A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is something that is dreaded by every website operator – no matter how large or small. It involves a large number of computers that all get infected with a specialized ’trojan‘, and then they are all synchronized to try and access a particular site at the same time. This sudden increase in traffic makes a website unusable, and it is very difficult to distinguish malicious hits from regular website visitors. Because of these factors, it is vital to choose the best form of DDoS protection.

For existing site users, a DDoS attack can destroy a reputation of reliability that we have taken many years to build up. It is frightening to think that a large amount of hard work can be undone in just a few minutes. The best solutions to protect against these attacks are those that are constantly evolving. Hackers are always coming up with new methods, and so the security companies need to keep up with them. The leading providers invest heavily into researching this subject, and there have been cases in the past where some of the greatest hackers have been employed by the ‘good guys.’ Their superior knowledge of DDoS attacks has been invaluable.

The cost of the service is also something that needs to be considered. Cheaper solutions may look appealing, but the most important factor is the guarantee that our site will be down for as little time as possible. Downtime will ultimately cost any business a significant amount of money, and so we need to take all necessary steps to make sure that this does not happen. DDoS attacks will always be a threat, because the majority of those responsible do not even realize that their computer is infected.

We analyzed 4 of the top DDoS protection service providers for you. Here is the result:

	Black Lotus	Zen Network Technologies	DDoS Defend	Prolexic
Website	www.blacklotus.com	www.zenprotection.net	www.ddosdefend.com	www.prolexic.com
Layer 7 Protection
Intelligent Bandwidth*
Max. Bandwidth	10,000GB	Unlimited	3,000GB	Unlimited
24/7 Support
Pricing Online
HTTP Flood protection
Starting Price	1000$ / month	Call	99$ / month	Call
Response time	B+	A+	B-	A
Our rating	8/10	9.5/10	7/10	9/10

 *Intelligent Bandwidth is the ability to differentiate the legit and malicious traffic. Only the malicious traffic is counted in your bandwidth, reducing your costs.