£4m investment protects businesses with new POPs launched in Amsterdam, Seattle, Manchester
British cloud technology firm UKFast is investing £4m into its distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) mitigation network, DDoSX, more than doubling the capacity of the service.
The investment marks the first phase in a series of network upgrades for the firm and sees the launch of a number of new points of presence (POPs) in Amsterdam, Seattle and Manchester, alongside the existing UK, EU and US DDoSX POPs.
DDoSX uses complex algorithms and AI to analyse malicious online behaviour and defends organisations against the significant impact of DDoS attacks, absorbing traffic and filtering it away from the target’s server.
The global DDoSX infrastructure also offers clients access to content delivery network (CDN) and web application firewall (WAF) services.
UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones said: “The rise in the intensity and regularity of DDoS attacks in recent years is alarming. A decade ago we might have seen one DDoS attack a year. Nowadays it can be three or four a day.
“The latest investment in DDoSX enables greater performance and resilience for clients, whilst giving us the capacity to absorb attacks of even greater strength. The new POPs are also strategically positioned to allow our CDN to deliver content at incredible speed to our clients’ end users around the world.
Whilst attackers often use proxy servers to mask their identity, everything is traceable on the internet. There are more and more people being prosecuted for DDoS and similar attacks. Our AI platform uses data from multiple touch points across the network and security operations centre, collating information about specific IPs and locations to keep on watch lists. We are working closely with law enforcement agencies to help protect people online.
DDoS attacks are still on the rise, with attackers harnessing insecure IoT devices to create ever-larger botnets. The largest DDoS attack ever delivered occurred in 2018, measuring 1.3Tbps.
UKFast CTO Neil Lathwood added: “DDoSX is a simple, plug-and-play solution that’s proved incredibly popular in the marketplace. With attackers creating botnets by targeting IoT devices running out-of-date firmware, DDoS attacks continue to increase in intensity and remain a significant threat.
DDoS attacks on eCommerce websites traditionally spike around peak shopping periods, creating the maximum amount of disruption possible. It’s not unknown for it to be used to blackmail business owners or bring down competitors.
“Downtime from a DDoS attack is incredibly damaging for the countless organisations that depend on being up and running 24/7/365.”
“We’ll continue to invest in developing the platform. Full-page caching and global load balancing are both in the DDoSX road map for 2019.”
DDoSX is billed at one fixed charge per domain.
About UKFast
UKFast is one of the largest independently owned hosting providers in the UK, with revenue topping £53m in 2018.
UKFast provides dedicated servers, cloud services and colocation to more than 5,000 government, public sector and commercial organisations, with a wide-ranging product portfolio including Infrastructure as a Service, DR as a Service and its cloud offering, eCloud®.
UKFast has developed educational partnerships as part of its mission to promote innovation and reach out to a new generation of digital superstars. Working with 60 schools and colleges, reaching 60,000 young people in Greater Manchester, UKFast’s team run more than 500 educational events a year. The firm’s team of full-time teachers run masterclasses, workshops and code clubs and also deliver an award-winning technical apprenticeship scheme.
Alongside its product range, UKFast has five fully owned, custom-built data centres and its cybersecurity arm Secarma specialises in ethical hacking and penetration testing.
The family of businesses owned by founders Lawrence and Gail Jones employs 450 people, with UKFast directly employing 350.
Among many accolades, UKFast has been named Cloud Provider of the Year at the CRN Awards and Employer of the Year at the National Business Awards. Its 500-seater auditorium hosts events and exhibitions, and provides a free meeting space for the UK tech community and charities.
