FastNetMon is a leading solution for network security, offering high-performance DDoS detection and mitigation trusted by ISPs, hosting companies, and enterprises around the world. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FastNetMon Founder Pavel Odintsov to learn more about the company’s origins, open-source strategy, and long-term vision for the evolving threat landscape.
Pavel Odintsov’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Odintsov said:
“My journey in the world of the Internet started with a humble 28.8 kbit/s dial-up line in my grandparents’ home — I had to use it from 3 AM to 9 AM because it was the only affordable option. Early exposure to the Internet sparked a fascination with connectivity and security. I began contributing to the community while still in school, creating open-source tools and writing about Internet security for regional tech portals.”
“I went on to co-found my first startup, FastVPS, a multinational cloud hosting provider, where I gained hands-on experience running a company across multiple countries and time zones. In my spare time, I began experimenting with DDoS detection — the early foundations of FastNetMon.”
“Later, I joined Cloudflare as a DNS engineer, working on a team that rewrote their Authoritative DNS platform to scale to 100 million domains. Today, I’m the founder of FastNetMon, headquartered in London. Our mission is to provide efficient, high-performance DDoS detection, while supporting a thriving open-source edition, FastNetMon Community, used by operators in hundreds of countries worldwide.”
Formation Of The Company
FastNetMon has a unique origin story, starting as a personal open-source project. Can you walk us through the early days? Odintsov shared:
“FastNetMon began in 2014 as a weekend project. I just wanted something that could detect attacks instantly and automatically notify mitigation tools — because even a few minutes of downtime can be costly. I shared the project publicly on GitHub, and the response was immediate. Telecom operators, ISPs, hosting providers — organisations that felt the same pain — started contributing ideas and asking for features.”
“That’s when I realized this wasn’t just my problem. It was a global problem with no good, accessible solution. So FastNetMon evolved from a script into a proper system, and ultimately into the company we operate today.””
Embracing Open-Source Model
How has embracing an open-source model shaped the company and its products? Odintsov explained:
“Open-source has been fundamental from day one. It ensures transparency, which is critical in security. Customers want to understand how a detection system works, instead of trusting a magical vendor black box. More importantly, our community acts as a global sensor network — thousands of people share feedback, edge-case scenarios, and attack patterns that we might not see on our own.”
“Open-source creates trust. It keeps us honest. And it allows innovation to move faster than any closed competitor can replicate.”
Weaknesses With Legacy DDosS Vendors
What weaknesses in legacy DDoS vendors is FastNetMon uniquely positioned to solve? Odintsov explained:
“Traditional DDoS solutions are often extremely expensive and slow to deploy. They rely on centralised appliances, meaning traffic must travel long distances before being inspected — which doesn’t work for modern networks.”
“Customers tell us the same story: high cost, long lock-ins, and no flexibility.”
“FastNetMon flips that model. We run inside your own infrastructure, at the edge of your network, so detection is near-instant. You keep full control over data and mitigation. And our pricing is accessible to organisations of all sizes — bandwidth shouldn’t decide who gets to mitigate attacks and who doesn’t.”
Core Innovations
What are the core innovations behind your real-time performance? Odintsov described:
“We built FastNetMon from the very beginning for one purpose: giving network operators real‑time visibility and defense against DDoS — not minutes later, but seconds. To deliver on that promise across modern, high‑speed networks, we developed a number of technical innovations and architectural decisions:
- High‑throughput telemetry ingestion and flexible capture mechanisms – We support all major flow formats (NetFlow v5/v9, IPFIX, sFlow) and also mirror/SPAN packet capture. By allowing packet‑mirror/SPAN capture alongside flow ingest, we can detect attacks that may not manifest purely as high bytes‑per‑second (bps) but as high packets‑per‑second (pps), small‑packet floods and subtle amplification vectors.
- Optimized packet/flow parsing and threshold‑based detection
At the core we use C++‑optimised parsing and our own threshold‑based detection engine designed for very low latency and high scale. For example, benchmarks of our community edition show detection in 1‑2 seconds on a 10 Gb s link with tens of millions of packets per second. Our advanced version further scales to terabit traffic levels, supported by our scalable architecture.”
