We came out of this stronger. We’re grateful for our team and for Cloudflare. We’re committed to keeping our systems, and our users, safe.