What is a common method used to mitigate DDoS attacks?

Implementing rate limiting and traffic filtering is a widely used method to mitigate DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. Rate limiting involves controlling the amount of traffic that can access a service or resource over a specified period. This helps to prevent overwhelming the system by limiting the number of requests from users or sources, ensuring that legitimate traffic can still reach the intended services even during high-traffic periods.

Traffic filtering works alongside rate limiting by allowing only specific types of traffic to enter the network or reach particular services, potentially blocking malicious traffic that seeks to launch a DDoS attack. By establishing rules and policies to identify and filter out undesirable traffic, organizations can effectively reduce the impact of massive incoming requests that characterize DDoS attacks.

In contrast, using stronger encryption methods mainly enhances data security and privacy but does not address the volume or nature of requests that DDoS attacks typically generate. Conducting regular system audits is more about identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring configurations are correct rather than directly preventing large-scale traffic overloads. Increasing network bandwidth might offer temporary relief to a surge in traffic but does not fundamentally address the malicious nature of DDoS attacks or their ability to exhaust resources until they diminish the service delivery.