Cloud infrastructure has become the foundation of modern digital services. As organizations migrate their applications to the cloud, maintaining performance and availability becomes a top concern. One of the most serious threats to cloud stability is a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. These malicious attacks can cripple services, compromise user experience, and inflict financial damage. To counter this growing threat, AWS offers a comprehensive defense mechanism called AWS Shield.
This article explores what DDoS attacks are, how AWS Shield functions, its different service levels, and how it integrates with other cloud security tools. It also examines AWS Shield’s advantages and how it compares with related technologies like web application firewalls.
What Are DDoS Attacks?
A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack aims to overload an application or server by bombarding it with massive volumes of traffic. The traffic is typically generated from numerous systems, often infected by malware and remotely controlled. These infected machines, known as bots, operate together as a botnet.
Once a botnet is directed toward a target, it begins sending simultaneous requests, flooding the network bandwidth or exhausting application resources. As a result, legitimate users are unable to access services, causing service degradation or complete outages.
DDoS attacks are categorized based on the targeted layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. Common types include:
- Network Layer Attacks (Layer 3): Examples include SYN floods and IP fragmentation attacks.
- Transport Layer Attacks (Layer 4): These focus on protocols like TCP and UDP to exhaust ports and connections.
- Application Layer Attacks (Layer 7): These mimic normal user interactions to overload application processes.
Because these attacks can originate from globally distributed sources, blocking a single IP or region is rarely effective. This is where automated, intelligent protection systems like AWS Shield come into play.
Overview of AWS Shield
AWS Shield is a managed security service that safeguards applications running in the AWS environment from various DDoS threats. Designed to reduce the risk of service disruption, AWS Shield actively monitors and mitigates DDoS traffic before it impacts application performance.
There are two main levels of service offered under AWS Shield:
- AWS Shield Standard
- AWS Shield Advanced
These services are integrated into the AWS infrastructure and work with other AWS tools to provide a multi-layered defense strategy.
AWS Shield Standard
AWS Shield Standard is automatically enabled for all AWS customers using supported services. There is no extra configuration required, making it ideal for users who need baseline protection without complexity or cost.
It provides protection against common DDoS attacks at the infrastructure and network layers. These include SYN floods, UDP reflection attacks, and other volumetric threats.
Some key features of AWS Shield Standard include:
- Always-on detection with automatic inline mitigation
- Coverage for services like Elastic Compute, Load Balancing, and DNS routing
- Integration with AWS infrastructure for real-time threat visibility
This level of protection is sufficient for many small to medium-sized businesses that do not face frequent or complex DDoS threats. It ensures that basic application availability is preserved even during minor attacks.
AWS Shield Advanced
For organizations facing higher risk, AWS Shield Advanced offers a broader and more robust feature set. It is a subscription-based service and includes premium support, deeper analytics, and integration with specialized AWS security tools.
Key capabilities of AWS Shield Advanced include:
- Access to the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT), available 24/7
- Real-time attack visibility and diagnostics through metrics and dashboards
- Advanced threat intelligence and anomaly detection
- Financial protections against excessive scaling costs due to DDoS attacks
AWS Shield Advanced works seamlessly with services such as CloudFront, Elastic Compute, Load Balancing, and Route 53. It also supports custom mitigation techniques through integration with web application firewalls.
Understanding the Layers of Protection
AWS Shield delivers multi-layer protection by addressing various points in the OSI model. This approach ensures that different types of attacks, from brute-force flooding to sophisticated application layer threats, can be detected and handled appropriately.
At the infrastructure level (Layers 3 and 4), AWS Shield can block high-volume traffic using filtering techniques and rate limiting. At the application level (Layer 7), AWS Shield Advanced works in conjunction with rule-based systems to recognize behavioral anomalies.
This comprehensive coverage allows AWS Shield to protect against both known and emerging threats, without affecting the performance of legitimate traffic.
How AWS Shield Detects and Mitigates Attacks
The detection and mitigation capabilities of AWS Shield are powered by machine learning algorithms and threat intelligence feeds. When a potential attack is detected, AWS Shield evaluates the traffic patterns against a baseline of normal behavior. If anomalies are identified, mitigation strategies are deployed automatically.
