IP DDoS protection for SMB offers the same services used by large enterprises, but it can be implemented to protect even a single IP address. Artwork: DR
Microsoft’s DDoS IP Protection solution is intended to offer enterprise-class protection against distributed denial of service attacks to SMBs at a price that meets their needs.
Announced in mid-October at Microsoft’s Ignite conference, Azure DDoS IP Protection for SMBs is now publicly available. According to Microsoft, the new solution provides its target users with protection against enterprise-class DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks at an attractive price. Microsoft’s Azure DDoS Protection family now has two programs: DDoS IP Protection for SMBs and DDoS Network Protection for Enterprises.
Azure DDoS Protection for SMBs
IP DDoS protection for SMB offers the same services used by large enterprises, but it can be implemented to protect even a single IP address. The new product enables enterprises to defend against L3/L4 DDoS attacks with continuous monitoring and adaptive tuning that ensures that the application is always protected, but also that all customers using public IPs on Azure are protected. L3/L4 attacks are capacity overrun DDoS attacks. A Layer 3 or L3 attack targets the network infrastructure and a Layer 4 or L4 attack targets the enterprise transport layer infrastructure. IP DDoS protection performs traffic monitoring, automatic attack mitigation, integrates with firewall manager, provides mitigation reports and flow logs, features Azure Sentinel data connector and Azure workbooks .
Compared to the enterprise version, the SMB version does not include cost protection, discount on web application firewall and support to quickly respond to DDoS attacks. SMBs can enable IP protection via the Azure preview portal or via PowerShell. Azure DDoS Protection integrates with other Azure services for real-time alerts, actions, and insights. The product is offered at a flat rate of $199 per month for each protected public IP resource, with no additional variable costs. Invoicing for IP protection will be effective from February 1, 2023.
Azure Firewall Basic also targets SMBs
At Ignite, Microsoft also announced Azure Firewall Basic, an enterprise-class network firewall solution targeting SMBs.This cloud firewall provides built-in availability and cloud scalability to protect resources within the enterprise virtual network, said Microsoft. The product notably provides network firewall functionality, such as L3-L7 filtering of east-west and north-south traffic, with built-in threat intelligence to block malicious traffic.Azure Firewall integrates with other Azure services like Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Cloud to provide better visibility into the environment, identify threats and respond quickly, said the supplier. The introduction of these two products for SMBs seems to indicate that Azure has a strong interest in this sector.With these two products, SMBs can get enterprise-grade network firewall and DDoS protection at a fair price. By deploying Azure Firewall Basic and enabling DDoS IP protection on the firewall’s public IP, customers can benefit from both servicessaid Microsoft in a blog post.
Rise in DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks are one of the biggest security problems for cloud applications and are increasing in complexity and frequency, making cybersecurity challenges ever more difficult to overcome. Their recent resurgence concerns all businesses, including SMEs. According to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, last year DDoS attacks were the second most used cyber attack modality. On the old continent, an attack of unprecedented scale targeted an Akamai customer who was using its Prolexic platform. The attack, conducted for 14 hours on July 21, 2022, peaked at 853.7Gbps and 659.6Mpps (mgpackets per second). Kaspersky research showed that, compared to the third quarter of 2021, DDoS attacks increased by almost 50% (47.87%) during the third quarter of 2022. The cybersecurity company’s DDoS Intelligence system detected 57 116 DDoS attacks during this period.