Exclusive Interview With Ramil Khantimirov, StormWall’s CEO & Co-founder

Here Are Ramil Khantimirov's Responses To Our Questions:

1. Question: How do you define a secure website?

Ramil Khantimirov:

A website can only be described as “secure” when it meets two challenges:

Firstly, it should guarantee users' personal data protectiond shield them from fraud and other actions by malefactors.

Secondly, it should ensure the service's fail-safe functioning and free from any disruption, be it a DDoS or a hacker attack. After all, service failure at a critical moment may lead to unrecoverable losses.

READ ALSO: Top 5 Cybersecurity Threats That eCommerce Websites Should Watch Out For

2. Question: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rise in DDoS attacks. Do you think they correlate?

Ramil Khantimirov:

They do indeed correlate. Moreover, after introducing quarantine restriction measures, we noticed a sharp increase in DDoS attacks on industries traditionally prone to such attacks (online entertainment, games) and sectors that have become essential during the lockdown. For instance, we have detected a 4-fold increase in attacks on businesses in the online retail industry.

This can mainly be attributed to 2 factors: the increased social role of such businesses during the epidemic and the unprecedented abundance of free time among malefactors, as most no longer have to commute to work or school.

3. Question: Some cyberattacks are carried out to steal personal data from websites. Are there security tools that should be used?

Ramil Khantimirov:

That is an excellent question, as no direct and concise answer exists. Website owners should utilize every possible measure to protect their users, starting with vulnerability analysis and using tools like Web Application Firewall (WAF).

4. Question: How would you advise companies to respond when they fall victim to DDoS attacks?

Ramil Khantimirov:

The best approach is to tackle the problem before it even arises. It is not that difficult anyway: DDoS protection costs are low, and the setup is usually done in minutes. Skimping on preventive measures may end up costing much more. In case of an actual attack, it may take several hours before the website becomes operational again.

Here are the tell-tale signs of an ongoing DDoS attack:

1: The website takes forever to load, and the attempt results in an error (502, 503, 504)

2: An attempt to load a page immediately results in an error.

3: The website responses are slow, and the navigation feels sluggish.

Some recommendations on how to deal with a DDoS attack:

1. Stop the attack on your own using an advanced web server, OS, or optimization settings. Remember that you are permanently restricted by the available resources (CPU, RAM, network bandwidth, etc.). And should the attacker's resource pool ever so slightly exceed yours, you will be powerless to stop your website from going down.
2. Ask for help from your hosting or internet provider. You will be at their mercy and reliant on their resources, though.
3. Find a company that specializes in DDoS protection services.

Each option requires time for the countermeasures to be set up – this usually takes several hours beginning from the start of the attack. Therefore, we always recommend considering your business's security at the earliest stages of building your IT infrastructure.

This will prevent a company from making heavy profits, incurring customer losses, and experiencing reputational damage due to negligence.

READ ALSO: Top 5 DDoS Attack Challenges For Telecom Companies

5. Question: Apart from anti-DDoS protection, are there any innovations customers should expect in the future from StormWall?

Ramil Khantimirov:

Sure! The principal value proposition of StormWall lies in helping the IT community ensure information sustainability by providing proactive and affordable high-quality services with a focus on DDoS and hacker attack protection.

We are eager to help our customers on any scale – our services range from personal protection to enterprise-level solutions. Aside from that, we act as tech evangelists by popularizing “information sustainability” and educating the IT community about the importance of security, digital hygiene, and timely resource protection.

Having our situation center enables us to be on the cutting edge of innovation and serve as a frontline defense for our clients. Our staff at the center keeps track of any new attack methods and works hard to research and develop effective countermeasures.

We also have plans to release an on-premises hardware DDoS protection appliance that will work in hand with existing security instruments. Our specialists are working on it now, and we are excited to roll it out soon.

6. Question: With several years of operation, what is the strength of your company against its competitors?

Ramil Khantimirov:

What sets our company apart is that our focus is on DDoS protection. While our competitors only offer it as a complementary service, we treat attack protection as our core product and mission.

We strive for perfection in our products and customer support because our clients cannot afford to break down under adversarial pressure. From the beginning of our journey, StormWall has been developing and perfecting only our tech based on traffic analysis.

We continue to improve and evolve, helping shape how DDoS attack protection tools are developed.

Note: This was initially published in February 2021 but has been updated for freshness and accuracy.

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