DDoS Protection Solution Builds on Cisco Managed Service Leadership

Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com) announced the availability of the Cisco Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection solution. Building on Cisco leadership in managed service development, this solution helps enable service providers to deliver managed DDoS protection to their customers.

Security features are an integral part of Cisco IP NGN architecture. At the Service Layer, the DDoS Protection solution enables service providers to deploy network-based security services for added revenue and fulfill the market demands for security with simplicity.

A number of global and regional service providers have found measurable benefits in the Cisco DDoS Protection solution and many, including Sprint, are also finding great value in the managed network component of the solution.

"Cisco has provided leading products and solutions to meet requirements to help ensure reliable and highly secure data services," said Randy Ritter, vice president of product management at Sprint.

DDoS attacks are becoming more prevalent due to readily available attack creation tools, while motivations are becoming increasingly varied and malicious.

DDoS attacks against host systems or network infrastructure result in the disruption of service to customers and users. These attacks may limit the ability to access servers and other critical network resources or completely block legitimate network traffic flows, saturating available bandwidth with excessive packet flooding.

The most effective way to mitigate DDoS attacks is to "scrub" the traffic before it reaches the customer premise, preventing malicious traffic from reaching customer networks.

Unlike other DDoS defense techniques, the Cisco DDoS protection solution is designed to deliver "clean pipes" capabilities that consist of several major functional elements working towards protecting a network from DDoS attacks, including detection, mitigation, and traffic diversion and injection.

New software for the Cisco Traffic Anomaly Detector XT appliance and the new Cisco Traffic Anomaly Detector Service Module for the Cisco 7600 Series Router and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch, integral components of the solution delivery, gives business customers added service control and simplifies service deployment for providers.

This gives business users a level of service control and simplifies providers' operations. The software also eases deployment by independently rerouting traffic to the Guard and automatically activating the appropriate policies for mitigation.

"Security is top of mind for end customers today, and this DDoS Protection solution helps service providers address this critical need in a comprehensive, proven manner," said Mick Scully, vice president of product management for the security technology group at Cisco.