We use Radware DDoS for our web services, and currently, we have added one more thing; we are using it for our API gateways also. The API service we are calling is being managed through the load balancer only.
Cloud Protection
RadwareExternal reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Advanced protection has optimized web and API performance while reducing infrastructure costs
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Radware DDoS can reduce our bandwidth and provide the required performance. Bandwidth compression and all other features are available. SSL encryption, decryption, and offloading are all features we are using, and they provide the benefit of reducing the workload on the server. The server will perform related applications and will not have to do other tasks like DDoS protection, SSL encryption, decryption, or compression. Everything is handled by Radware only. Rather than the requirement of the server being increased two to ten or fifteen fold, with four to five servers, it will properly optimize, and we are getting proper performance.
From the features perspective, the best features in Radware DDoS include SSL onloading and offloading, compression, and the proxy feature. The reverse proxy we are using is a great feature. The response time is excellent. We are getting responses in two to three milliseconds, so performance-wise, it is excellent.
Radware DDoS has reduced my need for additional infrastructure investment due to DDoS threats. We have invested in all the products in data center, disaster recovery, and far disaster recovery sites. For the cloud, we have also purchased Web Application Firewall in the cloud.
What needs improvement?
From the features perspective and functionality-wise, there are areas of Radware DDoS that I would like to see improved or enhanced in the future. Version upgrades are being provided, but they should communicate with clients about these new features being available so clients can test them and deploy them on the disaster recovery system before moving to the live segment. There should be a test report that will provide confidence that the version is stable and everything will work properly. Last time we faced an issue with a version upgrade, and we faced extensive troubleshooting with littile bit more time in the troubleshooting process. It turned out to be a small issue that was resolved by the engineering team.
I would like to see improved support from Radware DDoS. Sometimes in support, we have to log the call with their support partners rather than Radware. After ten years of experience, we know exactly what the issue is, and we understand that it cannot be handled by their support channel or partner level. Radware team always asks us to go through the partners, but sometimes we have found that the issue cannot be handled by the partners. After the partners fail to resolve the issue, it goes to the Radware team. At that time, one to two days of required timeline gets increased by one to two days. If Radware came into immediate action and resolved the issue rather than relying on their service partners, it would be better. After ten years, we have the knowledge of troubleshooting, and we understand that the issues we are facing with Radware can only be resolved by their team. However, due to their policy, they insist we move through the partner first, and only after the partner fails do they escalate to Radware. During that troubleshooting period of twenty-four to forty-eight hours, we remain in an unresolved state with the reported issue.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Radware DDoS since around 2016 and 2017. I am currently working with Radware DDoS and we renewed the product as well.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When it comes to performance, I find Radware DDoS to be stable. I have not seen it utilized beyond a particular load. It is not even using 10% of its capacity. It is fully optimized, and the performance is very good. It is top-notch.
I assess Radware DDoS's response times after an attack as stable. The response time is stable and consistent. It works stably during any attack. It is very optimized, as the utilization never gets more than 10%.
Radware DDoS detects incidents immediately. If you are monitoring, it immediately detects and shows the issues on the system. It is not taking much time. In milliseconds, it shows that the issue is on the dashboard. After that, troubleshooting becomes easier to proceed further. Whatever the dashboard shows, whether the service is down or any misbehavior, we can identify it immediately.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Radware DDoS is scalable. As per requirement, we can scale it. We can increase the connection and whatever required server connection is needed. As I mentioned, it is never seen at 10% utilization, whether in bandwidth, CPU, or RAM, it does not cross 10%. There is more than enough capacity and room for scalability in future requirements.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate Radware DDoS technical support and customer service team as an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to Radware DDoS, I used F5.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with the deployment of Radware DDoS has been smooth. We had the existing product of Radware, so we only had to export and import the configuration. A half hour of downtime was required. It was smooth, and we never experienced such a wonderful migration with Radware. Within a half hour or within a fraction of time, we exported and imported the new configuration to the new hardware from the old hardware, and it has been working smoothly without any hesitation or issue.
What about the implementation team?
I purchased Radware DDoS directly through an authorized Radware vendor. Through the RFP process, we obtained the product from the authorized service partner. Radware team is directly in touch for the installation and upgrades of the system, including pre-planning and post-migration activities. Everything involving Radware DDoS is handled by the Radware team.
What was our ROI?
I have seen return on investment with Radware DDoS. Within three and a half years, we found that we are achieving the ROI on the product investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I assess the cost versus value of Radware DDoS protection compared to other solutions that I have evaluated as always better with Radware. We have proceeded with Radware DDoS, and we are achieving the ROI in three and a half years as mentioned earlier. Rather than providing service on a subscription basis, we purchased it for a long period of time. This provides better value for the ROI.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The key differences, both pros and cons, of Radware DDoS in comparison to F5 or other technologies I have evaluated are based on usability and cost. We have conducted evaluation with Array as well. Array has a complicated GUI, while Radware DDoS has a user-friendly GUI. The configuration part is user-friendly and very understandable. F5 also has the same configuration part, but in terms of cost, Radware DDoS is far more comfortable and budget-friendly. Array does not have user-friendly interfaces, and we found some challenges with it. We decided to choose Radware DDoS because it performs at the top-notch level like F5, and it is budget-friendly. Whatever requirements we have are fulfilled with Radware DDoS, so we proceeded with it.
What other advice do I have?
My experience with Radware DDoS's behavior-based detection technology in terms of real-time attack detection and minimizing false positives has been positive. False positives are not occurring. Detection is working perfectly because we observed that whatever required traffic is passing through with the required URLs. There is proper protection related to DDoS and other required vulnerabilities.
Radware DDoS protection ensures that legitimate users are not affected during a DDoS attack by properly blocking traffic and allowing only required traffic. During a DDoS attack, Radware blocks whatever traffic is necessary, and they allow only the required traffic. For a particular time frame, they will block particular IP addresses. Whatever the attacks are and the IP address or any stream, it will be blocked.
