A system and method for reducing a time to mitigate distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are provided. The method includes receiving a plurality of attack feeds on at least one protected object in a secured environment; analyzing the plurality of attack feeds to determine characteristics of a DDoS attack against the secure environment; determining a set of optimal mitigation resources assigned to the secured environment; selecting, based on the set of optimal mitigation resources and the attack characteristics, at least one optimal workflow scheme; and initiating a proactive mitigation action by setting each mitigation resource in the set of optimal mitigation resources according to the selected optimal workflow scheme.