Protecting your business from cyber threats has become more crucial in today’s digital age, as with every passing day, attackers are becoming more advanced and creative in their techniques, posing a constant threat to your IT infrastructure and web applications. In this TechBullion interview with Lisa Fröhlich from Link11 – the leading european cybersecurity provider, find out how you can create an unbreakable shield for your online presence. The Link11’s cutting-edge technology not only safeguards your company against crippling DDoS attacks but also strengthens its overall cyber resilience.
Please tell us about yourself and your journey in the Cyber security industry.
My name is Lisa Froehlich, I have been working at Link11 a global European IT security provider since May 2022. Since the beginning of 2023 I am additionally the companys spokesperson.
As a consultant for science communication at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Hesse), I was able to gain extensive knowledge in the field of cyber security at the Chair for System Security before. Besides I worked as a PR manager and in the european financial sector for over ten years.
What is trending in the security market, could you give us an overview of the cybersecurity landscape and how much cyber attacks are affecting business today?
Companies and decision-makers should know that cyber attacks were professionalised during the last years like never before. In particular artificial intelligence leads to a massive increase in cyber attacks today.
The times of spontaneous attacks for purely monetary purposes are long gone. Currently, some hackers have political motives in addition to financial ones and want to attack societies, critical infrastructures, and governments.
Due to the professionalization mostly pro-russian and state-sponsored groups like NoName057, Killnet and Anonymous Sudan are targeting advanced and sophisticated DDoS attacks on critical infrastructures.
Instead of randomly attacking businesses in the hope of success, highly targeted advanced and sophisticated DDoS attacks are now being used with the aim of crippling energy operators, financial institutions or airports.
Unfortunately, there is still a lack of knowledge in many places about the issue of building resilience to protect businesses. Even the threat of cyberattacks is often underestimated.
For businesses who have a DDoS emergency and need help immediately, tell us more about your Emergency help for DDoS attacks and what to expect?
There is a DDoS attack emergency assistance form on the Link11 website. We also have an emergency phone number that is available 24/7. First, questions are clarified, such as which service is being attacked, are there any collateral damage or communication with the attackers? It is also important for us to know if any other service providers are involved and if a DDoS mitigation solution was already implemented that could not withstand the attack.
If all required information are known and the contract are signed the WebDDoS protection can be implemented within 24 hours. Depending on the connection (GRE or Layer 2 connection) and configuration, onboarding may take longer for the infrastructure DDoS protection. This also depends on how many departments are involved in the process on the part of the company concerned.
Furthermore, we also recommend not to respond to extortion, but to get in touch with the respective law enforcement agencies.
What does Link11 specialize in and what is your mission? How does Link11 protect applications and infrastructure from complex attacks?
We protect IT infrastructure and web applications against DDoS-attacks with our AI-based and therefore fully automated security-solutions. Many of our customers are based in the industry of the critical infrastructure, e.g. finance, transport, public, health but also energy.
In the case of a DDoS-attack, servers, online services or entire networks are flooded with a large number of requests, which can lead to the complete failure of IT systems. We are protecting companies against these digital threats.
Our solutions can address multiple cybersecurity challenges. Not only because the AI- and machine-learning-based DDoS defence automatically adapts to the attacks. In addition, we offer a very fast time in which a DDoS attack is neutralised (“time-to-mitigate”). This is one of the most important cornerstones of competitive cybersecurity solutions today.
How is the Link11 ecosystem set up?
The backbone of our digital ecosystem is our cloud-based DDoS-protection that enables filtering, analyzing and even blocking traffic that threatens our customers.
In the first of three steps incoming traffic is analyzed and a specific “fingerprint” is allocated to each customer. Every fingerprint is made up of hundreds of unique features and is far more specific than just an IP address. This ensures that legitimate users can access any data at any time.
In the second step the platform’s self-learning AI module analyses traffic for malicious activity and is even able to identify and disrupt AI-driven attacks.
Finally, the platform compares all traffic with real-time threat intelligence to determine if it matches known malicious attack patterns. In this way, the platform can block attack attempts while accepting legitimate requests.
Link11 mitigates 6 times faster than other vendors according to Frost & Sullivan benchmark study.
Why is cyber-resilience that important for businesses today and how can businesses remain ahead of Cyberattacks?
Unfortunately, the topic of cyber security is still underestimated by many companies. Yet this should be a top management issue given the dangers and the changing threat situation.
In fact, a successful digital attack does not only damage the reputation of an affected company. It can also result in high economic damage and thus have unforeseeable consequences. Crucial for companies: Only a constant review of one’s own security systems and state-of-the-art digital protection can reduce the potential threat.
