What effect does implementing rate-limiting have on business?

Implementing rate-limiting is a crucial strategy for maintaining the integrity and availability of online services, particularly during Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. When a system is subjected to overwhelming traffic, which is often the case during a DDoS attack, rate-limiting helps to control the number of requests a user can make to a resource in a specified period.

By limiting request rates, businesses can prevent their services from becoming overloaded, which might lead to partial or complete service outages. This protective measure ensures that legitimate users can still access the services they need, ultimately safeguarding revenue streams that could be compromised if the service were to become unavailable. Implementing rate-limiting effectively mitigates the risk of revenue loss by allowing the service to remain operational despite malicious traffic.

The other options do not align with the primary function and benefit of rate-limiting in a DDoS context. While rate-limiting might influence user engagement and cost structures indirectly, its main role is to maintain service availability and protect against revenue losses in adverse conditions.