When choosing a DDoS protection service, look for mitigation tools like firewalls and traffic filtering. You'll also want to pay attention to technical support and the type of monitoring provided.
InMotion earned the spot as our best overall DDoS protection hosting because of its 24/7 technical staff, which is always available to address your hosting and security needs. It also provides specialized servers and dedicated system admins to ensure your site’s protection.
If you’re looking to compare InMotion to its competitors, we suggest you start with LiquidWeb or A2 Hosting.
We evaluated over 1,000 hosting plans, shortlisting the ones that provide specific distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation tools, like firewalls, traffic filtering, and denial of service (DoS) defense systems. Next, we checked which plans provided excellent technical support and proactive monitoring. We validated this list against real customer feedback, analyzing our huge database of user reviews.
What Is a DDoS Attack?
DDoS stands for “distributed denial-of-service.” A DDoS attack occurs when a network of computers is used to send a large volume of bogus traffic to a web server, using up most of the server’s resources so that legitimate traffic is unable to access the server.
The web server’s resources are maxed out by the requests. This usually results in legitimate website visitors being unable to access the website. DDoS attacks are a convenient method for hackers and e-bandits to ransom legitimate websites and businesses. Protection, therefore, is vital.
DDoS attacks can be carried out continuously for an extended period of time and can shut down a web server and any websites or services that rely on that server.
Some DDoS attacks are crimes of opportunity. Some hackers love to knock down some poor site that doesn’t keep up with security standards. Others are more targeted. A hacker might have a grudge against a site owner and launch an attack.
Is Your Website at Risk of a DDoS Attack?
When starting a new website, many individuals and businesses may not be aware of the prevalent danger of DDoS attacks. All websites are at risk of DDoS attacks. According to the latest Netscout DDoS Threat Intelligence Report, there were more than 6 million global DDoS attacks in the first half of 2022, and that number continues to go up each year.
If you are running your website on a shared hosting server (which is the most popular type of hosting), your site may be at risk even if it is not targeted. Shared hosting allows multiple customers to share the system resources on a server for web hosting. If another site on the same server gets targeted, your site can experience slowness or go offline.
With this in mind, anyone who wants to run a website needs to take the threat of DDoS attacks seriously.
How to Choose DDoS Protection Hosting
You should choose your hosting provider carefully if you’re concerned about DDoS attacks.
There are several things in particular that you should ask about, as follows:
DDoS Mitigation: Ask about any plans in place to mitigate DDoS attacks. It is vital to know about their alertness and preparation.
Security updates: An up-to-date protocol in terms of security is a priority for any hosting provider. Do they keep up with security updates on a regular basis? If it’s also their priority, you’re in good hands.
Firewalls: Having adequate firewalls prevents a degree of unauthorized access. Ensure your selected host is prepared and up to date with their firewalls.
Third parties: Third parties such as Cloudflare can be brilliant. As a CDN company, it specializes in DDoS mitigation. With a capacity of 15 TBps (terabytes per second), Cloudflare can handle large DDoS attacks.
SLAs and compensation: Is there an SLA (service-level agreement)? If your site goes down due to a DDoS attack, you might be eligible for compensation if the contract includes DDoS mitigation.
Customer feedback: Try talking to existing customers. Have they had any issues with the host? If so, what has been done to resolve it? This is always a good way to gain insight into their first-hand experience.
InMotion is one site that offers DDoS mitigation. InMotion Hosting takes server security seriously. It provides DDoS protection on your VPS (virtual private server) hosting without additional cost. Its specialized server structure provides a barrier against attacks. InMotion also has a dedicated expert team of system administrators who work to defend your home on the web. The 24/7 technical staff that will do their best to resolve any security issues.
Pros and Cons of InMotion
Pros
Free domain and SSL (secure sockets layer)
Excellent uptime
90-day money-back guarantee
Cons
Limited support
Higher cost plans
What customers are saying about InMotion
InMotion Hosting’s high-performance hosting, support team, features, and customer service are well-liked. Prices are fair, but can fluctuate.
Why it’s best: Provides volumetric mitigation at 250 Mbps to two gigabytes per second
Liquid Web specializes in cloud hosting and VPS plans. It offers volumetric mitigation at 250 MBps to two GBps. Liquid Web also offers higher service tiers to clients who face more targeted attacks. CloudFlare is easily added to any Liquid Web account to provide optimal DDoS protection. Services can then be configured, managed, and monitored directly from your dashboard.
Pros and Cons of Liquid Web
Pros
GlobalSign SSL certificates included in all plans
Unlimited visitors
Solid-state drives installed on all servers
100% uptime guarantee
Heroic Support with fast response time guarantees
Site migration service is available at no extra cost
Cons
High entry-level price
No free ad credits offered
What customers are saying about Liquid Web
Liquid Web is known as one of the best managed WordPress hosting companies that allows you to easily host many websites. The tech support is open every day of the year, but there are some billing and customer service issues.
Why it’s best: Provides volumetric mitigation at 250 Mbps to two gigabytes per second
A2 Hosting to help you keep your site safe. It provides a high-capacity reinforced DDoS protection to increase the likelihood that your site will not be impacted by these malicious actions, expertly locate an attack, and provide quick mitigation if one occurs.
Pros and Cons of A2 Hosting
Pros
Outstanding speed
Premium support
30-day money back guarantee
Cons
Free domain not included
Higher monthly pricing
What customers are saying about A2 Hosting
A2 is a reliable, affordable hosting company that has fast speeds. The customer service is generally responsive, but could use more updated tutorials and documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions About DDoS Protection Hosting
Can a free Cloudflare account help with DDoS?
The free Cloudflare plan includes activating “I’m Under Attack” mode. If your site is under a DDoS attack, activating this mode will help block much of the illegitimate traffic while letting through real visitors.
Can a DDoS attack cause lasting damage?
In most cases, the effects of a DDoS attack are temporary. However, a subset of DDoS attacks called permanent DoS (PDoS) attacks involve attacking known firmware vulnerabilities and damaging them or replacing them with malicious software. The result is that the affected piece of hardware is rendered unusable until it is repaired or replaced.
Should I pay a DDoS ransom?
If you ever face a DDoS attack coupled with a ransom demand, most internet security experts advise against paying the ransom. If you do pay it, you can expect a short-lived reprieve followed by a renewed attack and another demand for payment. When facing an attack, the best thing to do is to find partners, such as your hosting provider, who can help you fend off the attack.
How do cybercriminals get access to a botnet?
A botnet is a network of computers infected with a malicious Trojan horse. It allows the malware's author to use the computer to send out specific internet transmissions. A single botnet controller can cause thousands of computers to simultaneously and continuously attempt to access a specific website or online service. You can rent access to a botnet, and some botnet controllers rent to cybercriminals who carry out DDoS attacks.