<p>A DDoS or distributed denial of service attack can be devastating to any business with a web presence because it effectively removes the website that is the target of the attack from the internet. For website-driven companies, taking a multi-pronged approach is essential to prevent, intervene in, and recover from a distributed denial-of-service attack. In this article, we&#8217;ll cover how to do just that.</p>
<h2>What is a DDoS Attack?</h2>
<p>So what exactly is a DDoS attack? A basic DDoS attack is when cybercriminals bombard an IP address with fake traffic, flooding the server the IP address points to and any routers upstream of it with so much traffic that it results in a denial-of-service to legitimate traffic. </p>
<p>How does a DDoS attack work? Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in hundreds or thousands of computers and other connected devices (such as IoT devices) via malware. That network of infected devices and computers forms a botnet that is then remotely controlled to carry out the DDoS attacks.</p>
<p>A distributed denial of service attack can last from hours to days to weeks, depending on the cyberattacker&#8217;s intentions and the attack&#8217;s effectiveness. Some of the most common types of DDoS attacks include:</p>
<ol>
	<li><strong>Protocol Attacks</strong>. These include SYN floods, Smurf DDoS, fragmented packet attacks, etc.</li>
	<li><strong>Volumetric DDoS Attacks.</strong> These include ICMP floods, UDP flood attacks, reflection amplification attacks, etc.</li>
	<li><strong>Application-Layer Attacks</strong>. These include HTTP floods, Slowloris attacks, etc. </li>
</ol>
<h2>What Are Some Measures to Avoid DDoS Attacks?</h2>
<p>Some of the world&#8217;s largest corporations have been the victims of well-orchestrated and prolonged DDoS attacks. <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-says-biggest-ddos-attack-on-record-hit-the-company-in-2017" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google&#8217;s been hit</a>, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53093611" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon Web Services fought off a DDoS attack</a> for an undisclosed customer that sent requests at 2.3 Tbps for three days. No website then is off-limits; without a doubt, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here are some ways to prevent a DDoS attack so that legitimate users can always find their way to your business&#8217;s website.</p>
<h3>Use a Firewall to Prevent DDoS Attacks</h3>
<p>Some firewalls can protect from DDoS attacks; however, many firewalls can act as entry points for a complex DDoS attack. For a firewall that can function to thwart and limit a complex DDoS attack, it&#8217;s essential to use a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_application_firewall" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">web application firewall</a> (WAF) to protect your site from a DDoS attack.</p>
<p>How does a WAF work? Regardless of what form a WAF takes — appliance, software, or WAF-as-a-service — the general principle in protection is the same. A web application firewall stands between your website or other web apps and monitors, filters, and blocks any malicious or bot-driven traffic trying to reach your site.</p>
<h3>Use a VPN to Prevent DDoS Attacks</h3>
<p>To understand how a VPN can prevent a DDoS attack, it&#8217;s important first to understand what a VPN is. </p>
<p>A VPN, or <a href="/vpn/">virtual private network</a>, creates a private network across a public or shared network. The primary purpose of a VPN is to hide while engaging on the internet. With a VPN, everything from your IP address to your online activity and browsing history becomes private, inaccessible by anyone outside your VPN.</p>
<p>In general, then, using a VPN is a great way to prevent DDoS attacks, since a VPN will hide your IP address. Without an accurate IP address, it&#8217;s impossible for a DDoS attack to properly locate the network your site is on. That being said, if the company providing your VPN doesn&#8217;t itself have robust protection against DDoS attacks and other cyber threats, your site could still become vulnerable at some point. To learn more about VPN services and read VPN reviews, check out our <a href="https://sonary.com/vpn/free/">free VPN resources page</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, even the best defenses are sometimes breached. Here&#8217;s what to do if prevention fails. First up? You need to be able to tell when you’re under attack.</p>
<h2>What Are the Methods to Identify Ddos Attacks When They Occur?</h2>
<p>One key to intervening in and stopping a DDoS attack once it&#8217;s underway is to detect that it&#8217;s happening at properly. The first and most obvious symptom of a DDoS attack is a noticeable jump in resource utilization on the targeted server. By frequently monitoring your traffic profile, you can identify any traffic jumps or other anomalies. Other symptoms of a distributed denial of service attack are slowed performance, crashes, large amounts of traffic from users with similar profiles or geolocations, and spikes in traffic from a single or small group of IP addresses.</p>
<h2>How to Intervene to Stop a DDoS Attack</h2>
<p> Once you&#8217;ve identified that a DDoS attack on your site or web app is underway, you can intervene to stop it or limit its harm in the following ways.</p>