Radware DDoS has helped me reduce the number of false positives that my organization receives in response to attacks. Their support is available, but after issuing the ticket, they rely on the service partner. Rather than relying on the service partner, if direct support from Radware was provided, it would be better.
Overall, Radware DDoS has helped me reduce downtime associated with attacks. As mentioned earlier, minimum downtime of one to two days is required by default. That is why they need to improve support. One more thing I would like to add is that they have a limitation in the knowledge base articles on their platform or any other platform on search engines. Either they should open their existing learning module to understand the issues and solutions that we have faced and reported, or other users and clients can understand the issues and take benefit from the resolution through the knowledge base articles. One more thing is that certification is also required from their side. If there is an educational certification in Radware, they should provide it or promote clients to take an active part in the certification to understand the new functionality and what is going on in Radware DDoS. After the certification, clients are able to understand better and will also reduce their downtime with proper education and knowledge of Radware DDoS products.
Given my rich experience with Radware DDoS, I can share this piece of advice with other organizations considering it: automated reporting is required. When anything happens, automatic reporting should be provided through email or any platform. Rather than being able to log on the dashboard continuously twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, if there is any incident, you should get a report or an email alert that something is happening or something is wrong with your system. Through reporting or email communication, you will be able to understand. If the team is monitoring, they can take immediate action on that.
My impressions of Radware DDoS's SecOps dashboards for monitoring and reporting metrics are that they need improvement. As mentioned earlier, version upgrades require some improvement in the monitoring version. A little improvement is required in the monitoring version. There is a single management console, but there is too much room for improvement in automation and reporting.
I assess Radware DDoS's SecOps dashboard for providing historical information on protected objects and networks as providing a detailed view. It provides a detailed view of the objects. There is an option for modification and detection, and we can take action through the dashboard and monitoring system. However, as I mentioned, there is a requirement for some improvement as per the competitor's standards. Room for improvement exists for reporting automation and some advanced features. I think it is not a part of the licensing, because we are already on the top license or higher license side. Whatever features are available should already be there.
Regarding how easy or difficult it is for non-technical staff to use Radware DDoS's SecOps dashboards, I would rate it six to seven out of ten, rather than other products. It is not that difficult to understand.
Overall, I give this review a rating of nine out of ten.
Advanced ddos protection has safeguarded peak-season traffic and improved cross-team communication
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use at the moment is on auto-scaling in AWS. By using that and changing the architecture a little bit, auto-scaling is basically only needed when it comes to high-volume times like Black Friday and end of the year. Instead of having it permanently running, it is now only used during certain times of the year when we scale up and then scale in again.
I have used Radware DDoS web DDoS protection, such as HTTP L7.
How has it helped my organization?
Radware DDoS has been very good in mitigating advanced DDoS threats, such as burst, DNS attacks, and floods.
Radware DDoS protection ensures that legitimate users are not affected during a DDoS attack. This protection has helped uncover miscommunication between different departments within the company. For instance, the marketing team decided to allow a company to scrape the website or a specific part of the website. By finding that out and confirming it, it created a new communication channel internally and between users and clients, whether it is a B2C or B2B type of connection. We were able to find out in advance that a company was busy scraping a lot of data, but it looked like a bad configuration on their side where it was supposed to be a simple query, without having to break anything. This information was highlighted within the technical side and then communicated to create a communication channel.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features I have found include sourcing geo information to determine where the DDoS queries are coming from, and then assisting with reporting to management and senior management. The technical information is great, and converting that into what is being targeted by the DDoS and from where is very helpful.
My experience with Radware DDoS behavior-based detection technology in terms of real-time attack detection and minimizing false positives helps from a technical perspective to get the information and then conduct deeper analysis. The behavior analysis around company announcements, whether it is a retailer or a bank, helps to see how the increase in attacks happens around certain keywords, especially if it is a financial announcement.
What needs improvement?
There is always room for improvement as nothing is perfect.
The additional features or improvements I would like to see in the next release of Radware DDoS include better algorithm tweaking and enhanced analytics for finding unique possible attacks. There are many people on the dark side that use spray and pray tactics, yet there are companies making use of very light tests and getting small but consistent replies. If that can be automated better, then that will help. This is also known as a low and slow attack.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Radware DDoS directly for about four or more years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate Radware DDoS stability about an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of Radware DDoS a nine. There is always room for improvement.
How are customer service and support?
I think their technical support is about an eight to nine, depending on the person I talk to and the willingness to reach out internally if there is something that they need to find out.
The quality of first-level support might not be so high at times, especially if it is a technical team that is working or managing the DDoS environment as a client.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
My experience with the deployment was straightforward. Obviously, there were some misunderstandings and assumptions that came to light during the deployment. From my side, that is normal in these situations: not understanding what was explained or someone within the team on our side assuming something instead of asking questions and conducting research.
What about the implementation team?
We deployed it ourselves and with Radware.
What was our ROI?
I have definitely seen return on investment with Radware DDoS. The number of failed requests after implementation reduced drastically.
Radware DDoS has reduced my need for additional infrastructure investments due to DDoS threats.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing of Radware DDoS has been that it is reasonable. There is always the request to sharpen pencils, which is a normal story.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated what is now called Thales and their services, and then also a company that had a proprietary algorithm that they use, which was not good. It was a local company. I also went through some testing of Citrix and Cisco and all those providers that said they had services available to see if it fits our requirements.
What other advice do I have?
Radware DDoS protection ensures that legitimate users are not affected during a DDoS attack. This protection has helped uncover miscommunication between different departments within the company.
The average amount of time it takes for Radware DDoS to detect an incident is quick. The average that we used was a five-minute checkup, and it is usually less than that, which is what we found.
I would assess Radware DDoS response times after an attack as very good. It is catching something before it gets noticed by the SOC, which is always helpful.