In most cases, attacks are neutralized within seconds, ensuring that critical services remain available. For more complex scenarios, such as zero-day threats or region-specific attacks, AWS Shield Advanced users can coordinate directly with security experts to craft tailored defenses.
The mitigation process typically includes:
- Traffic rate limiting
- Source filtering and IP blocking
- Protocol validation
- Packet inspection and scrubbing
By using a combination of automated and manual controls, AWS Shield minimizes false positives while maintaining high levels of security.
Benefits of AWS Shield
AWS Shield offers several advantages to organizations seeking protection from DDoS attacks. These benefits range from cost-efficiency to enhanced security posture and ease of use.
Automatic Coverage
For users of the standard tier, protection is automatically applied across supported services. This reduces administrative overhead and ensures that basic protection is always active.
Real-Time Monitoring
Both Standard and Advanced versions include real-time monitoring features. Users can view dashboards, receive alerts, and access logs that provide detailed insights into traffic patterns and attack events.
Rapid Mitigation
AWS Shield has the ability to detect and respond to most infrastructure-level attacks in less than one second. This allows organizations to maintain uptime and avoid customer disruption.
Cost Control
DDoS attacks can drive up infrastructure costs by forcing services to scale to handle excessive traffic. AWS Shield Advanced includes financial safeguards that help offset these unexpected expenses.
Global Threat Intelligence
Advanced users gain access to global threat data and trends, allowing them to proactively defend against new attack vectors. This intelligence is sourced from across AWS’s massive cloud infrastructure and refined through analytics.
Seamless Integration
AWS Shield is designed to work with other security services, including access controls, load balancers, and application monitoring tools. This allows users to implement holistic security strategies using a unified environment.
Introduction to AWS Web Application Firewall
While AWS Shield focuses on infrastructure and network layer defense, the AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) targets threats at the application layer. These threats often involve code-level exploits, such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting.
AWS WAF allows administrators to define rules that block, allow, or monitor traffic based on IP addresses, header values, query string parameters, and other request characteristics. It supports both predefined and custom rules, making it highly adaptable.
Use cases for AWS WAF include:
- Blocking bots and automated scrapers
- Filtering out malicious payloads
- Implementing geo-blocking
- Enforcing rate limits
AWS WAF can be deployed with services like Application Load Balancer and CloudFront, and it works effectively when used alongside AWS Shield Advanced.
AWS Shield Advanced Pricing Overview
Unlike the standard tier, which is free for all users, AWS Shield Advanced carries a monthly fee. As of the last published information, the base price is approximately a few thousand dollars per month.
In addition to the fixed cost, usage charges may apply based on the volume of protected traffic and services involved. The services that typically generate additional charges include:
- Elastic Compute instances
- Load Balancing
- DNS services
- Content delivery networks
Despite the cost, organizations that face frequent attacks often find Shield Advanced to be a cost-effective investment, especially when compared to the potential losses associated with downtime or breach incidents.
Implementing AWS Shield in a Cloud Strategy
Adding AWS Shield to a cloud security strategy begins with assessing risk. Organizations that operate in high-risk sectors or provide mission-critical services should consider the Advanced tier for added resilience.
Integration is straightforward, especially for those already using AWS infrastructure. For basic protection, no configuration is required. For advanced users, a combination of Shield, WAF, access policies, and monitoring tools should be configured to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Regular audits, traffic analysis, and updates to rule sets are also essential to adapt to the changing nature of cyber threats.
AWS Shield has become a core component in cloud-based security architectures. By offering automatic, intelligent, and scalable protection, it empowers organizations to focus on growth and innovation rather than constantly worrying about DDoS attacks.
While the Standard tier is well-suited for small operations and basic needs, larger enterprises or services with high availability demands should consider investing in AWS Shield Advanced. When combined with application-level defenses like WAF, AWS Shield helps build a robust defense framework that protects both infrastructure and user-facing applications.
Expanding Protection with AWS Shield: Advanced Security Strategies and Integration
Modern digital infrastructure faces an evolving set of threats, many of which target service availability. As organizations increasingly rely on cloud environments to serve global user bases, the need for robust security solutions is more critical than ever. One major concern is the growing sophistication of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which are becoming harder to detect and more damaging in their effects.
