Hi friends,
Today, I want to share something important I’ve been learning about while preparing for my AWS Security Specialty exam—DDoS attacks and how AWS helps defend against them.
🤯 What Is a DDoS Attack?
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is like a traffic jam on your website. Instead of one visitor at a time, it’s thousands (or even millions) of requests flooding in—all at once, on purpose—trying to crash your service.
These attacks can slow down or totally shut down your applications. For people building online platforms or APIs, this is a serious threat.
🛡️ AWS Shield to the Rescue
Amazon offers AWS Shield, a managed DDoS protection service, to help absorb and deflect these attacks. It comes in two flavors:
🧰 AWS Shield Standard (Free and Automatic)
- Always on, no setup needed.
- Protects against common and most frequently observed Layer 3 (Network) and Layer 4 (Transport) DDoS attacks.
- Integrated with services like CloudFront, Route 53, Elastic Load Balancer (ELB), and Global Accelerator.
💡 For most users, Shield Standard is enough. You get basic DDoS protection for free when using AWS edge services.
🛡️ AWS Shield Advanced (Paid, Proactive Defense)
- Protection against larger, more complex attacks (including Layer 7 – Application Layer).
- Access to the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT) for real-time support during attacks.
- Real-time metrics, alerts, and detailed attack diagnostics.
- Financial protections via DDoS cost protection (reimbursement for scaling costs from attacks).
- Integrates with AWS WAF, CloudWatch, and AWS Firewall Manager for broader security management.
🆚 AWS Shield Standard vs Advanced
| Feature | Shield Standard | Shield Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid (monthly fee per resource) |
| DDoS Layers Covered | L3 & L4 (network, transport) | L3, L4, and L7 (application) |
| Auto Protection | Yes | Yes |
| Integration with CloudFront, ELB | Yes | Yes |
| AWS WAF Integration | No | Yes |
| Access to AWS DDoS Response Team | No | Yes |
| Real-Time Metrics & Alerts | No | Yes |
| DDoS Cost Protection | No | Yes |
| Central Management via Firewall Manager | No | Yes |
🔐 Other AWS Services That Strengthen DDoS Protection
While AWS Shield is central, combining it with other services gives you better resilience:
| Service | Role |
|---|---|
| AWS WAF | Blocks malicious web traffic using rules you define. Works well with Shield Advanced. |
| Amazon CloudFront | CDN that helps absorb traffic surges and hides your origin servers. |
| Route 53 | DNS service with built-in Shield Standard protection—also allows for fast failover. |
| Elastic Load Balancing | Distributes incoming traffic to healthy targets, helping absorb surges. |
| AWS Firewall Manager | Central management for WAF and Shield Advanced rules across accounts. |
🧠 Final Thoughts
Learning about DDoS and AWS Shield reminded me that cloud security isn’t just about locking the doors—it’s also about keeping the traffic flowing smoothly when someone tries to jam it up.
If you’re just getting into cloud security like I am, this is a great place to start. It’s reassuring to know AWS gives us tools to not only detect threats—but automatically respond to them in real time.
Thanks for reading!
Created By Yao Zhang Using Midjourney And ChatGPT
Yao Zhang's Labs 