About azure-ddos-protection
azure-ddos-protection is a skill for planning Azure DDoS Protection against layer 3/4 attacks on public workloads. It helps cloud and security teams select coverage, configure monitoring, and prepare mitigation and incident workflows.
Key features
- 01按工作负载选择防护层级
- 02配置攻击指标与告警
- 03规划非生产环境模拟测试
- 04准备攻击分析与事后报告
- 05协调 DDoS 与 WAF 防护
Use cases
- 01为多区域公网 API 规划防护范围
- 02比较 Network Protection 与 IP Protection
- 03制定包含 Rapid Response 的攻击响应流程
- 04验证模拟测试和运行手册
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/ / github.com/ vinayaklatthe/ microsoft-security-skills --skill azure-ddos-protectionAfter installing, type/azure-ddos-protectionin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMEAzure DDoS Protection
Azure DDoS Protection sits on the Microsoft global network and absorbs layer 3/4 volumetric and protocol attacks before they reach your workloads. The free Infrastructure Protection layer protects Azure as a platform; the paid DDoS Protection plans give you dedicated, profile-tuned mitigation, attack analytics, post-incident reports, cost protection, and Rapid Response support for your resources.
When to use
Public-facing workloads with a non-trivial cost-of-downtime: e-commerce, regulated financial APIs, multiplayer gaming, public-sector services, internet-facing AI APIs, streaming, and any campaign exposed to politically or commercially motivated DDoS.
Do not use this skill for application-layer (HTTP) attack mitigation alone
(azure-waf), Azure Firewall design (azure-firewall), or third-party DDoS appliance
patterns.
Tier selection
| Tier | Scope | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure Protection | Free, platform-level, no SLA, no analytics | Default for every workload |
| DDoS Network Protection | Per VNet, all public IPs in scope | Multi-IP workloads, large estates |
| DDoS IP Protection | Per public IP, granular | Small estates, cost-conscious, specific high-risk IP |
Pricing model differs: Network Protection is a flat fee per plan covering many resources; IP Protection is per-IP. Estate size flips the economics — model both before choosing.
Approach
-
Decide tier per workload.
- 50+ public IPs across multiple VNets → Network Protection on the relevant VNets.
- Specific internet-facing app on a single Standard public IP → IP Protection.
- Mixed → both, scoped appropriately.
-
Enable on the VNet (Network Protection) at deployment time. The platform begins traffic profiling immediately; it learns normal patterns over ~7 days and auto-tunes the per-IP mitigation policy. Mitigation accuracy improves the longer the profile runs.
-
Static thresholds are not a thing, by design. Mitigation is adaptive. Don't architect on the assumption of a fixed Mbps cap.
-
Configure alerts. DDoS metrics and alerts are first-class:
- "Under DDoS attack or not" boolean per public IP.
- Inbound packets dropped by DDoS Protection.
- Inbound TCP/UDP packets to be triggered for DDoS. Wire to Sentinel via Log Analytics + activity-log alerts.
-
Simulate before incident. BreakingPoint Cloud and Red Button are Microsoft- approved simulation partners. Simulate quarterly on non-prod public IPs to validate mitigation engagement and runbook execution.
-
Attack analytics + post-incident reports. During and after an attack, the product produces a mitigation report with attack vectors, traffic volume, top sources, and mitigation actions — useful evidence for board/regulator communications.
-
DDoS Rapid Response (DRR). Plan on Network Protection includes engagement with Microsoft's DDoS response team during active attacks. Pre-stage:
- DRR contact info in your IR runbook.
- Customer support contract type that allows DRR (usually Premier/Unified or Pro Direct) — verify.
- Designated owner who is authorized to engage Microsoft.
-
Cost protection. A successful DDoS attack can balloon scale-out costs (autoscaled App Service, additional bandwidth, CDN egress). Network Protection includes service- credit cost protection — file the claim post-incident with the mitigation report.
-
Combine with WAF and Front Door. DDoS Protection covers L3/L4. L7 attacks (HTTP floods, slow loris, business-logic abuse) need WAF on Front Door / Application Gateway in front of your workload. Architect both.
Guardrails
- Infrastructure Protection (free) is not nothing, but is not enough for high-value public workloads. No SLA, no analytics, no cost protection.
- Don't enable Network Protection on a VNet with no internet-facing public IP. No effect, full price.
- Mitigation needs profile time. A brand-new public IP enabled minutes before an attack benefits less than one with 7+ days of baseline.
- WAF and DDoS are complementary, not substitutes. L7 attacks bypass L3/L4 mitigation entirely.
- Test in non-prod, never live customer endpoints. Simulation partners only on approved IPs in approved windows.
- Standard public IP only. Basic public IPs aren't supported for IP Protection (and Basic SKU is being retired).
- CDN-fronted workloads are partially shielded by the CDN's own DDoS posture; still consider DDoS Protection on the origin.
- Don't use Azure DDoS as your DR plan. Mitigation reduces impact; it does not guarantee zero impact.
Common anti-patterns
- "Free Infrastructure Protection is enough" — until the first targeted attack, then no analytics, no Rapid Response, no cost protection, no audit evidence.
- "IP Protection on 200 IPs" — bill larger than Network Protection plan would have been. Model the math.
- "Activated DDoS Protection during the attack" — profile is empty; less effective. Always pre-enable.
- "Skipped simulation, never tested runbook" — first real engagement is fumbled.
- "DRR not pre-arranged" — incident response wastes 60 minutes finding the right Microsoft contract path.
- "Architected without WAF in front" — L7 attacks succeed through L3/L4 mitigation.
- "Customer support tier doesn't permit DRR" — surprise during incident.
Example prompts
Plan DDoS Protection coverage for a 6-region public-API estate with 80 public IPs.Compare Network vs IP Protection cost for a tenant with 25 public IPs in 3 VNets.Build the DDoS attack runbook including DRR engagement steps and stakeholder comms templates.Quarterly DDoS simulation with BreakingPoint Cloud — scope, success criteria, rollback.Wire DDoS metrics + alerts to Sentinel with detections for sustained mitigation events.Architect Front Door + WAF + DDoS Network Protection for a regulated e-commerce workload.File the cost protection claim after a 14-hour mitigated attack — what evidence and process.
Microsoft Learn
- Overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-protection-overview
- Tier comparison: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-protection-sku-comparison
- Enable Network Protection: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/manage-ddos-protection
- Enable IP Protection: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/manage-ddos-protection
- Metrics and alerts: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/diagnostic-logging
- Simulation testing: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/test-through-simulations
- Rapid Response: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-rapid-response
- Cost protection / SLA: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-protection-overview
- Reference architectures: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ddos-protection/ddos-protection-reference-architectures