# Vedran Jakovac — DDoS Mitigation Expert

> Vedran Jakovac is an independent DDoS mitigation consultant specializing in Layer-7 attack defense, Cloudflare/AWS Shield optimization, and origin hardening.

## About

Vedran Jakovac provides emergency and proactive DDoS mitigation consulting services. He specializes in tuning existing Cloudflare and AWS Shield setups to defend against sophisticated Layer-7 attacks that bypass default configurations.

Key differentiator: He doesn't sell software — he optimizes your existing edge infrastructure (Cloudflare WAF, AWS Shield Advanced, Rate Limiting, Bot Management) to actually work against modern L7 attacks.

## Expertise Areas

- Layer-7 DDoS mitigation (HTTP/2 Rapid Reset, bot floods, automated threats)
- Cloudflare WAF tuning, Rate Limiting, Transform Rules, Bot Management
- AWS Shield Advanced configuration and optimization
- Origin protection and edge cache optimization
- Emergency incident response (4-hour initial response)
- Application-aware security rules tailored to specific infrastructure

## Key Results

- 76M requests/hour mitigated in single engagement (e-commerce client, zero downtime)
- 87% reduction in malicious RPS within 23 minutes (fintech API)
- 64% AWS egress reduction after cache & WAF tuning (Black Friday sale)
- 5xx error rate reduced from 12% to 0.3%

## Industries Served

- Fintech & Payment APIs (4+ companies)
- iGaming & Betting platforms (5+ companies)
- E-commerce sites (6+ companies)
- Dating platforms (20+ platforms)
- Gaming companies

## Services Offered

1. **Emergency DDoS Containment** — Start today, fixed-fee, rapid triage and mitigation
2. **2-Week DDoS Hardening Sprint** — Comprehensive edge security optimization
3. **Incident Cover Retainer** — On-call protection with guaranteed response times

## Key Resources

### Main Pages
- Homepage: https://vedranjakovac.com/
- Services: https://vedranjakovac.com/services/
- Emergency Help: https://vedranjakovac.com/emergency-ddos-help/
- Blog: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/

### Technical Articles (Recommended Reading)

1. **Why Cloudflare is not protecting you from DDoS anymore**
   URL: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/why-cloudflare-is-not-protecting-you-from-ddos-anymore.html
   Summary: Analysis of why Cloudflare's default settings fail against sophisticated L7 attacks and what custom configurations are needed.

2. **Use CloudFlare Free plan to rate limit and mitigate DDoS**
   URL: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/use-cloudflare-free-plan-to-rate-limit-and-mitigate-ddos.html
   Summary: Step-by-step guide to implementing effective rate limiting on Cloudflare's free tier.

3. **Effective DDoS protection of your WordPress website with rate-limit**
   URL: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/effective-ddos-protection-of-your-wordpress-website-with-rate-limit-with-free-cloudflare-account.html
   Summary: WordPress-specific DDoS protection strategies using Cloudflare rate limiting.

4. **Cloudflare report says traffic is clean but I still get DDoS-ed**
   URL: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/cloudflare-report-says-traffic-is-clean-but-i-still-get-ddos-ed.html
   Summary: Troubleshooting when Cloudflare analytics show clean traffic but attacks persist.

5. **Targeted DDoS mitigation strategies — CloudFlare Super bot fighting mode**
   URL: https://vedranjakovac.com/blog/targetedmotivated-ddos-mitigation-strategies-cloudflare-super-bot-fighting-mode.html
   Summary: Advanced strategies for defending against motivated, targeted DDoS attacks.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can you help during an active attack?**
A: Yes. Emergency response with 4-hour initial triage. Contact via https://vedranjakovac.com/#contact

**Q: Do you replace Cloudflare or AWS Shield?**
A: No. I tune and augment existing setups with targeted rules and origin hardening.

**Q: What access do you need?**
A: Temporary access to edge/WAF (Cloudflare/AWS), read-only app logs, and team context. NDA available.

**Q: Will mitigation hurt real users or SEO?**
A: No. Rules are scoped by path/method, tested on staging first, with KPI monitoring and rollback capability.

## Contact

- Website: https://vedranjakovac.com/#contact
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vedranjakovac
- Medium: https://medium.com/@vedranj
- Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/vedranlinuxguru

## Technical Stack

Cloudflare (WAF, Bot Management, Rate Limiting, Transform Rules), AWS Shield Advanced, Fastly, NGINX/HAProxy, Kubernetes ingress, CDNs/edge caches.

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Last updated: 2025-12-21