My impressions of the SecOps dashboards for monitoring and reporting metrics are that they are good. Most people are pleased, which is normal. Someone would always prefer to see something specific, and understanding what people want is usually one of the big things.
I assess the SecOps dashboard for providing historical information on protected objects and networks as great for the security team. For reporting, it helps to break it down into different environments, if it makes sense, to report to management.
It is easy for non-technical staff to use the SecOps dashboards with just a little bit of training.
I would rate Radware DDoS as a product an eight overall.
Protection has been stopping banking flood attacks and now keeps legitimate users accessing services
What is our primary use case?
We are using Radware Cloud DDoS installed in our organization, and I work with a banking client where we use it to protect against outside attacks coming from external sources.
I have used Radware's WAF, HTTP, and L7 DDoS protection, which protects from layer four to layer seven. It functions as a WAF device, and for layer seven, it is very useful for us in protecting from application layer attacks. We use Radware Cloud DDoS in our organization for many purposes, such as detecting new TCP handshake violations, and we maintain contact with Radware TAC for any issues. We raise Radware TAC cases for technical assistance from the portal and receive support.
We use both Akamai and Radware DDoS, with 95% of our traffic routed through Radware DDoS itself. I have seen it effectively protect our system from external threats and malicious IPs, helping us check the traffic and block any unwanted IPs. Compared to Akamai, we find Radware DDoS cloud solution somewhat better, so we route our traffic through it.
Radware DDoS protection ensures that legitimate users are not affected during a DDoS attack by having configured policies for our banking subnets. We know our subnets, and for legitimate users, we have configured a policy allowing our endpoints through Radware DDoS. Anything other than our endpoints is detected and quarantined, and we receive alerts on our mobile if there are flood attacks. Our team gets notifications so we can log in and check the specific IP involved and quarantine it accordingly.
Radware DDoS is quite stable, and we have not encountered issues recently. Previously, we had issues with customer support, but over the past three months, I worked on TAC cases and found their response to be prompt, usually within three to four hours, providing legitimate solutions.
Radware DDoS has been quite effective in mitigating advanced DDoS threats such as burst and DNS attacks, encrypted SSL floods, and IoT botnets.
I have worked simultaneously with both Akamai and Radware DDoS. Radware DDoS was in place before I joined, but we later brought in Akamai due to previous support issues with Radware DDoS. Nonetheless, we still route 95% of our traffic through Radware DDoS.
What is most valuable?
Radware DDoS is very useful for us in protecting from many attacks, particularly flood attacks and SYN flood attacks, which we deal with in the banking environment. When people are trying to access our systems and attempting to hack, they send continuous pings and flood our systems, and we are using Radware DDoS for that purpose.
What I appreciate about Radware DDoS is that it is very easy to use. We are configuring new rules on Radware DDoS by directly going to the Radware cloud firewall and writing new rules for bypassing and blocking. We use it for geo-based blocking as well, blocking access for users from countries such as China or Japan if we do not want to give them access. We are configuring the objects and implementing them on the security rules, and it is interesting and user-friendly. It is easier for us to handle the access part and any configurations.
My experience with Radware DDoS's behavior-based detection technology in terms of real-time attack detection and minimizing false positives is positive. It provides granular control where you can configure per hour or per day for different threats. Its layer seven cloud firewall protects against outsider threats, and it is very effective in that aspect.
Radware DDoS response times after an attack are quick, and we receive alerts within seconds of a flood attack happening.
The average time for Radware DDoS to detect an incident is only milliseconds, as even a delay of ten seconds is significant in networking.
I see measurable benefits from Radware DDoS in terms of efficiency improvement, particularly in the banking environment where many flood and TCP attacks are happening. It serves as one of the best solutions against the current cyber attack trends.
What needs improvement?
In Radware DDoS, everything is good as it is, but I think it can improve with more automation linked to the system. We have good real-time monitoring, and documentation is also helpful, but any integration with platforms such as Splunk would enhance it further.
In terms of specific features missing in Radware DDoS, I would appreciate seeing an API Protector or similar capabilities that Akamai has. These allow for record creation on Akamai that Radware DDoS currently lacks.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Radware DDoS for the past year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Radware DDoS is quite stable, and we have not encountered issues recently.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS is easy to use. They have support documents available in their cloud portal, so we can check through them easily to see what can be done.
How are customer service and support?
Previously, we had issues with customer support, but over the past three months, I worked on TAC cases and found their response to be prompt, usually within three to four hours, providing legitimate solutions.
I would rate the tech support of Radware DDoS a ten. They are proactive, joining calls and resolving issues effectively, fetching logs, sending reports, and providing resolution steps for the issues we have encountered.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked simultaneously with both Akamai and Radware DDoS. Radware DDoS was in place before I joined, but we later brought in Akamai due to previous support issues with Radware DDoS. Nonetheless, we still route 95% of our traffic through Radware DDoS.
Key differences between Radware DDoS and Akamai are that in Akamai we can create external records and block traffic, but in Radware DDoS, we can only add endpoints for protection. However, we mainly work on Radware DDoS because most of our traffic is going through it.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the deployment of Radware DDoS.
What was our ROI?
Radware DDoS solutions have not reduced my need for additional infrastructure investments due to DDoS threats because it effectively stops attacks.
Radware DDoS helps to reduce downtime associated with attacks, depending on how we troubleshoot the issues. Because of Radware DDoS, many attacks can be mitigated effectively.
Generally, it saves us a maximum of five to ten minutes, minimizing downtime or response times.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have worked simultaneously with both Akamai and Radware DDoS. Radware DDoS was in place before I joined, but we later brought in Akamai due to previous support issues with Radware DDoS. Nonetheless, we still route 95% of our traffic through Radware DDoS.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Radware DDoS as a solution to others because it provides good timely responses and effectively stops attacks.
I do not have specific recommendations for other organizations considering Radware DDoS, but I find it quite good and think it should have more features, such as record creation. I have given this review an overall rating of eight.
Advanced dashboards have improved DDoS visibility and provide accurate, behavior-based protection
What is our primary use case?
