How to prove the value of DDoS security

The starting point is to estimate the overall impact a DDoS attack is likely to have from a revenue, operational overhead and reputational perspective – these may vary according to the nature of the business in question. Modeling all of these costs will help determine the benefits of DDoS protection. Effective DDoS mitigation can help reduce these costs by 90 per cent or more in the event of an attack.

TRP: Is it ever possible for the IT department to win the battle against cyber threats?

DH:How do you define win? These days, the idea of prevention is outdated as attacks are out of an organisation's control. Many organisations can't prevent their business from being attacked. However, what they can control is having the capability in place to detect threats.

Businesses need to be asking themselves how quickly they can detect a threat that has entered their network and if they can't, organisations need to be doing something about it.

TRP: How are CISOs able to deliver an understandable call to action and gain the credibility to push their strategic plans?

DH: CISOs need to elevate security to the boardroom for a C-suite level discussion, so that they cannot only talk about threat assessments and security architecture, but the potential bottom line business implications of a breach. Security can then be communicated from the boardroom downwards, to the rest of the organisation.

TRP: Despite organisations investing in the latest security, why do these threats keep succeeding?

DH: Having all the latest technology is certainly an advantage but it is not the complete picture. It takes a unified, integrated combination of technology, people and processes. Having the right technology to identify threats and alert security teams is only the beginning.

Organisations need to be asking themselves if they have the right teams and skill sets to maximise their investment in the latest technology? Do they have the right incident response processes, planning and practice in place?

Arbor Networks recently commissioned research with the Economist Intelligence Unit, surveying 360 global CISOs and IT decision makers, which revealed that despite more than two thirds of organisations suffering a breach in the past two years, only 17 per cent were confident in their ability to respond to an attack.

TRP: With the launch of new certifications, such as the UK government's Cyber Essentials plan, how should organisations work with government and third parties to boost confidence in their security?

DH: Threats are global and no one company has the capabilities to assess the global landscape and understand its implications for their organisation. Because of this, there should be greater threat intelligence sharing as the more information that is passed between involved parties, the better.

The retail industry has recently been targeted and victimised by a series of very high profile Point-of-Sale (PoS) attacks, and has only started taking the steps in implementing an intelligence shared infrastructure.

This has been demonstrated in the US by the launch of a Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center. This information sharing and analysis center, ISAC, has been backed by Target and other major retailers, and is a great move for the retail industry. This should continue across other industries too.