<h3>If You Run Your Server, Mitigate the Attack</h3>
<p>If you run your server, you have a handful of beneficial options that will mitigate a DDoS attack that&#8217;s underway:</p>
<ul>
	<li>Rate limit your router to keep your server from being overwhelmed with traffic</li>
	<li>Drop quick retransmissions</li>
	<li>Add filters so that your router can detect and drop data packets that are:

<ul>
	<li>spoofed</li>
	<li>malformed</li>
	<li>coming from unknown or suspicious sources</li>
</ul>
</li>
	<li>Lower your UDP, ICMP, and SYN flood drop thresholds</li>
</ul>
<h3>Contact Your Internet Service Provider</h3>
<p>If you don&#8217;t run your own server, then it&#8217;s important to reach out immediately to your ISP as soon as you detect a DDoS attack. Your ISP has tools to mitigate harm and protect you from DDoS attacks, including rate limiting, firewalls, DNS, and blocking all traffic. Their efforts may be enough, but in many cases, relying on just your ISP to get you through a DDoS attack unscathed is a recipe for disaster. Prevention and protection up front are the best way to handle your site&#8217;s cybersecurity.</p>
<h2>Recovering from a DDoS Attack</h2>
<p>The first thing to do once you find yourself on the other side of a DDoS attack is to recover from it. But how?</p>
<h3>Analyze and Assess the Damage</h3>
<p>Whether you get it from application system logs or your security provider, you must analyze and assess what occurred and how. Important questions to ask are:</p>
<ul>
	<li>What type of DDoS attack was it? How did it work?</li>
	<li>What assets were targeted?</li>
	<li>What assets were compromised?</li>
	<li>What was the peak amount of requests — and data — used in the attack?</li>
	<li>What all did the attack impact? Did it just impact the network layer or did it affect the application layer as well?</li>
	<li>How successful was the attack?</li>
	<li>What were the damages? (Lost revenue, bad PR, downtime, etc.)</li>
	<li>Where were the weak points that were targeted?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Reconsider and Redesign Your Response Plan</h3>
<p>Once you&#8217;ve analyzed and assessed what went wrong and why, it&#8217;s important to draw up a response plan that will address weaknesses in web servers, network infrastructure, etc. going forward so that the next time your site is targeted, you’re better prepared.</p>
<h3>Invest in Dedicated DDoS Protection Software and Services</h3>
<p>If you own your own server, invest in some good DDoS protection. There are many solutions available with protection plans ranging from hobbyist to enterprise and can include everything from web application firewalls and bot mitigation to DDoS mitigation services. </p>
<p>Regardless of your choice, the key to recovering from a DDoS attack is to put in place a protection service or other type of defense that will make it less likely that you&#8217;ll suffer one again. It&#8217;s important to find a solution that prevents most attacks and can also arrest malicious web traffic in real time to keep your servers safe and your website accessible to users.</p>

How to Stop a DDoS Attack

A DDoS or distributed denial of service attack can be devastating to any...

<p>For businesses in North America, where reliable shipping is essential for fulfilling customer orders and maintaining supply chains, finding dependable next-day and overnight shipping providers can be a significant challenge—especially in the wake of pandemic-related disruptions. Whether you’re a large e-commerce operation or a local business striving to meet tight deadlines, choosing the right shipping partner is critical to your success. A shipping company&#8217;s reliability can directly impact customer satisfaction, making it a key factor in staying competitive.</p>
<p>The major carriers in North America—USPS, UPS, and FedEx—offer a variety of overnight shipping options, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. From affordability to delivery guarantees, understanding these options can help businesses navigate the complexities of modern shipping.</p>
<p>As we explore what you need to consider when selecting a next-day delivery service, remember that delivery terms for cross-border shipments to Canada and Mexico can vary, and carrier policies are subject to change. Additionally, many carriers provide opportunities to negotiate pricing based on shipping volume, package size, and weight. By carefully evaluating your shipping needs and taking advantage of available discounts, you can optimize your strategy and ensure timely deliveries.</p>
<h2>What Is Next-Day and Overnight Shipping?</h2>
<p>Next-day shipping guarantees that a package will be delivered by the end of the following business day. In contrast, overnight shipping generally means the package will arrive the next day as long as you meet the carrier&#8217;s cut-off time.</p>
<p><strong>Key differences to note:</strong></p>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Cut-off times:</strong> Vary by carrier and location but are often earlier for next-day shipping.</li>
	<li><strong>Delivery windows:</strong> Some services offer early morning delivery, while others deliver by the end of the next business day.</li>
</ul>
<h2>What to Consider When Choosing a Next-Day Shipping Carrier</h2>
<h3>Reliability</h3>