Radware DDoS dashboards are very interesting for me. The specific dashboard for analyzing traffic is very useful since I can display the different traffic of my customer for specific countries, such as Colombia, the United States, or India. This information is very important for protecting the solution. Another dashboard shows attacks, allowing me to check the amount and size for different types of attacks. In another dashboard, I can find reports, and it is very interesting how the reports work because I can configure them for different policies or physical interfaces. This is very useful for me. Another dashboard requires a license for GIL, but I don't have much experience with that feature. In general, this is good for me.
What is most valuable?
The best thing about Radware DDoS for me is that the solution is very accurate. The information and the different types of graphics and data are very important. It is easy to operate and to understand the solution in my case. I had the opportunity to work with other types of solutions, Cloudflare, for example, and Forti DDoS, which is another solution for Fortinet specific to DDoS attacks. Radware is very easy to use. In fact, I had the opportunity to finish many courses for this type of technology.
Radware released a new solution specific to HTTP or Layer 7, and I find this solution very interesting. I try to know more about this specific solution because nowadays many types of attacks are not only Layer 4 or Layer 3 but also application-layer attacks. This solution is very important for me because it aims to understand the traffic, the different protocols, the thresholds for specific applications, and I try to understand the correct behavior. In order to do this, I aim to mitigate different types of attacks. This solution is a significant win compared to other vendors because it tries to understand the traffic and the behavior of the traffic, and it utilizes intelligence or machine learning to mitigate false positives, which is highly customized for different types of customers.
It is very interesting how Radware DDoS works because it is necessary to understand how different types of traffic operate. It is necessary to understand how DNS works. DNS, the domain name system, requires understanding the different queries. The solution for specific DefensePro is very interesting because I can configure the queries and the different types of queries of DNS. This solution permits me to configure and protect the DNS service for different companies. This customization is very easy to implement in order to protect the DNS solution.
What needs improvement?
Radware can improve in several specific areas. The downside is the marketing. Radware does not have the same presence as others, such as Cloudflare or Akamai. This is a key factor because many types of customers prefer other solutions due to marketing. In my experience, the cloud solution needs improvement. For example, Cloudflare is better in this aspect. This is the downside for Radware, but this is my opinion only.
Marketing for the presence of different types of solutions is one area. Another is the cost. The different solutions for Radware DDoS are expensive. Better pricing is needed. The solution is very expensive, and a less expensive solution would be very beneficial because many people could acquire this solution and these products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have had the opportunity to use Radware DDoS since 2018.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability depends on the architecture and how the overall environment works. For example, when I have the DDoS solution, I need DefensePro. DefensePro is the technology that is in front of the traffic and protects against DDoS attacks. It is common for Radware to launch this solution with another product called Cyber Controller. This Cyber Controller is for logging and analyzing traffic to report and understand if a DDoS attack is occurring. In my experience, I don't have many issues with this. I remember only one time when not Cyber Controller but APSolute Vision, an earlier product, the memory and disk were full. When this happens, users can't connect. I solved this by contacting a Linux expert to increase disk size, which allowed user access again.
How are customer service and support?
Support has two phases. I remember once that support was very bad, but if I don't have all the information, such as packet capture, architecture, or topology explanation, it is very difficult to present the correct environment to technical support, and it is easy to lose time. However, I had the opportunity at another moment with all the information collected in a document of files that explains the topology, how traffic works, and what the issues are that need to be reviewed. Then the support is good. For me, it is necessary to communicate effectively both about the technology and the context to ensure Radware understands everything quickly and efficiently.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My experience with other types of DDoS solutions is relevant. If I were to compare other solutions to Radware DDoS, I obviously view Radware as better. I had the opportunity to implement Forti DDoS, which is a solution for attacks by Fortinet, but the solution is very slow and hard to set up or configure. The concept of security is different, and for me, the solution for Fortinet is very bad compared to Radware. Radware works very well. I had the opportunity to operate Cloudflare, and it is good, with the solution in the cloud. For example, many customers move to Azure or AWS, and this solution is very native in those environments. I don't know how Radware works in this specific environment.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment is very easy because when I implement this solution, the information and different materials from the vendor are very useful in order to implement it. Last year, I had the opportunity to implement a Shield for an important customer in Colombia, specifically in the government and forces in my country, Colombia. I had the opportunity to implement a Shield using DefensePro. I don't remember if it was a model 60 or 60P, but this solution is very useful, and the different stages to protect the solution for our customer are very good. The customer is happy with this solution because when the plan and the solution are very stable, it is easy to migrate.
The implementation of Radware DDoS technology requires proper planning and technical expertise. The material is very good because the technical information is useful for me. Deployment is typically in on-premises environments and needs careful integration into existing networks. It is common to know all technology and architecture of the network to avoid impacting latency or availability with this solution. But it is very common in these types of migrations or using this technology.
During the initial phase, the solution must learn the normal traffic. For example, planning with the customer on how the solution works is necessary. The initial phase is when it learns the traffic patterns for one week, two weeks, or three weeks, depending on the quality of traffic. After this time, I can block the solution to protect the traffic. This stage should be very easy and comfortable for our customers. In my opinion, this solution is very good for customers because in just two phases, I can protect against different types of DDoS attacks easily and quickly.
What other advice do I have?
This behavior-based detection technology, VDoS, is a component that uses a mathematical statistical module that builds a threshold. This threshold is based on the amount of traffic and obviously behavioral patterns, such as how many packets in SYN, ACK, and the different flags for TCP or UDP traffic. The accuracy of these various traffic types is registered all the time.
It is very interesting how Radware's protection ensures that legitimate users are not affected during a DDoS attack. When I have the correct baseline, the traffic is blocked when it passes this baseline. It's very interesting how it works because the traffic is analyzed and registered. When the traffic is detected as illegitimate, it is blocked or dropped. It is necessary to make a decision in DefensePro in order to block or manage the traffic. Once I detect and correct it in DefensePro, obviously the traffic is blocked and returned for the customer. I have had the opportunity to see when different types of attacks materialize for different customers, and I understand that the customer continues using the traffic during an attack. It is very important for me that when different types of attacks materialize, the availability of data is vital for our customers. Radware works very well on this topic.
