TrackIt was recently hired by a North American Internet Authority that manages critical internet infrastructure that serves millions of users daily. Their operations span domain registration systems, public DNS (Domain Name System) services, and network security services across multiple AWS accounts and environments.
The organization provides essential internet services including public DNS filtering, Anycast DNS infrastructure, domain registry operations, and network security services. These systems form a crucial part of the Internet’s infrastructure, making continuous availability a paramount concern for users worldwide.
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Challenge
The client needed to implement robust DDoS protection for their critical infrastructure. With multiple public-facing services distributed across several AWS accounts, they required a solution that would integrate seamlessly with their mature security ecosystem. The organization had invested significantly in security tools and controls. It was thus an essential requirement for any new protection layer to complement these existing investments without additional modifications.
The scale of operations demanded an automated approach to deployment and management across accounts. Additionally, given the critical nature of their services, they needed access to specialized DDoS mitigation expertise when needed, ensuring rapid response to any potential attacks.
Solution
AWS Shield Advanced Selection
After careful evaluation, AWS Shield Advanced emerged as the ideal solution. The service’s ability to operate transparently alongside existing security tools addressed the organization’s primary concern. Its comprehensive protection of all public entry points – from CloudFront distributions to Route53 hosted zones, Application Load Balancers, Global Accelerators, and Elastic IPs – combined with access to the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT), matched their requirements.
Solution Architecture
Implementation
Foundation Setup
The implementation began with careful preparation across all accounts. TrackIt first activated Shield Advanced subscriptions throughout the organization’s AWS accounts, followed by configuring standardized DRT access roles to ensure consistent emergency response capabilities. A comprehensive resource inventory was compiled to ensure complete coverage, while deployment pipelines were established to support the automated rollout of protection.
Protection Deployment
Phased Rollout
The team executed a phased rollout strategy to ensure a controlled and validated implementation. The first phase focused on development environments, where the team could validate the Shield Advanced deployment and verify its interaction with existing security tools. This phase included establishing operational procedures and configuring monitoring systems to ensure visibility into the protection status.
Production Implementation
The production implementation followed, with a systematic rollout that prioritized critical services. Each deployment included thorough verification of protection status and testing of DRT engagement processes. Security teams received comprehensive training on the new capabilities and response procedures, ensuring they could effectively utilize both the Shield Advanced dashboard and DRT support.
Automation
The final phase centered on automation, implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) templates to standardize the deployment process. The team integrated Shield Advanced protection into the client’s existing CI/CD pipelines, ensuring automatic protection of new resources as they were deployed. This standardization across accounts streamlined the protection process and reduced the potential for human error.
Operational Integration
The operational aspects of Shield Advanced were carefully integrated into existing workflows. The team established clear procedures for DRT engagement during incidents and integrated these into their existing incident response framework.
Compliance reporting was automated to maintain visibility into protection status, while resource protection verification became a standard part of deployment procedures.
Outcome and Performance Metrics
The Shield Advanced implementation achieved comprehensive DDoS protection across the organization’s infrastructure while delivering measurable improvements in several key areas:
Security Response Capabilities
The integration of Shield Advanced and DRT access has transformed the organization’s DDoS response capabilities:
- 67% reduction in average time required to mitigate DDoS events
- 89% decrease in time to engage specialized DDoS expertise
- 100% of resources are now protected with automated attack mitigation
Operational Efficiency
The automated deployment approach has significantly improved operational efficiency:
- 94% reduction in manual security control deployment time
- 71% decrease in resource onboarding time for DDoS protection
- Zero modifications are required to existing security controls
Infrastructure Protection
The comprehensive protection strategy has strengthened the organization’s security posture:
- 40% improvement in DDoS attack detection speed
- 100% coverage of public-facing resources
- 99.99% availability maintained during DDoS events
Cost Impact
The implementation has demonstrated clear cost benefits:
- 45% reduction in operational costs related to DDoS response
- 60% decrease in emergency response team activation
- Elimination of third-party DDoS mitigation service costs
The automated deployment approach ensures consistent protection of new resources as they are launched, while the integration with existing security tools maintains the effectiveness of their overall security posture. Security teams now have enhanced visibility into potential threats and direct access to AWS DDoS expertise through the DRT, significantly improving their ability to respond to and mitigate attacks.
Lessons Learned
The project demonstrated the value of selecting a solution that could adapt to existing security practices. The automated, multi-account deployment approach proved essential for managing protection at scale, while the standardized operational procedures ensured consistent response capabilities across the organization.
The success of this implementation has established a blueprint for future security enhancements across the organization’s infrastructure, showing how new security layers can be added without disrupting existing operations.
About TrackIt
TrackIt is an international AWS cloud consulting, systems integration, and software development firm headquartered in Marina del Rey, CA.
We have built our reputation on helping media companies architect and implement cost-effective, reliable, and scalable Media & Entertainment workflows in the cloud. These include streaming and on-demand video solutions, media asset management, and archiving, incorporating the latest AI technology to build bespoke media solutions tailored to customer requirements.
Cloud-native software development is at the foundation of what we do. We specialize in Application Modernization, Containerization, Infrastructure as Code and event-driven serverless architectures by leveraging the latest AWS services. Along with our Managed Services offerings which provide 24/7 cloud infrastructure maintenance and support, we are able to provide complete solutions for the media industry.