When it comes to network-based attacks – be it hijacking, spoofing, or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) – it’s not a matter of if, but when. And with the existence of websites that sell targeted attacks like online products to anyone with a prepaid gift card, a bad actor need not be technically knowledgeable to bring down a target’s connectivity or even hold it for ransom. What’s worse, recovery from such attacks can take hours or days and come with substantial support costs.
CENIC member institutions are on firm ground since they can take advantage of CENIC’s DDoS Mitigation Service (DMS), made available through CENIC’s Internet2 membership. Thanks to its partnership with Internet2, CENIC is able to contract for Radware’s on-demand, cloud-based DMS. This allows CENIC members to purchase services through CENIC, leveraging Internet2’s attractive pricing and CENIC's high-capacity direct connections with Internet2 and through Internet2 to Radware.
The security benefits of CENIC membership don’t stop there, though; CENIC’s incredibly responsive 24/7/365 Network Operations Center provides an even greater layer of protection, as the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) experienced themselves.
Earlier this year, the SDCCD found themselves under such an attack, specifically a DNS laundering attack, where large volumes of nefarious traffic were aimed at the District through legitimate DNS servers and hence mixed with legitimate traffic. Mitigating such attacks can be very complex since simply blocking these servers will also block traffic that should be allowed.
The District called CENIC’s Networking Operations Center, which verified that they were indeed under attack. As the site was not initially participating in DMS, NOC engineers quickly put an access-control list (ACL) in place at no cost as an emergency measure to mitigate the attack. At the same time, the District contacted their firewall provider.
However, the cost and time quoted by the provider for what ended up being an ineffective solution prompted the District to contact CENIC again. At this point, CENIC’s NOC temporarily added the District to the DDoS Mitigation Service. This change was made permanent via an extremely cost-effective contract compared to their original firewall provider. Mitigation was automatic, fast, and effective when another attack occurred a few months later.
Areeluck Parsoonthorn, SDCCD District Director of IT Operations, expressed her thanks to CENIC for quickly identifying and implementing a solution under such pressing circumstances. “Please extend my deepest gratitude to your entire team for their collective efforts in identifying and implementing an emergency solution,” she stated. “The seamless collaboration and swift action taken by CENIC’s team played a pivotal role in navigating the challenges we faced. Our partnership is truly inspiring and greatly appreciated.”
“Unfortunately, such attacks are becoming even more frequent and sophisticated, and everyone’s at risk,” said CENIC Vice President of Network Engineering Robert Kwon. “Being able to offer cost-effective DDoS mitigation from Internet2 is a great benefit, ensuring our members’ connectivity remains uninterrupted during these attacks.”
Any CENIC member institution not currently on DMS is invited to contact the CENIC Program Management Office to learn more about this service.