<p>The reputation of the overnight shipping service you choose can usually be ascertained through online reviews and word of mouth. That being said, sometimes, the reliability of a shipping service can vary by locale, and generally speaking, there are more delivery problems in large urban centers. For example, New York City is notorious for packages not being delivered. According to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/nyregion/online-shopping-package-theft.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">New York Times report</a>, 15% of deliveries never make it to their New York City destinations, let alone on time.</p>
<p>The good news is that all shipping service providers treat next-day packages with a little more care. Still, some carriers are better than others. Businesses can determine shipping reliability by maintaining customer complaints regarding breakage, lateness, and nondelivery. All three major North American shippers have similar reliability rates for their overnight shipping services.</p>
<h3>Shipping Rates</h3>
<p>There is no such thing as cheap overnight shipping, but there are differences in prices between carriers depending on the delivery type (air or freight), package size, and weight of what&#8217;s being shipped. Most carriers ship by dimensional weight, and they price accordingly. If your packages are small, heading to the post office and using USPS is the least expensive option. Both UPS and FedEx have tiered overnight shipping options for different sizes, weights, and dimensions, so if your shipping needs are varied, they may be your best bet. You can find consumer pricing on each shippers&#8217; website, but calling your business contact at your carrier of choice is the best way to get one-day shipping discounts related to volume.</p>
<h3>Cut-off Times</h3>
<p>All major carriers offer overnight delivery, but for successful, on-time shipping, you must be aware of—and honor—a carrier&#8217;s cut-off times. In many instances, overnight shipping cut-offs are earlier than general end-of-day shipping times. Some tips for meeting cut-off times are:</p>
<ul>
	<li>If you are taking packages to a carrier, arrive an hour before the deadline to account for lines.</li>
	<li>Arrange for on-time pickups with the overnight shipping carrier you&#8217;re using from your warehouses or other storage facilities—and be sure to always have packages ready to ship before they arrive.</li>
	<li>For unexpected or last-minute overnight packages, contact your carrier directly and as early in the day as possible to find out your options.</li>
</ul>
<p>Shipping across different countries in North America can mean different cut-off times, so pay extra attention when shipping to Mexico or Canada.</p>
<h3>Package Integrity</h3>
<p>Safe delivery is where you&#8217;ll find big discrepancies between carriers. UPS and the U.S. Postal Service have the highest rates of damaged packages. While FedEx isn&#8217;t perfect, its damage rate of just 7% is the best among major shipping companies according to one study.</p>
<h3>Guarantees</h3>
<p>Along with getting your package to its recipient on time, you need a guarantee of delivery. Not all carriers guarantee their next-day services, but the big three do (USPS, FedEx, and UPS), which is why we&#8217;re highlighting them in this post. With USPS, the only guaranteed option is Priority Mail Express. USPS will refund your money if they miss the overnight deadline. FedEx will, too. FedEx claims they&#8217;ll refund your money even if the delivery is 60 seconds late. If you&#8217;re using a smaller carrier, you&#8217;ll need to inquire about guarantees and what they offer as compensation when a delivery is late. The pandemic has created some issues with delivery guarantees in addition to shipping delays, especially with the U.S. to Canada deliveries, so be sure to get the current guarantee and delivery-time information from your carrier. UPS posts its <a href="https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/legal-terms-conditions/ups-service-guarantee.page" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">updates</a> online.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Recommended Inventory Management Software:</h3>
<ul>
	<li><a href="https://sonary.com/b/bigcommerce-holdings/bigcommerce+inventory-management/">BigCommerce:</a> Easily manage your inventory</li>
	<li><a href="https://sonary.com/b/oracle-corporation/netsuite+inventory-management/">Oracle NetSuite:</a> Access real-time inventory data</li>
	<li><a href="https://sonary.com/b/square/squareup+inventory-management/">SquareUp:</a> Inventory management you can count on</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>Best Next-Day Shipping Services</h2>
<div class="shortablevoip">
<p>
<map name="workmap"> 

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 </map>
</p>
</div>
<h3>UPS Overnight Shipping Options</h3>
<p>UPS has three-tiered shipping options. For current delivery times and pricing, you&#8217;ll need to <a href="https://www.ups.com/ship/guided/origin?tx=02217669353833828&amp;loc=en_US&amp;WT.srch=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">check their website</a>. Here are the choices they currently offer:</p>
<ul>
	<li>UPS Next Day Air Early: Overnight delivery</li>
	<li>UPS Next Day Air: Overnight delivery</li>
	<li>UPS Next Day Air Saver: Overnight delivery</li>
