Reduced server load and improved stability
Blocked aggressive scrapers and data miners
Reduced unexpected traffic increase on the platform
Proactive threat filtering at network edge instead of server level
Saved US$1,000 a month by switching to Enterprise plan and enabled a more seamless user experience
IndiaMART embraced data-driven security with Cloud Armor, mitigating cyber threats and optimizing traffic for a secure, scalable platform.
IndiaMART embraced data-driven security with Cloud Armor, mitigating cyber threats and optimizing traffic for a secure, scalable platform.
Overcoming legacy security limitations with cloud-native defense
Cyber threats grow more sophisticated by the day, and traditional security measures often fall short of protecting large-scale ecommerce platforms. As India's largest marketplace with millions of daily interactions between buyers and sellers, IndiaMART is an attractive target for various cyber threats including DDoS attacks, malicious bot traffic, and application-layer vulnerabilities.
Historically, IndiaMART relied on an in-house parsing defense mechanism. This custom script monitored and blocked requests when a single IP exceeded a predefined threshold at the server level. However, a significant and unexpected surge in direct traffic, peaking at over 330K requests in September 2023, exposed the limitations of this legacy approach. All requests, including malicious ones, still reached the servers, leading to substantial load, performance degradation, and instability.
Recognizing the need for a more robust, scalable security framework, IndiaMART evaluated cloud-native security solutions that could provide preemptive threat filtering. Google Cloud Armor stood out for its ability to integrate seamlessly with existing Google Cloud Load Balancers while offering intelligent traffic filtering at the network edge, before threats could reach the backend infrastructure. The solution also protects against a wide range of internet threats, including DDoS attacks, malicious bots, and web vulnerabilities.
Implementing AI-driven protection with Cloud Armor
IndiaMART's integration of Cloud Armor began in November 2023 with a structured evaluation in Preview Mode. This allowed the company to test policies without blocking traffic, providing flexibility to observe and fine-tune rules. Following successful testing, IndiaMART deployed Cloud Armor on its main ecommerce platform and subsequently on its other high-traffic SEO domains.
Now, IndiaMART uses threat intelligence features within Cloud Armor to automatically block known bad IPs. Cloud Armor also offers rate limiting to throttle abusive clients and DDoS protection to defend against volumetric and application-layer attacks. The solution functions as a Web Application Firewall, blocking traffic using custom and prebuilt rules, and provides geography-based access control to restrict traffic based on country or region.
Cloud Armor also includes a custom rules engine for building tailored rules using various attributes. Policies are applied directly at Google Cloud's global network edge through edge enforcement, with Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring providing real-time visibility. Finally, it offers seamless integration by natively working with Cloud Load Balancing.
Optimizing traffic and security for the next wave of cyber threats
To stay ahead of potential security threats, IndiaMART analyzed its website traffic every day. The team looked at several key factors: who was visiting the site, which visitors were trying to bypass security measures, suspicious website referrals, and unusual traffic patterns from specific countries or regions. This daily monitoring helped inform smart security decisions based on real data. For example, when the team studied 13 days of traffic data, it discovered that Yandex search engine bots were responsible for more than 60% of all automated traffic to one of IndiaMART's websites.
Based on these insights, IndiaMART implemented targeted mitigation actions. This included blocking scrapers and bots that were aggressively mining data, classifying and denying traffic from known bad bots and unrecognized crawlers, shutting down suspicious user-agents, denying access to requests with invalid or blank referrers, and geo-blocking high-risk regions, including a blanket block on traffic from China.
Thanks to this strategic deployment of Cloud Armor, IndiaMART saw a significant drop in unnecessary and malicious traffic. The platform's traffic is now optimized, secure, and manageable, allowing the company to focus on delivering a seamless user experience.
Recognizing this success, IndiaMART expanded Cloud Armor protection from three to seven of its key digital properties, including Shop, Hindi, Export, and Apps. This broader deployment initially led to increased pay-as-you-go costs, prompting a strategic shift to the Enterprise Subscription. This move unlocked DDoS response support and DDoS bill protection, reducing monthly costs by US$1,000 and offering enhanced security benefits.
Moving forward, IndiaMART plans to enhance its defense further with ASN-based data center blocking, AI bot detection and management, and geolocation-based blocking. Whatever the next evolution of cyber threats brings, Cloud Armor will help IndiaMART maintain a leading edge in ecommerce security.
IndiaMART is India's leading B2B marketplace, connecting buyers and suppliers across industries with vast catalogs, secure tools, and insights to drive growth in a competitive market.
Industry: Technology
Location: India
Products: Cloud Armor, Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring
About Google Cloud partner- Persistent
Persistent is an AI-led, platform-driven Digital Engineering and Enterprise Modernization partner, combining deep technical expertise and industry experience to help our clients anticipate what's next.