1.) Scale and deployment flexibility
Large operators may have hundreds of thousands of hosts, thousands of network segments and traffic flows measured in hundreds of thousands per second. We built FastNetMon Advanced to support these sizes, with hardware recommendations like “2‑4 CPU cores per 40 G port in mirror mode” while still delivering sub‑second detection. This means we can run in major ISPs, hosting providers and global networks.
2.) Automated mitigation and orchestration
Detection is only half the story: you must act. That’s why we enable very rapid mitigation via mechanisms such as BGP black‑hole routing and, in the advanced version, BGP FlowSpec and automatic redirection to scrubbing centres. In practice this means attacks are detected and mitigated without human intervention — which is essential for any large network.
3.) Visibility, baseline calculation and continuous tuning
Modern networks are not static. They carry varied traffic patterns, bursts, peering changes, etc. We built tools for automatic baseline calculation (for both flows and packets) so that thresholds can adapt to what ‘normal’ is in your network, rather than fixed numbers that become obsolete.
This adaptability helps reduce false positives and ensures detection remains relevant.
Putting it all together: because we built the tool from the bottom up for speed, scale and flexibility, operators can detect an attack, understand the pattern, and initiate the correct mitigation action — all within seconds. For modern networks — hybrid cloud, edge‑deployments, multi‑site ISPs — this real‑time, granular, scalable approach is what makes a difference.”
Customer Story
Can you share a customer story that highlights your impact? Odintsov highlighted:
“One of our early customers was a telecommunications consultancy providing IT support, and they were facing an almost unimaginable challenge: some of their clients’ networks were being hit by over 35 DDoS attacks every single day, week after week. Services were repeatedly interrupted, and teams were constantly firefighting — it was exhausting, stressful, and costly.”
“FastNetMon allowed them to deploy a fully automated detection and mitigation system directly on their existing infrastructure. The platform provided real-time visibility into network traffic, while its flexibility enabled them to configure and automate the appropriate mitigation actions for each customer scenario.”
“The relief was immediate. The first time an attack hit and the network stayed online, they told us: ‘This changed everything for us.’ What had been a relentless, nerve-wracking problem became something they could manage with confidence.”
Balancing Open-Source Accessibility With Financial Sustainability
How do you balance open-source accessibility with financial sustainability? Odintsov emphasized:
“Our open-source edition is free, and fully functional — it gives everyone the ability to detect attacks in real time, automate basic mitigation, and see exactly what’s happening on their network. That’s often enough for small networks, labs, or anyone requiring just basic DDoS defense.”
For larger enterprise networks, the picture is very different. They handle huge volumes of traffic across multiple sites, need to protect thousands of hosts simultaneously, and often have complex mitigation policies tailored to different network segments. FastNetMon Advanced is built for that world — it provides the scale, automation, and reporting these organisations rely on to keep their services running smoothly.
This approach lets us stay true to open-source principles while also supporting the ongoing development of features that only large-scale networks require. In short, anyone can secure their network, and those who need enterprise-level capabilities help fund the platform’s growth.”
Staying Ahead
How do you stay ahead when new attack vectors emerge? Odintsov clarified:
“We operate like a real-time intel network. If an ISP in Brazil sees a new botnet signature at midnight, our engineering team — and community — hears about it instantly. We ship improvements fast because we’ve removed bureaucracy. There’s no six-month product cycle. If something changes in the threat landscape today, we can adapt today.”
The Vision
What’s next for FastNetMon? Odintsov stated:
“The future of network defense is automation, intelligence, and visibility. We’re investing heavily in routing analytics, intelligence, and deeper integration with scrubbing systems. Ultimately, your network security shouldn’t require manual intervention — it should defend itself. The long-term vision is comprehensive, real-time network protection at internet scale.”
Advice For Founders
What advice would you offer founders building open-source companies today Odintsov concluded:
“Open-source is a promise. You must build trust and respect the community. Don’t hide your best features — earn the right to monetise by delivering real value.”
“Cybersecurity is one of the most exciting spaces today because the landscape is moving so quickly. That forces us to innovate even faster. Every day presents a new challenge — and that’s what makes this work so rewarding.”
