Enhancing Website Security with CDN: How to Effectively Counter DDoS Attacks?

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks are among the most common network attacks today. These attacks target systems and computer networks by generating large volumes of fake traffic, potentially overloading the system and preventing it from processing legitimate access requests, leading to website downtime.

According to Google's cybersecurity report for the first half of 2024, the rise in DDoS attacks driven by IoT (Internet of Things) has had a surprising impact on the cybersecurity industry. The data shows a 300% increase in attack rates, causing substantial financial damages globally, estimated at $2.5 billion. Notably, 90% of these attacks are described as complex and sophisticated, often using botnets—networks of IoT devices infected with malware—to amplify the attack's power. This situation presents a significant challenge to the cybersecurity community, requiring special attention and effective solutions to combat.

In March 2024, VNIS, VNETWORK's comprehensive security solution for websites, applications, and APIs, successfully detected and mitigated a DDoS attack with traffic reaching up to 150 Gbps. This attack aimed to overload the server system, preventing users from accessing stored resources. Experts at VNETWORK's Cybersecurity Response and Security Center identified that the primary goal of this attack was to cause local network congestion, thereby damaging the reputation and affecting the business operations of enterprises.

A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a system of servers distributed across various geographical locations worldwide. Its primary function is to store and deliver content (such as text, images, videos, etc.) to users quickly and efficiently. Additionally, a CDN is an effective solution to protect websites from DDoS attacks. Below is a detailed analysis of how a CDN plays a crucial role in safeguarding websites:

Handling Large Traffic Volumes

A CDN can efficiently handle sudden and large volumes of traffic thanks to its intelligent load balancing and distribution mechanisms. When a website or application experiences a surge in traffic, such as during promotional events or product launches, the CDN distributes incoming requests across multiple edge servers. This distribution reduces the load on the origin server and prevents system overloads that could lead to crashes. Edge servers also utilize caching techniques to temporarily store content, enabling quicker and more efficient access. By dynamically switching Points of Presence (PoPs), a CDN can seamlessly distribute content even under heavy traffic conditions, ensuring a smooth and stable user experience.

Protecting the Origin IP Address

Protecting the origin IP address is a critical component of a CDN's DDoS mitigation strategy. This protection is achieved by masking the origin server's IP address. When users access the website, their requests are routed through the CDN network before reaching the origin server, effectively hiding the server's IP address from potential attackers. Additionally, the CDN implements security measures such as filtering invalid requests and detecting attacks to stop them before they reach the origin server. This approach helps maintain the stability and security of the origin server's actual IP address, shielding the website from DDoS attacks and other network threats.

Enhancing Management and Operational Efficiency

VNCDN not only improves management and operational efficiency but also allows businesses to fully customize configurations according to their specific needs. The system maintains detailed activity logs, enabling the detection and timely resolution of any anomalies, ensuring the website's security and stability. Moreover, VNCDN provides in-depth reports for real-time monitoring, giving managers a comprehensive view to adjust strategies promptly. With RESTful API support, automating and integrating CDN management with the business's own systems becomes easier, enhancing operational flexibility and efficiency.

In the current digital era, websites and applications face increasingly complex challenges, including managing high traffic volumes and defending against cyberattacks. VNCDN, the leading CDN system in Asia developed by VNETWORK, not only boosts content delivery capabilities but also provides effective solutions to counter Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

Strengthening Defense with Load Balancing Through Robust Infrastructure

VNETWORK, with its powerful global infrastructure comprising over 280 POPs in 33 countries and an international uplink bandwidth of up to 57 Tbps, ensures superior content delivery through VNCDN. In Vietnam, VNCDN's infrastructure is deployed in top-tier data centers, including Viettel, FPT, VNPT, and Mobifone, with a domestic uplink bandwidth of up to 10 Tbps, capable of serving over 5 million users simultaneously and handling 8 billion requests per day.

This extensive infrastructure plays a crucial role in mitigating the impact of DDoS attacks. By distributing traffic based on the geographical location of the users to nearby server clusters, VNCDN helps "dilute" the traffic load and ensures the system remains stable without disrupting the user experience. Furthermore, VNCDN identifies the customer's service provider and routes requests to server clusters at that provider's data centers, ensuring efficient connectivity issue resolution. This intelligent traffic distribution mechanism not only enhances processing efficiency but also ensures that all customer requests are addressed promptly.

Based on collected data, the CDN system automatically routes processing requests to the appropriate department for resolution. This routing can be based on various criteria. First, the system identifies the specific geographical area and routes requests to the department responsible for that region, optimizing response times and ensuring issues are handled by those most familiar with local conditions. Second,

Furthermore, VNCDN uses IP filtering techniques to block requests from suspicious or invalid IP addresses, preventing attacks from botnets or identified sources.

Captcha and challenge-response tests are used by VNCDN to require users to complete Captcha or other challenges to verify the legitimacy of requests, effectively blocking automated attacks.

Providing Advanced Features to Enhance Website Delivery Capacity

API Integration and Origin Shield for Efficient Management and Enhanced Security

VNCDN offers a RESTful API, providing high flexibility and efficiency in managing CDN resources. With this API, developers and administrators can easily create, update, and delete resources such as domains, cache rules, and policies automatically. By leveraging VNCDN’s RESTful API, businesses can enhance their system's flexibility and efficiency, meeting the diverse and complex demands of the modern business environment.

Origin Shield is a key security feature integrated into the VNCDN system. By storing cache copies at a central point, Origin Shield reduces the load on the origin server, efficiently handles access requests, and minimizes latency, thus speeding up content delivery. Additionally, Origin Shield acts as a firewall, filtering and forwarding only valid requests to the origin server, protecting it from DDoS attacks and invalid access requests. With access control and authentication capabilities, Origin Shield blocks requests from unknown or unauthorized sources, enhancing the system’s security. It also provides traffic monitoring and analysis tools to detect abnormal behavior and optimize security configurations in a timely manner.

Supporting HTTP/3 for Improved Performance

VNCDN has integrated and supports HTTP/3, a network communication standard that brings significant improvements in speed and performance for data transmission. This innovation provides customers with a smoother and faster web access experience, reducing latency and enhancing system security.

HTTP/3 is developed based on UDP (User Datagram Protocol) instead of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) as in previous versions. This helps minimize data packet congestion, increasing transmission speed and significantly improving user experience. By using modern techniques such as header encryption and multiplexing, HTTP/3 also provides a more secure environment for data transmission over the network.

Optimizing Images with WebP

VNCDN integrates and utilizes image optimization technology, including the WebP image format, to reduce image file sizes and improve transmission performance. WebP, developed by Google, can compress images to smaller sizes while maintaining high image quality.

WebP employs more efficient compression algorithms than traditional formats like JPEG and PNG. This significantly reduces image file sizes, speeds up page loading times, and enhances user experience. WebP supports both desktop and mobile platforms, making it suitable for all device types and browsers.

Integrating WebP into VNCDN helps clients' websites and applications achieve optimal performance in loading and displaying images, conserving network bandwidth, and enhancing system responsiveness.

The security features based on CDN technology in the VNCDN solution play a crucial role in ensuring service continuity. When incidents such as DDoS attacks or server failures occur, the system automatically redirects and balances traffic, minimizing downtime and ensuring that the user experience remains unaffected.

Start your journey to optimize your website's security and speed with VNCDN today. Contact us at hotline: (028) 7306 8789 or email contact@vnetwork.vn to register for integration and experience a positive transformation for your business website.