</ul>
<h3>FedEx Overnight Shipping Options</h3>
<p>FedEx also has three-tiered shipping options. For current delivery times and pricing, you&#8217;ll need to <a href="https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/services.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">check their website</a>. Here are their current options:</p>
<ul>
	<li>FedEx First Overnight: Next-business-day delivery</li>
	<li>FedEx Priority Overnight: Next-business-day delivery</li>
	<li>FedEx Standard Overnight: Next-business-day delivery</li>
</ul>
<h3>USPS Overnight Shipping Options</h3>
<p>USPS offers one next-day service, <a href="https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-express.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">Priority Mail Express</a>, which is guaranteed and insured up to $100. You can purchase additional insurance and services if your items have greater value. If they don&#8217;t deliver on time, you also get your money back. Keep in mind that with USPS, overnight shipping is limited to 70 pounds. For heavier items, you&#8217;ll need to use UPS or FedEx.</p>
<hr />
<p>Related Articles</p>
<p><div id='articles_shortcode'></div></p>
<hr />
<h2>The Best Overnight Shipping Options in North America</h2>
<p>USPS Priority Mail Express is the overall best overnight shipping service, provided your packages always weigh less than 70 pounds, and you aren&#8217;t shipping anything hazardous or in need of refrigeration. USPS is also the least expensive way to send next-day delivery letters (about 26 dollars at the time of this writing). USPS is also the most reliable shipping service. If your company ships to rural areas, USPS is also the best choice, since many other companies—and not just UPS and FedEx—won&#8217;t deliver to areas they think are low profit, whereas, throughout the U.S. at least, USPS has to deliver everywhere, regardless of the cost to them.</p>
<p>Other delivery services have more accommodating hours than USPS, however, so if you want to ship something later in the day or on Sundays, you&#8217;ll need to choose another shipping service. USPS delivers some packages on Sundays, but they don&#8217;t do pickups. As of this writing, FedEx is the only major carrier that does Sunday pickups.</p>
<p>Finally, know that, as a business, you might be able to negotiate bigger volume discounts with UPS and FedEx than you can get with USPS.</p>
<h2>The Worst Overnight Shipping Options in North America</h2>
<p>Thanks to COVID, shipping from or to anywhere has become more precarious and volatile. That being said, without a doubt, the worst overnight shipping options in North America are those carriers that lack the reach of the three major companies. While there are regional or local shipping companies that may work for your business, if your shipping needs are consistent and extend beyond the region in which your business is located, go with one of the big three.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that the very best test of reliability is to check your own non-delivery/damage logs from your sales records as these will provide the most accurate data regarding your customer base and any adverse delivery history.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Selecting the right next-day or overnight shipping option is essential for meeting customer expectations and maintaining operational efficiency. By evaluating your shipping needs, comparing carriers, and adopting best practices, you can reduce costs, improve delivery performance, and keep your customers satisfied.</p>
<p>Whether you’re shipping lightweight products or managing large volumes, understanding the strengths of USPS, UPS, and FedEx will help you make informed decisions. Take the time to review your current shipping data and negotiate rates with your preferred carrier to optimize your shipping strategy.</p>
<p>Start optimizing your shipping today and exceed your customers’ expectations with reliable overnight delivery!</p>
<p>From <a href="/merchant-services/">merchant services</a> to <a href="/bookkeeping/">bookkeeping software</a>, Sonary can guide your business to the solutions you need to succeed.</p>
<h2>FAQs About Next-Day and Overnight Shipping</h2>
<p><strong>1. How much does overnight shipping cost?</strong><br />
Overnight shipping costs vary by carrier, package size, and destination. For example:</p>
<ul>
	<li>USPS Priority Mail Express: Starts at $26 for small packages.</li>
	<li>UPS Next Day Air: Rates vary widely but are generally higher than USPS.</li>
	<li>FedEx Standard Overnight: Costs start at approximately $30.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>2. Are delivery guarantees reliable?</strong><br />
Major carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx) offer money-back guarantees for late deliveries. However, some exclusions may apply during holidays or peak seasons.</p>
<p><strong>3. What is the best option for shipping to Canada or Mexico?</strong><br />
FedEx and UPS are generally more reliable for cross-border shipments due to better customs handling. Confirm timelines with your carrier before shipping.</p>

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Sarah Hall is a freelance writer living in Denver, Colorado with her dog and two children. She enjoys skiing and cooking and writes extensively about parenting, software, telecom, and travel.