Exclusive Networks invites partners to join DDoS war

Distributor teams up with Arbor to offer resellers fast-track training on thwarting distributed denial of service attacks

Exclusive Networks wants to verse 12 UK resellers in the "black art" of distributed denial of service (DDoS) prevention in partnership with vendor Arbor Networks.

According to analyst Infonetics Research, DDoS prevention sales are set to grow 24 per cent this year, hitting $420m (£261m) by 2016, as more end users look to bolster their defences against targeted attacks.

In partnership with Arbor, Exclusive is offering pre-sales and technical staff at resellers fast-track access to live DDoS attack mitigation sessions.

Marketing director Barrie Desmond claimed UK firms are in denial over DDoS, meaning there is money to be made for the channel.

"It is a black art thwarting this type of attack so we are trying to simplify it and make it interesting for the channel," he said.

"The rewards are huge – these deals are not £10,00, but £50,000, £100,000 or £250,000, with good margins and ongoing annuity revenue.

"Instead of getting the reseller to invest thousands in demo kit and training, we will do war games where they will learn to manage attacks in real time, and then do the knowledge transfer on a more gradual basis to convince them to go to the next level."

Recent research from vendor Radware and analyst Ponemon, which quizzed 705 US IT managers, found that 65 per cent had suffered at least one DDoS attack in the past year, with 10 per cent suffering more than 10.

The average cost was $3.5m a year.

Desmond claimed that DDoS attacks are increasingly affecting smaller, mid-market firms that happen to share datacentres with the large banks and government bodies typically targeted by cybercriminals.

"If we can engage with a dozen resellers, that is all we need," he added. "This is not going to be a 70-80-partner gig, as a bit more intellect and engineering overhead is needed."