AWS Shield, a managed DDoS protection service, provides layered security to defend against such attacks. While the standard version offers baseline defense, the advanced version unlocks a wealth of features for proactive threat mitigation and incident response. This article delves deeper into the technical capabilities of AWS Shield Advanced, how it integrates with other cloud services, and what makes it suitable for high-risk use cases.
The Need for Deeper Protection
While basic DDoS threats can often be handled through simple network filtering, modern attackers deploy sophisticated techniques that evade standard detection mechanisms. These may include:
- Multivector attacks targeting multiple OSI layers at once
- Low-volume but persistent application-layer requests
- Geographic targeting to bypass regional rate limits
- Use of encrypted traffic to bypass deep packet inspection
Given the complexity of such threats, relying solely on automated and passive protection is no longer sufficient for businesses that depend on high uptime. In these situations, AWS Shield Advanced becomes a critical component of the overall defense strategy.
Key Features of AWS Shield Advanced
AWS Shield Advanced is designed for organizations that cannot afford downtime or disruptions. It builds upon the foundational protection of the standard tier with specialized tools, expert support, and financial safeguards.
24/7 Access to the DDoS Response Team
One of the standout features of Shield Advanced is direct access to a specialized DDoS Response Team (DRT). These are experienced security professionals who provide real-time support during an attack. They assist with incident analysis, mitigation planning, and post-incident reporting.
The DRT acts as a collaborative extension of an organization’s internal security team, allowing for faster decisions and customized responses based on the specific threat.
Integration with Cloud Monitoring Tools
Shield Advanced integrates tightly with monitoring tools such as CloudWatch, enabling users to track real-time metrics and set up alerts for suspicious activity. Users can view graphs of attack vectors, traffic volumes, and mitigation efforts.
This data helps security professionals identify ongoing issues, respond to them proactively, and make data-informed decisions for future defense planning.
Global Threat Environment Dashboard
Another advantage of Shield Advanced is the availability of a global threat environment dashboard. This dashboard presents real-time threat intelligence gathered across the cloud provider’s infrastructure. Users can gain insights into emerging attack trends, affected regions, and specific service vulnerabilities.
This visibility helps organizations fine-tune their defenses even before a threat directly targets them.
Financial Protection Against Scaling Costs
DDoS attacks can drive up operating expenses by forcing services to auto-scale to handle traffic spikes. Shield Advanced includes a financial protection policy that reimburses customers for unexpected usage charges due to DDoS-related scaling.
This cost protection is especially beneficial for businesses running auto-scaled environments like compute instances behind load balancers, where each request—legitimate or not—can trigger additional infrastructure deployment.
How Shield Advanced Works in Practice
To fully understand the value of Shield Advanced, it’s helpful to examine how the service operates during different stages of a DDoS event.
Pre-Attack Preparation
Before any threat occurs, users can configure proactive protections. These include:
- Defining thresholds for traffic anomalies
- Linking Shield Advanced with WAF rules
- Identifying key resources to protect
This preparation stage ensures that when an incident occurs, appropriate measures are already in place and no time is lost in manual intervention.
Detection and Analysis
Shield Advanced continuously monitors network and application traffic. Its detection mechanisms include:
- Rate-based rules for unusual traffic volume
- Pattern recognition to identify malformed requests
- Comparison with historical traffic baselines
If an anomaly is detected, an alert is triggered and traffic analysis begins immediately. Users are notified through the console and can escalate to the response team if needed.
Active Mitigation
During the mitigation phase, traffic is filtered, limited, or redirected depending on the nature of the attack. Mitigation strategies may include:
- Throttling request rates
- Dropping packets from known malicious IPs
- Redirecting traffic to scrubbing centers
Throughout this process, the DRT provides updates and suggestions to ensure that the legitimate user experience is not compromised.
Post-Attack Review
After the attack subsides, users receive detailed reports highlighting:
- The type and duration of the attack
- Services affected
- Mitigation steps taken
- Cost impact analysis
These reports are useful for internal audits and for understanding potential improvements in the protection strategy.
Integrating Shield Advanced with Other AWS Services
One of the major strengths of Shield Advanced is its integration with a wide range of cloud services. This allows users to build defense strategies without having to manage disjointed tools or external appliances.
