AWS Shield
Managed DDoS protection
Overview
AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service that safeguards applications running on AWS. AWS Shield provides always-on detection and automatic inline mitigations that minimize application downtime and latency, so there is no need to engage AWS Support to benefit from DDoS protection.
✨ Key Features
- Always-on DDoS detection and mitigation
- Protection against common infrastructure layer attacks (Layer 3/4)
- AWS Shield Advanced for enhanced protection and support
- DDoS cost protection for scaling charges
- Access to the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT)
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Automatic protection for all AWS customers (Standard tier)
- Tight integration with AWS edge services
- DDoS cost protection to prevent billing spikes during an attack
Unique Value: Provides seamless, always-on DDoS protection that is integrated with AWS services, minimizing application downtime and latency from common infrastructure attacks.
🎯 Use Cases (3)
✅ Best For
- Protecting a public website hosted on CloudFront from a SYN flood attack
- Mitigating a UDP reflection attack against an application behind a Network Load Balancer
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Protecting against application layer attacks like SQL injection (use AWS WAF instead)
🏆 Alternatives
Offers a more integrated and cost-effective solution for protecting AWS resources compared to third-party DDoS mitigation services, with the unique benefit of cost protection.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
🛟 Support Options
- ✓ Email Support
- ✓ Live Chat
- ✓ Phone Support
- ✓ Dedicated Support (Advanced tier)
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: AWS Shield Standard is automatically enabled for all AWS customers at no additional cost.
🔄 Similar Tools in AWS Well-Architected Tools
AWS Well-Architected Tool
A tool to review your workloads against AWS best practices....
AWS Cost Explorer
An interface to visualize, understand, and manage your AWS costs and usage....
AWS Budgets
A tool for setting custom cost and usage budgets and receiving alerts....
AWS Trusted Advisor
Provides real-time guidance to help you provision your resources following AWS best practices....
AWS Config
A service to assess, audit, and evaluate resource configurations....
Amazon CloudWatch
A monitoring and observability service for cloud resources and applications....