What is the role of financial API current limiting protection in preventing DDoS attacks?

Financial API rate limiting plays a critical role in mitigating DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks by controlling the number of requests a client can make within a specific time frame. This prevents attackers from overwhelming the API with excessive traffic, ensuring legitimate users can still access services.

How it works:

1. Threshold Enforcement: Rate limiting sets a predefined limit (e.g., 100 requests per minute per IP) to block or throttle excessive requests.
2. Attack Detection: Sudden spikes in traffic from a single source or multiple sources (botnets) trigger rate-limiting rules, automatically restricting access.
3. Resource Protection: By capping requests, the API server avoids being overloaded, maintaining availability for genuine users.

Example:
A fintech platform exposes an API for fund transfers. Without rate limiting, attackers could flood the API with thousands of requests per second, causing downtime. With rate limiting (e.g., 50 requests/IP/minute), legitimate users are unaffected, while attackers hit the limit and are temporarily blocked.

For such scenarios, Tencent Cloud API Gateway provides built-in rate limiting features, allowing developers to configure request thresholds and automatically block excessive traffic, enhancing DDoS resilience. Additionally, Tencent Cloud Anti-DDoS Pro can work alongside API Gateway to absorb and filter malicious traffic before it reaches the API layer.