Radware can detect an attack very quickly because in November last year, I had the opportunity to implement this solution for another customer in banking, and I find the detection of different types of attacks to be very quick. During the initial phase, it learns to understand how the traffic flows. But once the traffic is detected, I can review different types of attacks, such as UDP attacks. ERT is another type of solution for Radware and is also very quick. When the traffic is analyzed, it quickly detects traffic for Radware in my experience. During this initial learning phase, while the traffic is learning, it obviously passes through and is not blocked. Then when I establish a plan with the customer of one week or two weeks to block the traffic, it obviously works better.
I like this technology because the concept of security is very good for me. It's very interesting how security impacts organizations. I like how Radware works because the concept of security is necessary to protect an organization's assets in order to mitigate the different attacks that can be launched nowadays. I would give Radware DDoS a rating of seven out of ten.
Works effectively and offers automated attack protection and seamless integration
What is our primary use case?
We have been using Radware DDoS extensively for the past two years in our production network within the utility sector. Primarily, we use it for application layer filtering and for direct termination with our Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Initially, we encountered several challenges during the configuration process, primarily due to the lack of ready-made templates. However, over the last two years, we have successfully implemented filtering measures, effectively mitigating our DDoS attacks by removing unwanted traffic directed at our public IP addresses.
This system has been crucial in securing our operations and meeting our specific needs for our data center. All public domain URLs in the utility sector are hosted behind an Internet firewall, ensuring that the traffic directed to these public domains is properly managed through DDoS protection. That sums up our experience with this system.
How has it helped my organization?
Radware DDoS has been effective at mitigating advanced DDoS attacks such as burst or DNS attacks and encrypted SSL floods because we blocked all public domain IPs through access lists at my DC router, where all the ILLs are delivered from the ISP. We are getting IOCs, which are Indicators of Compromise from CERT-In, NCIIPC, and CS K-Cyber Swachhata Kendra, from central agencies.
My experience with the behavior-based detection technology for real-time attack detection and minimizing false positives is quite positive. The behavioral framework we have consists of three layers. The first layer focuses on DDoS protection, as we are implementing two policies for two ISPs simultaneously. In our environment, we are not using an active-standby setup; instead, we utilize both links from each ISP. Therefore, we are deploying two identical boxes, one connected to each ISP. These ISP links are directed towards our management service, where all public domain sites are hosted in our data center. Regarding the behavioral aspect, let's consider a scenario where there is suddenly a spike in packet traffic from a public domain. We typically monitor the daily bandwidth usage on the ISP side. For example, if the average bandwidth usage is around 200 Mbps, but one day we notice a surge to 400 Mbps, this may indicate unknown traffic hits. This is particularly concerning because we operate in the utility sector, where we collect electricity bills each month. We use handheld devices to fetch these bills from our system, processing them at the beginning of each month. This increase in traffic could likely stem from these sources, as they may be generating numerous unknown visits to our data center servers in an attempt to log in.
To analyze this behavioral pattern, we first examine the trust levels associated with the bandwidth usage. We investigate the cause of the sudden increase in bandwidth and identify the unknown IP addresses responsible for the traffic. We then determine the locations of these IPs and formulate policies in our DDoS logon system to block any suspicious activity. Additionally, we address two other behavioral patterns: one through endpoint security for end-user services and another through anti-Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) measures. This comprehensive approach helps us safeguard our systems effectively.
Radware DDoS protects legitimate users during a DDoS attack. We have a behavioral filtering template that we enabled after subscription. Every month, we create a report analyzing the number of unknown hits generated from DDoS, identifying legitimate IPs from our customer base and unknown IPs from other countries. We conduct geo-fencing as the first level of protection, allowing only Indian region IPs to execute packets towards our management server. The second level involves using default templates to perform this activity efficiently.
What is most valuable?
The HTTP Layer 7 protection works effectively as the signatures are updated on a daily basis and automated from the Radware cloud. Zero-day protection happens automatically because the initial steps only require us to create the policy for filtering, but after that, it continuously does its job without any manual intervention.
The zero-day attack signatures for new types of attack threats and vulnerabilities are directly taken from the cloud and blocked. For DC network flow, the fast layer DDoS attack itself is removed from the entry point from the ISP side only. After that, the traffic lands with DDoS, coming from my perimeter firewall, providing another layer of filter and protection. After my perimeter firewall, the traffic goes to my anti-APT, where we perform another level of protection or filtering for DDoS.
What needs improvement?
There are areas where Radware DDoS could improve, specifically regarding centralized visibility. If someone is allowed access to one payment server but attempts to access the backend database and application servers from that source, we need to analyze the level of propagation. If they are performing suspicious activities such as random logins, it would be beneficial to have a centralized console that shows which IP is attempting which actions for greater visibility, enabling better analysis.
To sum it up, we suggest that clear visibility within a management console could significantly enhance Radware DDoS's usability. We use Radware DDoS and Check Point for our public site because understanding the origin and pattern of public hits is crucial. If the console could segregate packets by type—such as HTTPS, logger, database-related queries, or other behavioral data—and generate reports accordingly, it would better aid our analysis.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Radware DDoS for two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS excels. One device we procure is reliable and automates filtering by downloading signatures and providing behavioral analysis. It operates with predefined signature filtering without needing much from us other than receiving reports. I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted technical support for Radware DDoS many times, and their support quality is the best I have encountered in my entire career. Their responses are quick, and the support surpasses my experience with other OEMs such as Check Point, Sophos, Fortinet, and Cisco, who can often be slow with their solutions.