CloudFront
For content delivery networks, attacks can come in the form of HTTP floods or large file requests. Shield Advanced works with content distribution services to absorb and mitigate such attacks at edge locations, closer to the origin of the attack.
Elastic Load Balancing
Applications behind load balancers are common targets for DDoS attacks. Shield Advanced offers enhanced protection for load balancing services by monitoring backend health and automatically rerouting traffic as needed.
Route 53
DNS services are another common vector for attack. Shield Advanced includes protection for hosted zones and can mitigate DNS query floods. It also improves DNS resolution speed even during high-traffic events.
AWS WAF
By working in tandem with Shield Advanced, web application firewalls add rules that filter out malicious application-layer traffic. Together, they provide a defense-in-depth model where infrastructure-level protection is backed by application-specific policies.
AWS Firewall Manager
For large organizations managing multiple accounts or environments, Shield Advanced integrates with policy management tools to centralize the security configuration. Administrators can define and apply rules across all accounts in a consistent manner.
Use Cases That Benefit from Shield Advanced
Not every business may require Shield Advanced, but for certain scenarios, it provides essential capabilities.
E-commerce Platforms
Online retail operations rely on constant uptime, especially during peak traffic seasons. A DDoS attack during a major sales event can result in loss of revenue and brand trust. Shield Advanced offers the resilience needed to maintain service availability even under pressure.
Financial Services
Applications handling transactions, account data, or stock trading require zero tolerance for downtime. With 24/7 monitoring and rapid mitigation, Shield Advanced ensures that services remain operational and customer data stays protected.
Media and Streaming
High-bandwidth services like video streaming are often targeted due to the cost impact of scaling. Shield Advanced absorbs malicious traffic and prevents unnecessary bandwidth consumption.
Government and Public Services
Public websites hosting essential services, such as voter registration or health portals, are increasingly under threat. Shield Advanced helps maintain access for legitimate users and thwarts politically motivated disruptions.
Limitations and Considerations
While AWS Shield Advanced offers extensive protection, it’s important to recognize its boundaries to develop a realistic security strategy.
- Application-layer attacks still require well-configured WAF rules.
- The service does not eliminate the need for good security hygiene, including monitoring and alerting.
- Some attacks may require manual intervention; it’s not a fully autonomous system.
- Advanced users must monitor and tune configurations to avoid overblocking legitimate traffic.
Understanding these limitations allows organizations to supplement Shield Advanced with additional security controls such as anomaly detection, threat hunting, and periodic penetration testing.
Choosing the Right Protection Strategy
When selecting between the standard and advanced tiers, organizations should evaluate their risk profile, service criticality, and regulatory obligations.
Questions to consider include:
- What would the cost of downtime be per hour?
- How frequently does our industry face DDoS threats?
- Is our infrastructure built to scale in response to sudden traffic surges?
- Do we have the internal expertise to manage incidents effectively?
If the answers highlight high sensitivity to service disruptions or lack of in-house expertise, then upgrading to Shield Advanced is a practical choice.
Best Practices for Implementation
Deploying AWS Shield Advanced effectively requires more than activation. Organizations should follow these best practices:
- Identify mission-critical resources and ensure they are under protection.
- Create incident response plans that include escalation paths and contact details for AWS support.
- Regularly review traffic baselines and update thresholds accordingly.
- Combine Shield Advanced with monitoring tools for real-time visibility.
- Use tagging and automation to apply policies uniformly across accounts.
By investing time in configuration and management, organizations can extract the full benefit of Shield Advanced and reduce the risk of downtime.
The Future of Cloud DDoS Protection
As digital services continue to grow, the scale and complexity of cyber threats will increase. Attackers are leveraging automation, artificial intelligence, and global botnets to bypass traditional defenses. In response, cloud-based protection systems like AWS Shield must evolve with:
- Smarter analytics using machine learning
- Deeper behavioral analysis at the application layer
- Cross-provider threat intelligence sharing
- Automated incident remediation workflows
By staying ahead of emerging trends and continuously improving mitigation strategies, cloud providers can offer more resilient protection in the years to come.
AWS Shield in Action: Real-World Use Cases, Deployment Tips, and Strategic Guidance
Organizations operating in cloud environments are continuously seeking reliable ways to defend their infrastructure against disruptions. Among the most prevalent and damaging threats are Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which can render services inaccessible, cause financial losses, and damage brand reputation.
