NETSCOUT > Case Studies > Taking It to the Edge: Two DDoS Mitigation Options; One Secure Solution

Taking It to the Edge: Two DDoS Mitigation Options; One Secure Solution

Company Size

1,000+

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

NETSCOUT’s Sightline
NETSCOUT’s Threat Mitigation System (TMS)
NETSCOUT’s Sentinel

Tech Stack

DDoS Mitigation
Edge-based strategy
Centralized scrubbing model

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Cybersecurity

Services

Cybersecurity Services
System Integration

About The Customer

The customer is an American telecommunications company that recently completed the acquisition of another telco. Prior to the merger, the two companies had deployed two different DDoS attack mitigation strategies. Now, as a unified entity, the customer knew they needed to implement one strategy across the board. Two senior executives who had each led one of the opposing strategies approached the Account Manager and asked, “Which strategy is better?” The company always has their customers top of mind; and with this upgrade, they are providing an even better experience with more reliability, predictability, and even faster access.

The Challenge

During a merger, the American telecommunications company faced a challenge of choosing between an edge DDoS defense or a centralized DDoS defense. Prior to the merger, the two companies had deployed two different DDoS attack mitigation strategies. Telco B had deployed a centralized scrubbing model which offered a large amount of mitigation capacity in a couple of locations, and the attacks were managed at the scrubbing centers. However, the disadvantage was that attack traffic had to be transported all the way across their network to get to a scrubbing center before being dropped, introducing additional latency and risk to transport links. On the other hand, Telco A had deployed an Edge-based strategy where attack traffic was removed immediately from the network at the internet edge offering the best overall protection for the network. The disadvantage was that the timeline of the project increased as mitigation devices were deployed in more physical locations.

The Solution

After weighing the pros and cons and consulting with the NETSCOUT team, the company ultimately chose the Edge-based strategy. With the increase in frequency and severity of DDoS attacks, Edge-based mitigation offers the best protection for their network and for their customers. With NETSCOUT’s Sightline and Threat Mitigation System (TMS) along with the NETSCOUT Sentinel solution for Orchestration, they were able to take advantage of the newest technologies while reducing the amount of load on the existing network, increasing their mitigation capacity, and modernizing and better protecting their network. Most importantly to the executive team, this strategy provides their customers with the best user experience possible.

Operational Impact