I have faced issues and approached TAC, and their ability to provide skilled and technically sound support is impressive. They accurately address the service requests and come up with effective solutions faster than many other manufacturers. Their support is significantly better than other OEMs who often resort to trial-and-error methods.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Throughout my career, I have done DDoS filtering through ISPs, but currently, we have a dedicated appliance for DDoS, following recommendations from the DOT and Central Government of India for compliance with ISO 27001 certification.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment process can be quite challenging. The business analyst or and solution integrator often creates confusion, particularly in our location. The Solution Integrators are usually not able to explain everything clearly in one go, which means we often have to go through the information piece by piece. As a result, completing the initial setup and implementation can take nearly forty-five days. If there were a ready-made template available, it would greatly simplify the process. We need to identify the specific hardware requirements and develop a checklist for hardware compatibility and configuration that meets our cybersecurity policies. To comply with these policies, we are currently working on strategies to mitigate potential risks.
Getting a ready-made template for hardware considerations, including guidance on how to harden that hardware before moving to the production level, would be extremely helpful. Additionally, having recommended guidelines from Radware on enabling these policies could streamline our implementation process. In my opinion, this approach would allow us to complete the entire solution implementation within the recommended timeframe.
Maintenance involves ensuring that hardware is functioning properly, including checking subscriptions and enabling necessary blades. For example, last month, we had to enable geo-fencing to block all traffic except from India, which involved re-enabling a previously disabled geo-fencing blade. If there were a central management console that provided alerts about system health, such as fan RPMs and SMPS performance, it would help us maintain the Radware DDoS system proactively.
What about the implementation team?
Typically, two to three people are required for deployment. Initially, we communicate with the application team to ensure proper TLS and SSL levels. After confirming application legitimacy, we assess the delivery and operation level, followed by database and server reviews before concluding that the application is ready to integrate with the DDoS devices.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are going for seven-year support with a solution comprising two hardware boxes for redundancy and high availability, priced at around 2.4 crores. This pricing is manageable without any worry.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have considered competing products in the market. We have raised a request for another solution besides Radware DDoS, as Cloudflare has been selected as L1 for another DR setup we are trying to establish. Management requests that we consider similar solutions, which is why Radware DDoS remains qualified as L1.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Radware DDoS a nine out of ten.
Behavioral analytics and AI automation enhance security and performance
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Our package includes protection from the Top 10 OWASP attacks and behavioral learning, which is important for traffic monitoring. We focus on low latency mitigations and granular controls in application level policies. When onboarding any application, we work with our stakeholders who inform us which controls should be enabled or disabled. We communicate with the Radware team, and after learning the traffic patterns for 10 to 15 days in the normal mode, Radware provides documentation to share with our stakeholders before moving to protection or block mode.
We are the owners of the Radware DDoS licenses, and there is a dedicated team providing 24/7 real-time monitoring of the product. The detection and prevention capabilities are very good.
What is most valuable?
It provides protection for network applications and infrastructure level, and the best part is the behavioral-based detection that Radware provides us, along with real-time signature creation. We also have some applications where we have botnets running, and it provides protection against them.
Web DDoS targets the application layer, which is layer seven of the OSI model. For that, we focus on the Web DDoS technique for bot-based attacks because we have many applications where bots are running. We also face many random URL attacks every day, and it protects against malicious or suspicious random URL attacks.
It ensures both security and performance. It achieves this by learning behavior patterns and providing protection without blocking normal traffic. These are some of the features I am particularly satisfied with in this product.
What needs improvement?
There should be some extra layer of security and a method of advanced rate limiting. We can limit the number of IPs or URLs per session and per country. There should be improved bot management integration that mitigates bot-based DDoS attacks completely.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Radware DDoS for the last two to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable. I would rate it a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
We have 65 licenses.
How are customer service and support?
I'm from India, and we have a dedicated technical account manager who is very supportive. Additionally, we have a large partner team that is a gold partner of Radware. They provide a lot of support as well. Whenever I encounter any issues, I can easily reach out to Radware. I typically submit a ticket for any malicious activity that occurs, and I usually receive a resolution within two to three hours.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Many years back, I used Barracuda WAFs. I cannot comment on what Barracuda is currently doing in the WAF area, but that solution was good. However, with Radware DDoS, the console is very easy to learn. There is no complexity, and everyone can use the console and easily see all the features. In the future, I will definitely continue with Radware DDoS.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy as it is a cloud-based service. It does not present any significant challenges and takes only one or two days to implement.
What was our ROI?
It saved us 40% to 50% of time, money, and resources.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is not expensive. It is medium range. The pricing is good, as we recently renewed our licenses from Radware.
What other advice do I have?
I've been using this solution for the past two and a half years at my company, and I’m pleased to share that we’ve successfully achieved all of our use cases with their services. We are very happy with the product, which effectively detects and prevents external attacks. We also recommend Radware DDoS to other customers because it truly is one of the best products available.
According to what I learned from the Radware DDoS team, the new features are AI-powered, which makes everything faster and more efficient. The best part is the auto policy with zero-touch tuning. We do not require much tuning as we can auto-apply the policy, which automatically optimizes itself using behavior analytics. We have recently purchased API discovery and protection features, which are working very effectively.
We purchased the API protection plan. Previously, testing was done manually while creating software. We have purchased the Radware API discovery and API protection plan, which has reduced our time effort and enhanced quality checks. There was only one incident in the last two to three years, which Radware WAF handled very effectively. We had only two to three hours of downtime for that particular application.
I recommend Radware because of its features, including AI-powered Web DDoS protection, zero-touch tuning, auto policy, API discovery and protection, and advanced bot manager. They have excellent device fingerprinting, behavior analytics, and enhanced threat intel feed that they provide to customers. These are the main reasons I would recommend other customers to choose Radware.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Multi-layered defense ensures robust protection and optimized resources
What is our primary use case?
We are the largest data center company in Asia with almost six data centers in India, and we are planning to expand beyond India. We use Radware DDoS Protection Service for protecting our infrastructure and providing Cloud DDoS as a service to around 500 end customers who have hosted their infrastructure on our cloud co-location.
