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How long could your network stay up during a DDoS attack?
If your answer is “I hope we never find out,” you’re not the only one. In fact, Infosecurity Magazine found that 25 percent of companies don’t feel fully ready to handle a DDoS attack.
Unfortunately, hope isn’t a DDoS mitigation strategy, especially since these attacks are getting faster and bigger every year.
- In 2024, worldwide DDoS attacks increased by over 198% compared to 2024*.
- Zayo’s data puts the average cost of a DDoS attack at around $408,000* once downtime and disruption are added up.
- Telecom took silver in 2025’s DDoS crosshairs, accounting for 19% of attacks worldwide and posting a 106% year-over-year jump*. Only financial services saw higher volume at 22%, and faster growth at over 118 percent.
So the real question is not “Will we ever see a DDoS attack?” It is “When it happens, will our network stay online?”
This guide will help you say “yes” to that question. We’ll walk you through the top DDoS mitigation best practices for organizations that rely on high-availability networks.
Let’s Start with the Basics: What is DDoS Mitigation?
DDoS stands for “Distributed Denial of Service.” It’s when attackers flood your network or website with so much junk traffic that the real stuff (like customer orders or VoIP calls) can’t get through.
DDoS mitigation means setting your network up to:
- Spot these attacks early
- Limit the damage
- Keep your systems running
Think of it like building flood barriers. You can’t stop the storm, but you can control where the water goes and how much it hurts.
Let’s break down the best ways to do that.
7 Steps to Keep Your Network Infrastructure Safe from Malicious Internet Traffic
Here are some specific steps you can take to start you can start mitigating DDoS attacks today:
1. Build Backup Pathways for Your Network Traffic
We know this goes against every “we should consolidate” bone in your body, but it’s the truth. Most DDoS downtime happens because there’s one weak link: a single Internet connection, one Internet provider, or one core device (like a router or switch).
When that one thing fails? Your whole network will go dark.
What to do instead:
- Add redundant Fiber paths, so there’s always a second way for traffic to move
- Use more than one upstream provider (that’s your Internet carrier)
- Make sure equipment like switches and firewalls have automatic backup systems (called failover)
For example, PS Lightwave’s Fiber network is built with ring topology: a circular setup where traffic can go either direction. If one segment gets taken out, your data just loops the other way and keeps moving.
🛡️ Why it works: DDoS attacks often target your connection or provider. Redundancy gives you a Plan B when attackers try to block Plan A.
2. Monitor Traffic Patterns So You Know What’s “Normal.”
You can’t stop an attack if you don’t know it’s happening.
That’s why monitoring is critical. The idea is simple: track how your network usually behaves, so you can spot weird activity the moment it starts.
What that looks like:
- Use NetFlow or sFlow (tools that track where data is coming from and going to)
- Set up alerts for traffic spikes, weird packet types, or tons of new connection attempts
- Watch for unusual activity, like thousands of login requests from one region
Want a shortcut? Partner with a provider who offers 24/7 NOC monitoring, like PS Lightwave. Their team keeps eyes on network patterns day and night, and they’ll escalate fast if something doesn’t look right.
📊 Why it works: If a sudden 100x increase in DNS requests starts showing up, you’ll know it’s not just a busy Monday, it’s an attack. Early detection means less disruption.
3. Segment and Prioritize Your Most Critical Services
Not everything in your network needs equal protection.
You want to ensure the services that matter most (such as your phones or payroll portal) stay online even if everything else fails.
Start by:
- Breaking down your network into segments (think: separate “zones” for different services)
- Keeping voice (VoIP), DNS, and key apps on their own Virtual LANs or IP ranges
- Applying different filters or rules to each group, like “Only allow web traffic to this server,” or “Only accept customer portal traffic from the US and Canada,” etc.
This is called network segmentation, and it helps you contain problems before they spread. For example, if a DDoS attack targets your public website, you don’t want it taking out your internal systems or call center along with it.
🔒 Why it works: When services are separated, it’s easier to defend them and easier to keep business moving when one area is under attack.
4. Filter and Limit Traffic Before It Reaches You
The “edge” of your network is your first line of defense, usually your firewall or router that connects to the outside world. You want to stop as much bad traffic here as possible.
Here’s how:
- Block unused ports: Don’t let traffic come in on channels you don’t use.
