News
GamersFirst Puts Corero Network Security in Play to Keep Its Online Gaming Service Up 24x7
July 2012 by Marc Jacob
Corero’s DDoS Defense Technology Ensures Online Gamers Uninterrupted Play
Corero Network Security (CNS: LN), the leading global provider of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) defense and Next Generation Intrusion Prevention Systems (NGIPS), today announced GamersFirst has selected its technology to mitigate DDoS attacks, which were disrupting online play, and provide comprehensive intrusion prevention against malicious content attacks.
GamersFirst, an online gaming portal that serves more than 28 million gamers in 160 countries, turned to Corero because of severe DDoS attacks, which were rendering its games unplayable, sometimes for extended periods of time. The service degradation and interruptions put GamersFirst at risk of permanently losing frustrated customers to other video gaming sites, as well as resulting in lost revenue for the company.
“DDoS attacks cost us thousands of dollars an hour, and the increasingly frequent disruptions were slowing down games, even bringing them to a halt in some cases,” said Matt Gee, GamersFirst’s network engineer. “It’s all the money that players can’t spend and we can’t get.”
Corero’s DDoS Defense technology, built in to its NGIPS, immediately brought the attacks under control. “Corero started to mitigate the DDoS attacks right away,” Gee said. “Without Corero, DDoS attacks would slow online gaming response times. Service pretty much stopped if the attack was heavy enough. But now it doesn’t get to that point.”
In addition to stopping DDoS attacks, Corero’s NGIPS detects and blocks many other attacks, including SQL injections and cross-site scripting, that attempt to exploit gaming applications and compromise back-end data bases. In addition, Corero’s solution has put a stop to the kinds of hacks some gamers execute to cheat online.
“Corero is providing GamersFirst with advanced, reliable DDoS mitigation and Next Generation IPS solutions, helping the company fulfill its pledge to online gamers worldwide by maintaining continuous availability and outstanding responsiveness, as well as comprehensive intrusion prevention against malicious content attacks,” said Marty Meyer, CEO of Corero Network Security. “Companies such as GamersFirst that rely heavily on the Internet are acutely aware how devastating any downtime can be to their bottom line. Corero’s cutting-edge solutions span the globe with hundreds of blue chip corporations, protecting their assets while ensuring business continuity.”
Corero’s NGIPS provides unmatched detection of both known and unknown (zero-day) threats. Its Three Dimensional Protection (3DP) architecture provides DDoS Defense, prevents undesired access and protects against malicious content attacks.
“We’ve had a very positive experience with Corero, because of both their DDoS mitigation and IPS capabilities,” said Gee. “Having the ability to pick and choose what we allow into the network is a big plus for us, helping GamersFirst fulfill its promise to gamers around the world.”
About GamersFirst
GamersFirst is one of the fastest-growing companies in the fastest-growing segments of the video game industry. Part of the K2 Network, the GamersFirst company portal serves more than 28 million gamers in 160 countries, offering a range of multiplayer online games as well as rich community features. The company’s Free2Play model empowers gamers by giving them the opportunity to play games totally free of charge. Unlike the traditional retail model where gamers have to take the full up-front risk of purchasing, or committing to a monthly subscription fee before playing, Free2Play gaming allows users to try before they buy. GamersFirst stands for a place that gamers of all kinds can call “home,” where they decide the price of the games — even when that price is “free.” GamersFirst is by gamers, for gamers.