How has it helped my organization?
We've been using it in a fully-manged way, and always on an on-demand.
We began to see value almost a year back. It took a year to streamline when using it, and then we started we started onboarding our customer on the same pipe.
We wanted to protect our own data center. We are India's only cloud. We are in direct or hyperscale. We are in direct competition with Azure, AWS, and all. And at the same time, we have lots of ISP networks.
Our environment is hybrid. We are the largest data center. Most of the infrastructure is on-premise, and then we have India's first AI cloud and India's first hyperscale. It took almost a year to streamline everything.
What is most valuable?
Radware DDoS Protection Service is valued for its multi-layered defense protection, always-on and on-demand service, zero-day protection with adaptive behavioral-based mitigation, DNS and infrastructure protection, and SSL attack mitigation. The solution's multi-layer protection covers volumetric, protocol-based, and application layer attacks.
They offer a very effective response against DNS attacks.
Regarding behavior-based detection technology, in terms of real-time detection, it has been able to reduce false positives. We have pretty good experience with them. The geolocation is pretty good for an organization such as ours. We can block anything from certain regions, like North Korea or China, etc, cetera. It works alongside machine learning. They can update policies globally in less than ten seconds, which really helps with false positives.
During a DDoS attack, it ensures legitimate users are not affected. We're working on a hybrid solution, so we have Defence Pro devices on our side and unlimited mitigation capabilities on the cloud.
What needs improvement?
Their Cyber Security Controller portal, including its GUI and dashboard, could be more intuitive so CXOs can easily understand them.
Improvements in visualization for reporting also need consideration. This feedback has already been provided directly to Radware DDoS Protection Service.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for the past 12 years or possibly more.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Lately there have been some issues with stability, which results in a stability rating between eight and nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability has never been a challenge due to the hybrid cloud model and the Cloud DDoS capability, which allows scaling as demand increases.
How are customer service and support?
We have 24/7 access to Radware DDoS Protection Service's Emergency Response Team who collaborate during ongoing attacks, ensuring less than one second mitigation for L3/L4 and less than ten seconds for L7. This is supported by a direct relationship with key personnel at Radware DDoS Protection Service.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We conducted a POC with F5 and Arbor Networks. We chose Radware DDoS Protection Service due to its superior capabilities and willingness to host a scrubbing center, minimizing latency.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite easy, aided by a team experienced with Radware DDoS Protection Service for well over a year.
What about the implementation team?
Implementation was handled internally by a team of six to seven team members who were experienced with Radware DDoS Protection Service.
What was our ROI?
The ROI was realized after a year, giving a year-on-year return of around 20% to 30%. The hybrid approach optimized infrastructure costs and personnel resources.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a premium cost setup to align with a tier four uptime certified data center, storing and protecting critical infrastructure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Radware DDoS Protection Service stood out due to its better capability and flexible hosting options that reduced latency.
What other advice do I have?
Radware DDoS Protection Service offers enterprise-grade protection across all layers from L3 to L7, with hybrid flexibility and global scrubbing network.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution an eight or nine.
Protection Strengthens Internet Security with Effective Features
What is our primary use case?
The main use case for Radware DDoS Protection Service is to protect our websites, mail server, and DNS servers published on the internet.
In terms of that protection, it has been performing very well; I have not noticed specific instances where it stood out.
What is most valuable?
The best features Radware DDoS Protection Service offers for my organization are the ERT feeds.
The ERT feeds, which are based on Radware intelligence services, have been beneficial to my organization because they block a lot of malicious IP addresses and botnets.
Radware DDoS Protection Service has positively impacted my organization because we are more protected against attacks from the internet.
What needs improvement?
I think Radware DDoS Protection Service could be improved by enhancing the network analytics features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Radware DDoS Protection Service for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of protection, Radware DDoS Protection Service performs very well, and I have not noticed specific instances where it stood out.
How was the initial setup?
I have no experience with the configuration process since a colleague of mine configured the service with the support of Radware.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I find Radware DDoS Protection Service helpful and do not use any other solution.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Radware DDoS Protection Service a nine because it is very easy to use and very effective as a service. However, there is room for improvement in the network analytics feature.
Very good DDoS protection, responsive support, and detects attacks in real-time
What is our primary use case?
Our company is an ISP. We provide DDoS protection services ourselves. We need the technical means to be able to provide such services. We have DefensePro in our facilities through which we provide protection services to our clients.
How has it helped my organization?
Radware Defense Pro is an excellent solution for our customers as it works in blind mode. That, and the licensing model, is more attractive for the customer since the license is based on the capacity of clean traffic, not the combined traffic. If an attack is around 30 gigabits, you can still go on with your license of four gigabits due to the clean and legitimate traffic not exceeding four gigabits.
What is most valuable?
It's very good at protecting users from DDoS attacks. It's the leader in this domain.
In our use case, we do not use encryption or decryption. We simply defend against general types of DDoS attacks, like TCP SIM or DNS flood attacks. With Radware, we can defend against many types of attacks.
Radware consists of a so-called security profile. Each profile is just like an engine, and the engines check if that packet is valid or invalid. If it's invalid, it just gets dropped immediately and doesn't go for checking to another engine. But if it's okay, then another engine checks if it belongs to a scanning attack or it's a behavior-based attack. It helps decide whether something is malicious or not.
DefensePro is very effective at detecting attacks in real-time. From our experience, it's quite effective equipment. The main goal during the attack is just to protect the host and the customer's facility. So in this way, it is quite effective. We also have NetScout in our facilities, so we can compare them with each other.
Our goal is to analyze the attack after attack and try to improve our ability to minimize the false positives. It's helped us.