- Geo-blocking: If you only serve local customers, block connections from countries where attacks often start.
- Rate limiting: Set a cap on how many new connections or requests a single computer can make per second. This slows down attackers without hurting your real users.
- Access Control Lists (ACLs): These are rules that let you block traffic from fake or suspicious sources, like someone pretending to be inside your network when they aren’t.
Some providers, like PS Lightwave, can even help block certain types of attacks before the traffic hits your building.
🚧 Why it works: Filtering out junk before it reaches your important systems keeps your apps and services available for the people who actually need them.
5. Set Up a Scrubbing Plan for Big Attacks
Some attacks are too big to handle on your own. That’s where traffic scrubbing comes in. Think of it like sending your Internet traffic through a car wash:
- All your incoming traffic gets rerouted to a scrubbing center
- The provider filters out the junk traffic
- The clean, legitimate traffic gets sent back to your network
Typically, there are two types of scrubbing that providers offer:
- Always-on scrubbing: Traffic goes through the scrubbing center all the time. Best for businesses that can’t afford even a second of downtime.
- On-demand traffic scrubbing: Only kicks in when an attack starts. More affordable, but there’s a small delay.
You’ll often use specialized routing protocols (such as BGP) to route traffic to the scrubbing provider, then receive only clean data via a secure tunnel (such as GRE or IPsec).
🚿 Why it works: Scrubbing keeps huge floods of bad traffic off your network, so your bandwidth and apps don’t get overwhelmed.
6. Build a DDoS Response Plan (That People Actually Use)
When an attack hits, don’t scramble; follow a playbook.
DDoS mitigation only works when the response is mapped out ahead of time. That’s what an incident response plan will do. It acts as your playbook, cutting the panic and letting your team move fast to keep the important systems online.
Most DDoS attacks fall into three big buckets:
1) Volumetric attacks that flood your connection with a huge amount of traffic.
2) Protocol attacks that abuse how network protocols like TCP or UDP work and overwhelm firewalls and routers.
3) Application-layer attacks that go after specific apps or services like web logins or APIs.
A good DDoS mitigation plan needs to be ready for all three. Which means your plan should include:
- Who does what during an attack (technical, communication, escalation)
- When to call your ISP or scrubbing provider
- What actions are you allowed to take right away (rate limits, blocks, route changes)
- How to notify leadership or affected users
If your provider is part of your response plan (like PS Lightwave’s 24/7 NOC), you’ll get faster action and better coordination.
📋 Why it works: Everyone moves faster and with more confidence when they’ve rehearsed the steps before things go sideways.
7. Run Tabletop Drills to Prepare for Future Attacks
A response plan is only useful if your team knows how to use it.
That is where tabletop exercises come in. These are practice drills where your team walks through a “what if” DDoS scenario and talks through how they would respond. Don’t worry, no servers have to go down; you just talk it out.
How to run a drill and what to test:
- Pick a likely attack to walk through, like your website or phones getting flooded.
- Test specific scenarios:
- What happens if DNS goes down?
- How do we reroute traffic through a scrubbing provider?
- Who handles customer communication if services are disrupted?
- Assign clear roles and walk through each step: Who notices the problem? Who responds first? Who talks to leadership and stakeholders?
- Take notes on any gaps, confusion, or missing tools and update your plan based on what you learn.
If you have been attacked before, hold a post-incident review. Ask what worked, what fell short, and where you can tighten things up for next time.
🏋️ Why it works: Practicing your response builds confidence, speeds up decision-making, and helps you find weak spots before an attacker does.
How PS Lightwave Helps You Stay Online
When it comes to stopping a DDoS attack, the network underneath your systems matters just as much as the tools on top.
That’s where PS Lightwave makes a difference.
We give you the strong, reliable foundation your mitigation plan needs with:
- A redundant, ring-based Fiber network that keeps your traffic moving even when trouble hits
- Low-latency connectivity that supports real-time apps and quick rerouting
- A local, 24/7 NOC team that’s ready to jump in and help when something looks off
It’s all about helping you keep services up, response times fast, and your customers connected, even under pressure.
Need a Stronger Defense Against Malicious Traffic? Let’s Talk
You don’t have to wait for an attack to take action. If you’re looking for a better way to protect uptime, reduce risk, and stay ahead of DDoS threats, reach out to our team! We’ll help you review your current setup and map out practical next steps.
