Every server has a limit, and your website can only handle so many simultaneous visits before the
server starts to get under pressure. In short, this is how a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack works. Considering their universality, setting up WordPress DDoS protection is a wise move.
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There are many ways to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks on your website. Blocking suspicious IP is a good start, so so is investing in DDoS protection services. Protecting your website from DDoS attacks from the beginning can save you a lot of time and trouble.
In this article, we will solve the threat of DDoS attacks through numbers. Then, we will discuss five WordPress DDoS protection methods. let's start!
Why your website may need DDoS protection
DDoS attacks are much more frequent than you think. In the first half of 2019, DDoS attacks increased by 39% compared to 2018, which in itself experienced millions of attacks. As attacks exceeding 500 GB per second have become more common, their effectiveness has increased dramatically.
The targets of these attacks are not only large websites. Even smaller sites can be affected by attackers trying to demand a ransom. This makes WordPress DDoS protection almost necessary, not just preventive measures.
Five ways to protect your WordPress site from DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks can be scary, but there are many ways to set up WordPress DDoS protection.
If you are proactive, you may never find that a DDoS attack will paralyze your website. Let's look at five different methods.
1. Use Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN is a service that caches a copy of your website in its data center. The most popular CDNs provide data centers around the world, and they act as intermediaries between you and website visitors.
Whenever possible, your CDN will provide a cached copy of the website from its
server, thereby reducing your burden. In addition, CDNs can also help you reduce the total load time because they are built with performance in mind.
CDN makes your website overwhelmed by blocking the resulting traffic and becomes a fire prevention measure for DDoS attacks. They can detect abnormal patterns in the traffic, and if the expansion speed is too fast, they can mitigate the attack.
Some CDNs (such as Cloudflare) can also act as a reverse proxy, which can further protect your WordPress site from DDoS attacks.
Who should consider using CDN:
Most websites can benefit from CDN integration to improve their performance. However, it is not surprising that many of these are premium services. The good news is that there are several great free CDN options, and most of them can be easily integrated with WordPress.
2. Register a dedicated DDoS protection service
Although most CDNs provide DDoS protection, the entire business has built other services around this feature.
For example, Google provides a project called Project Shield, which can be used by invitation:
WordPress DDoS protection with Project Shield.
In terms of price, other DDoS protection services are often at the high end. This is a service that only companies usually pay for. To give you an idea, AWS provides a shielding service for DDoS protection, and its advanced tier charges $3,000 per month.
Who should consider dedicated DDoS protection:
Unless you major in professional e-commerce operations and cannot even go offline for even an hour, the dedicated DDoS protection may appear outdated. This kind of service is expensive, so you need a lot of budget.
3. Switch to a new hosting provider
Most web hosts are keen on its performance. However, it is obvious that not all products are at the same level in terms of performance. Even under moderate pressure, certain web hosting
servers will slow down significantly, and if you face a DDoS attack, these providers will become terrible choices.
The good news is that the most famous web hosting providers implement a certain level of protection at the
server level to prevent traffic flooding. SiteGround, for example, uses a hardware firewall and looks for an abnormal number of connections.
Another example is WP Engine, which integrates with Cloudflare to provide DDoS protection for all its plans. Those are two of our favorite WordPress web hosts, but they are not the only option that provides DDoS protection.
Who should consider switching to a new hosting provider:
If you think your web host is hindering the performance of your website, it is in your best interest to exchange providers as soon as possible.
4. Set up the firewall
You may already be familiar with the concept of firewalls. A firewall is software that can use its own set of pre-programmed rules to protect your computer from unauthorized access.
You can configure a firewall to help you limit the number of users who visit your website within a certain period of time and filter out visitors who may be robots. If the number is set to a reasonable value, it is sufficient to prevent most DDoS attacks without affecting the user experience.
Use Wordfence's rate limiting feature.
One way to do this in WordPress is through plugins. For example, Fence includes a rate limiting feature that you can use to limit the number of users and automatic crawlers that can visit your website.
Who should consider using a WordPress firewall:
We shared our feelings about WordPress security plugins in the past. Many of them pay too much attention and make changes to the site beyond strictly necessary, which may affect performance.
If you are looking for a cheap and easy-to-implement method of WordPress DDoS protection, we recommend that you use a free CDN.
5. Blacklist suspicious IP addresses
This method is more practical than other methods used for WordPress DDoS protection. It involves monitoring which IP addresses are trying to access your website, and blacklisting those showing suspicious activity, such as:
Repeat login attempts
Too many visits
IP clustering floods your website traffic
WordPress allows you to blacklist IP addresses at the
server level in the following ways: Adjust your .htaccess file:
WordPress DDoS protection with .htaccess rules
You can also use plugins such as "All-in-One WP Security and Firewall" to achieve the same goal:
All-in-one WP security and firewall All-in-one WP security and firewall
