I got my first DDoS (and what you can do to help prevent it) | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

A YouTuber discusses unexpected AWS charges from a DDoS attack on their application.

Key Insights

• 🥺 Unexpected surges in application traffic can lead to significant AWS billing due to pay-per-request pricing models.
• ☠️ Implementing rate limiting and firewalls, such as AWS WAF, can help defend against DDoS attacks and protect financial resources.
• 🚥 Observing traffic patterns can reveal trends and potential vulnerabilities in applications that need to be addressed.
• 😭 The creator's experience highlights the importance of establishing budget alerts to monitor AWS expenses effectively.
• 👻 Hosting options, such as VPS or alternative hosting providers, may offer cost-effective solutions for small-scale projects.
• 💂 AWS Shield Standard is a cost-effective layer of DDoS protection that comes with AWS services but might not guard against all threats.
• 😭 The video emphasizes both the benefits and drawbacks of using AWS for personal projects compared to professional environments.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: What triggered the unexpected AWS charges?

The unexpected AWS charges were primarily triggered by a DDoS attack on the creator's application, which experienced over 207 million requests in a short period. Logging into their AWS account revealed that the CloudFront service was the main contributor to the $269 bill, indicating that the traffic overload led to a substantial increase in charges for requests and bandwidth.

Q: How did the creator identify the reason for the traffic surge?

The creator investigated the AWS billing dashboard after receiving an alert about exceeding their budget. By examining CloudFront metrics and specific distribution data, they pinpointed the spike in traffic to their icon generator application, which recorded millions of requests within a few hours, suggesting a DDoS attack or aggressive scraping behavior from a user.

Q: What steps can be taken to mitigate similar issues in the future?

To prevent future occurrences, the creator suggests implementing AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall), which would set rules for rate limiting to block excessive requests within a specific timeframe. This proactive measure aims to safeguard applications from being overwhelmed by massive traffic spikes and potentially incurring high costs from requests.

Q: What are the cost implications of using AWS WAF?

AWS WAF incurs additional costs, including a monthly fee for each access control list (ACL) and charges for the rules set within them, as well as for the number of requests. This can add up quickly, especially for applications with high traffic, leading to a significant increase in hosting expenses on top of existing AWS services.

Q: Why is the creator reconsidering the use of AWS for side projects?

The creator is contemplating a shift away from AWS for personal projects due to the rising costs associated with hosting services and traffic overloads. They consider the possibility of using a less expensive VPS to host applications, reducing expenses while weighing the benefits of CDN services against the risks of DDoS and potential downtime.

Q: How does AWS Shield provide protection against DDoS attacks?

AWS Shield offers DDoS protection as a standard feature on certain AWS services such as CloudFront and Elastic Load Balancers. Shield Standard provides automatic protection against common layer 3 and layer 4 DDoS attacks, potentially mitigating traffic spikes during DDoS attempts without incurring extra costs. However, it may not fully prevent all types of attacks, necessitating additional measures.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The content recounts an experience with AWS billing due to unexpected high charges after a DDoS attack on an application hosted on CloudFront.

• The creator outlines their steps to identify the traffic spikes, revealing over 207 million requests, largely from an icon generator, leading to substantial costs.

• Possible solutions are explored, including implementing AWS WAF for protection against DDoS attacks, alongside considerations for reconsidering AWS for side projects.