As covered earlier, AWS Shield—both Standard and Advanced—offers a cloud-native security solution to mitigate such attacks. While the foundational knowledge of how AWS Shield functions is essential, it’s equally important to examine its effectiveness in real-world deployments, understand how to implement it efficiently, and explore advanced strategies to maintain long-term protection.
This section provides practical insights, detailed examples, deployment best practices, and guidance for making the most out of AWS Shield’s capabilities.
Real-World Use Cases of AWS Shield
Across industries, companies leverage AWS Shield to maintain business continuity, ensure customer experience, and minimize risks. Below are several example scenarios that demonstrate how AWS Shield performs under pressure.
E-Commerce During Peak Traffic Events
A digital marketplace preparing for a global holiday sale noticed an unusual increase in traffic volume days before the event. At first, it appeared to be early consumer interest, but the abnormal request patterns raised concerns. Upon investigation, it was discovered that bots were testing the site’s defenses ahead of a planned DDoS attack.
Because the platform was already protected by AWS Shield Advanced, the malicious activity was detected through anomaly detection algorithms. The DDoS Response Team was engaged, additional monitoring thresholds were configured, and mitigation rules were deployed preemptively. The actual attack was launched on the day of the sale, but the site remained fully operational.
The organization not only avoided downtime but also preserved revenue and customer trust through effective preparation and real-time defense.
Financial Applications with Sensitive Transactions
A fintech startup offering peer-to-peer payments experienced intermittent slowdowns in one of its payment APIs. These disruptions occurred during specific times and correlated with peak transaction hours. Initial analysis suggested that the service was being intentionally targeted to exploit its load balancing.
Using AWS Shield Advanced, the company gained real-time visibility into network-layer traffic and isolated the malicious requests. With assistance from the support team, they configured protocol-level filtering and integrated rate-based rules with web application firewall policies. Subsequent attacks were automatically mitigated without affecting legitimate users.
This example highlights how AWS Shield Advanced offers precise and surgical mitigation while keeping services uninterrupted for authentic clients.
Media Platforms Facing Bandwidth Abuse
A content streaming provider began receiving gigabits per second of fake video requests through geographically distributed sources. This traffic, while not technically flooding the servers, was significantly increasing infrastructure costs due to auto-scaling.
The provider enabled AWS Shield Advanced and used the cost protection policy to shield itself from unplanned expenses. Simultaneously, traffic shaping and geo-restriction rules were deployed to filter out non-human traffic patterns. Monitoring dashboards provided granular visibility, allowing them to tune rules over time.
The service was preserved, operational costs were contained, and future attack surfaces were minimized by enforcing application-layer filtering rules.
Steps to Deploy AWS Shield Effectively
Simply enabling AWS Shield is not enough to guarantee total protection. For robust and reliable defense, a thoughtful deployment plan is essential. Here are some practical steps to follow:
Identify High-Value Resources
Before implementing protection, determine which parts of your infrastructure are mission-critical. These often include:
- APIs used by mobile or web clients
- Login and authentication endpoints
- DNS zones
- Application load balancers
- Web frontends serving public users
Assign tags or identifiers to these resources so they can be monitored closely.
Enable Shield Protection
For supported services, AWS Shield Standard is automatically active. To upgrade to Advanced:
- Subscribe through the cloud management console
- Specify the resources you want to protect
- Configure notifications, metrics, and alarms
- Enable automatic application of mitigations
- Define escalation contacts for the response team
After activation, verify that the service is linked with other tools like monitoring dashboards and application firewalls.
Set Baselines and Alerts
Use monitoring tools to establish normal traffic behavior. Set up alerts for sudden spikes in:
- HTTP request rates
- Connection attempts per IP
- Inbound traffic volumes
- DNS query volumes
These alerts will help identify suspicious activity even before a full-scale attack unfolds.
Configure Web Application Firewall Rules
Work with web firewall services to block known attack patterns, enforce rate limits, and implement behavioral filters. Common rules include:
- Blocking known bot user agents
- Enforcing limits on query string lengths
- Rejecting malformed HTTP headers
- Allowing traffic only from known countries
Pairing AWS Shield with well-crafted firewall rules creates layered defense.
