How does Sophos XG Firewall protect against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks?

The Sophos XG Firewall employs traffic shaping and rate limiting as a primary method to mitigate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. By analyzing incoming traffic patterns and managing bandwidth usage, the firewall can effectively prioritize legitimate traffic while limiting excess requests from potentially malicious sources.

This proactive approach ensures that the network remains functional even during a DDoS attack by restricting the volume of requests that can overwhelm the system. Traffic shaping helps to maintain quality of service for legitimate users and ensures that critical services remain available even under attack conditions.

While machine learning can enhance security measures, it is not the primary mechanism employed for DDoS protection in this context. Blocking all incoming traffic would be impractical, as it would prevent all legitimate users from accessing necessary resources. Notifying administrators may aid in awareness and response, but without the immediate protective measures of traffic shaping and rate limiting, the firewall would still be vulnerable to the effects of a DDoS attack.