For IT security teams, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the ever-changing cyber threat landscape; not only are there are numerous types of threats, but some attacks are so small in scale that they often escape human detection. Large-scale, volumetric DDoS attacks may cripple websites and grab headlines, but small-scale, low-threshold attacks can be even more nefarious and damaging.

Visibility and Response Time are Critical

The time it takes to detect and respond to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is critical. Human intervention is insufficient for most cyber security attacks because humans can’t immediately see every attack, and they certainly can’t respond fast enough (in real time) to block all infiltrations.

If you can’t recognize a DDoS attack, how can you even begin to defend against it? Hackers need only a few minutes to overrun traditional security solutions and steal sensitive data or map a network to find its vulnerabilities. Even when humans do notice an attack, by the time they respond, the damage may already be done. That’s why IT professionals need granular, real-time network security visibility to monitor and analyze traffic.

Vikram Phatak, CEO and Chairman of NSS Labs recently said, “…attacks happen in computer time, but responses take place in human time. “Companies typically patch monthly, but the bad guys change their approach hourly…Automating the response process shortens the patch window from a week to seconds.”

Automated DDoS Protection is Cost-Effective

In an era when the vast majority of DDoS attacks are under 1 Gbps, and can evade a traditional cloud-based scrubbing center, it’s cost-effective to automate security systems as much as possible. An automated, in-line DDoS protection solution is less expensive than human security staff, and more accurate. That doesn’t mean that security staff are unnecessary, but rather that they need the automated technology to help them be more productive.

The cost of a cyberattack can be enormous, in terms of lost customer trust, revenues, and staff time spent cleaning up the damage. When it comes to cyber threats, a proactive, automated approach makes more sense than a reactive, manual approach.

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