Practice Incident Response
Establish an incident response protocol for DDoS events. This includes:
- Assigning roles for internal team members
- Creating notification channels (email, SMS)
- Maintaining up-to-date contact information for support escalation
- Running periodic drills or simulations
When an incident happens, your team will be better prepared to act swiftly and effectively.
Optimizing Shield for Multi-Account Environments
Organizations often operate multiple cloud accounts for different departments, business units, or applications. Managing DDoS protection across all of them can be challenging without a centralized approach.
To address this, Shield Advanced can be used with centralized policy management tools. This allows administrators to:
- Apply protection across all accounts
- Monitor attack metrics in one dashboard
- Define common security policies
- Standardize alerting and logging formats
By consolidating configurations, teams can ensure consistent protection and reduce administrative burden.
Cost Considerations and Budgeting
One of the common concerns when considering AWS Shield Advanced is cost. Although it carries a monthly subscription fee, this should be weighed against the potential losses caused by service downtime or performance degradation.
Here are a few budgeting tips:
- Factor the cost into your security operations plan
- Track potential savings from avoided downtime
- Leverage the built-in cost protection policy
- Monitor attack metrics to evaluate return on investment
Many companies realize that the expense of Shield Advanced is minor compared to the operational and reputational cost of unmitigated DDoS attacks.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
While AWS Shield offers strong protection, improper setup or misuse can limit its effectiveness. Avoid the following common mistakes:
Assuming One-Time Setup Is Enough
Security is a continuous process. Traffic patterns change, new threats emerge, and infrastructure evolves. Regularly review configurations and update rules to reflect changes in your environment.
Ignoring Application-Layer Threats
Even with robust network-level defense, application-layer threats such as credential stuffing or HTTP floods can bypass protection. Pair AWS Shield with other solutions to detect and stop these sophisticated attacks.
Misconfiguring Firewall Rules
Overly aggressive blocking rules may impact legitimate users. Test rules in monitoring mode before enforcing them. Use traffic sampling and analysis tools to fine-tune detection parameters.
Failing to Monitor Metrics
Many organizations ignore available dashboards and alerts. Consistently review logs, traffic graphs, and threat intelligence to remain informed.
Long-Term Strategy for DDoS Resilience
Building a resilient architecture involves more than just deploying AWS Shield. A multi-layered, adaptive approach ensures lasting protection and operational continuity.
Use Auto Scaling Strategically
Design infrastructure that scales automatically but set limits and throttling policies. This prevents resource exhaustion during attack scenarios and keeps costs predictable.
Employ Traffic Diversion
Use global distribution tools and edge caching to divert and absorb malicious traffic closer to the source. This reduces load on core application systems.
Build Redundancy and Failover
Ensure that critical services have backup instances in multiple regions. If one region is impacted, failover mechanisms can redirect users to healthy zones.
Conduct Regular Security Reviews
Periodically review security posture, update DDoS response plans, and refresh firewall rules. Keep internal teams trained and ready for quick decision-making.
Collaborate with Security Experts
Establish regular communication with external security providers, including the response team linked with AWS Shield Advanced. Share insights and follow recommended updates.
Strategic Evaluation of DDoS Risk
Each organization must assess its exposure to DDoS threats. Factors to consider include:
- Type of services offered (e.g., API, e-commerce, streaming)
- Customer expectations around uptime
- Industry-specific threat trends
- Level of public visibility or controversy
Based on this evaluation, a security roadmap can be created, identifying what level of protection is necessary and how resources should be allocated.
Conclusion
AWS Shield has emerged as a critical solution for cloud-native defense against DDoS attacks. Its two-tiered approach offers something for everyone—from startups needing basic protection to enterprises with complex security requirements.
The standard version provides foundational, no-cost defense that’s ideal for entry-level protection. For those seeking advanced capabilities, Shield Advanced offers deeper insights, human expertise, and stronger mitigation measures tailored to modern attack patterns.
By implementing best practices, avoiding common pitfalls, and integrating Shield into a broader security strategy, organizations can create a resilient and responsive infrastructure that stands firm against external threats.
Whether securing an online store, a public sector portal, or a financial transaction platform, AWS Shield empowers organizations to maintain service availability, reduce risk, and grow with confidence in a hostile cyber landscape.