We've been able to reduce downtime associated with attacks. During an attack, Radware DefensePro drops the malicious traffic. Sometimes it is very effective, and sometimes it is not as effective. However, without this, the very first attack against the customer would just pull everything down. Now that we have this equipment in place providing protection, the customer can continue to work. Maybe the performance would suffer a little bit; however, at least they can continue to work. We have small attacks happening every day against our customers, so having protection is critical.
What needs improvement?
The APSolute Vision feature needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for around five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We do have problems with stability when it comes to APSolute Vision. It seems to have been written using Docker and it's quite complicated. We don't know much about the internal infrastructure. Sometimes, it just doesn't let you log in or it displays configuration errors. I'd rate the stability eight out of ten overall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have around 30 end users. However, we do have the solution for our end customers, which are enterprises.
We haven't had a chance to test the scalability. That said, by design, scalability is built into the design of the solution. You can install multiple DefensePros and they can be controlled and monitored from one single APSolute Vision station. They have switched to a newer platform, and I don't have experience with that controller just yet. My impression is they fixed a lot of issues people found with APSolute Vision when building the new controller.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is among the best. If you open a ticket, they respond immediately and they are very helpful. They ask to give control so the support engineer can fix things himself. It's great.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also familiar with Arbor. It's another leader in the domain.
We used Jupiter for some time. Radware receives regular updates of threats, however, Jupiter did not have that capability. It worked mainly with behavior-based attacks. Both Radware and Arbor also have behavior-based attack protections and zero-day attacks, plus they both have subscription services and centers of knowledge that periodically send you updates on the latest attacks and on malicious hosts.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex. You hear documentation is quite good, however, it's really just a field of knowledge. It's just not enough to understand how to configure things or how to click and choose another profile.
You need to know the nature of DDoS attacks and many, many intricate things about DDoS attacks to be able to configure the box comprehensively. This is the biggest challenge. It's unlike, for example, if you have to deal with routing equipment. Everything looks straightforward, and everything is predictable. This domain, it's much more complex due to the nature of the sync of the DDoS attack. Even for us, now, five years later, we still don't know everything. The field is very complex.
There is continuous maintenance needed from our side. We have four people who handle maintenance tasks.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is very expensive, as is Arbor.
What other advice do I have?
We still have the older model of DefensePro without X. Instead of the cyber controller, we have their older monitoring solution, APSolute Vision. My understanding is that the cyber controller took away some of the deficiencies of APSolute Vision.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It has some issues, however, Radware alongside Arbor are two of the best solutions.
Enables us to mitigate an incident in seconds
What is our primary use case?
Our web-based services were frequently overloaded by DDoS attacks, causing slow performance, and unavailability, and impacting both our clients and internal users. To address this, we implemented the Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service to safeguard our internet-facing assets and prevent these attacks from disrupting our services.
How has it helped my organization?
Radware has been performing well and blocking threats in real time. We haven't had any incidents requiring clarification or causing service disruptions, and we closely track its performance by monitoring the volume, type, and frequency of attacks. So far, we haven't seen any attacks that would make us question our choice of Radware as our security solution.
Implementing Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service provided immediate visibility into our network. We detected several attempted attacks soon after activation, but thankfully none were successful. This lack of successful attacks is due to the implemented protection.
Our DDoS protection has been a lifesaver! While we're under near-constant attack, users and clients haven't experienced any slowdowns or outages thanks to the protection. This is a big improvement over the significant disruptions we faced before implementing the solution.
Radware's response time after an attack meets our expectations. They are very responsive and address our questions or concerns almost immediately, which aligns with our service level agreement.
Radware can detect an incident within seconds.
We can mitigate an incident in seconds with Radware.
Radware's service level agreement stands out favorably when compared to its competitors in the industry.
What is most valuable?
The key strength of Radware's Cloud DDoS Protection Service is its behavior engine, which uses anomaly detection to identify and stop DDoS attacks. Additionally, its flexibility is a major advantage. Since every company's architecture has unique aspects, Radware can adapt to our specific needs, whether it's a particular use case, a slight complication in design or deployment, or any other customization required by our setup.
Also, during the pilot and testing phase, we received excellent support from Radware. They provided clear explanations and the high level of service we expected. This was crucial because DDoS attacks can strike unexpectedly, and a rapid response is essential. Radware's responsiveness throughout the testing process assured us that we weren't just another customer.
What needs improvement?
To improve my ability to monitor security events, I would like Radware to strengthen its integration with SIEM for better logging capabilities.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service for two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not had any stability issues with the Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Radware's Cloud DDoS Protection Service's biggest advantage for us is its scalability. Because it's cloud-based, we can easily request more bandwidth or capacity if needed, unlike on-premises solutions where adding more protection would require buying and installing additional hardware, which can be complex and expensive. While we haven't had to scale up yet, the cloud-based model gives us the flexibility to do so easily in the future.
How are customer service and support?
We have contacted the technical support of Radware around six times and they have resolved all of our issues promptly.
Radware doesn't use an automated, convoluted system. We get to speak to a live person fairly quickly.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the deployment of Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service as medium-scale due to routing configuration challenges. These challenges impacted various aspects, including test traffic handling, failover capabilities, and overall network resilience.
The deployment took five weeks and three people to complete.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house.
What was our ROI?
Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service offers a strong return on investment. Consider the combined cost of service downtime for employees and clients, reputational damage, and other negative impacts. This outweighs the solution's annual cost. A single hour of downtime can quickly erase the cost of protection, especially when factoring in lost productivity and damaged trust.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Radware's Cloud DDoS Protection Service stands out for its competitive pricing, making it a strong contender in our decision. We believe the value we receive for the cost is superior to what other vendors offer.
When choosing DDoS protection, focus on long-term value, not just upfront cost. While a solution might seem expensive today, its ability to adapt and handle future threats is crucial. Researching options and prioritizing features like flexibility and proactivity ensures your protection keeps pace with the evolving threat landscape. This approach provides peace of mind, knowing your solution can address new attacks and growing traffic demands. Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service does all this.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
After considering three different options, including Radware, we ultimately decided to implement Radware for our needs.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service nine out of ten.