Optimization of Stealthwatch Network Security System for the Detection and Mitigation of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack: Application to Smart Grid System

The Smart Grid is an enhancement of the traditional grid system and employs new technologies and sophisticated communication techniques for electrical power transmission and distribution. The Smart Grid’s communication network shares information about status of its several integrated IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices). However, the IEDs connected throughout the Smart Grid, open opportunities for attackers to interfere with the communications and utilities resources or take clients’ private data. This development has introduced new cyber-security challenges for the Smart Grid and is a very concerning issue because of emerging cyber-threats and security incidents that have occurred recently all over the world. The purpose of this research is to detect and mitigate Distributed Denial of Service [DDoS] with application to the Electrical Smart Grid System by deploying an optimized Stealthwatch Secure Network analytics tool. In this paper, the DDoS attack in the Smart Grid communication networks was modeled using Stealthwatch tool. The simulated network consisted of Secure Network Analytic tools virtual machines (VMs), electrical Grid network communication topology, attackers and Target VMs. Finally, the experiments and simulations were performed, and the research results showed that Stealthwatch analytic tool is very effective in detecting and mitigating DDoS attacks in the Smart Grid System without causing any blackout or shutdown of any internal systems as compared to other tools such as GNS3, NeSSi2, NISST Framework, OMNeT++, INET Framework, ReaSE, NS2, NS3, M5 Simulator, OPNET, PLC & TIA Portal management Software which do not have the capability to do so. Also, using Stealthwatch tool to create a security baseline for Smart Grid environment, contributes to risk mitigation and sound security hygiene.

A Machine Learning-Based Distributed Denial of Service Detection Approach for Early Warning in Internet Exchange Points

The Internet service provider(ISP)is the heart of any country’s Internet infrastructure and plays an important role in connecting to theWorld WideWeb.Internet exchange point(IXP)allows the interconnection of two or more separate network infrastructures.All Internet traffic entering a country should pass through its IXP.Thus,it is an ideal location for performing malicious traffic analysis.Distributed denial of service(DDoS)attacks are becoming a more serious daily threat.Malicious actors in DDoS attacks control numerous infected machines known as botnets.Botnets are used to send numerous fake requests to overwhelm the resources of victims and make them unavailable for some periods.To date,such attacks present a major devastating security threat on the Internet.This paper proposes an effective and efficient machine learning(ML)-based DDoS detection approach for the early warning and protection of the Saudi Arabia Internet exchange point(SAIXP)platform.The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach are verified by selecting an accurate ML method with a small number of input features.A chi-square method is used for feature selection because it is easier to compute than other methods,and it does not require any assumption about feature distribution values.Several ML methods are assessed using holdout and 10-fold tests on a public large-size dataset.The experiments showed that the performance of the decision tree(DT)classifier achieved a high accuracy result(99.98%)with a small number of features(10 features).The experimental results confirmthe applicability of using DT and chi-square for DDoS detection and early warning in SAIXP.

Central Aggregator Intrusion Detection System for Denial of Service Attacks

Vehicle-to-grid technology is an emerging field that allows unused power from Electric Vehicles(EVs)to be used by the smart grid through the central aggregator.Since the central aggregator is connected to the smart grid through a wireless network,it is prone to cyber-attacks that can be detected and mitigated using an intrusion detection system.However,existing intrusion detection systems cannot be used in the vehicle-to-grid network because of the special requirements and characteristics of the vehicle-to-grid network.In this paper,the effect of denial-of-service attacks of malicious electric vehicles on the central aggregator of the vehicle-to-grid network is investigated and an intrusion detection system for the vehicle-to-grid network is proposed.The proposed system,central aggregator–intrusion detection system(CA-IDS),works as a security gateway for EVs to analyze andmonitor incoming traffic for possible DoS attacks.EVs are registered with a Central Aggregator(CAG)to exchange authenticated messages,and malicious EVs are added to a blacklist for violating a set of predefined policies to limit their interaction with the CAG.A denial of service(DoS)attack is simulated at CAG in a vehicle-to-grid(V2G)network manipulating various network parameters such as transmission overhead,receiving capacity of destination,average packet size,and channel availability.The proposed system is compared with existing intrusion detection systems using different parameters such as throughput,jitter,and accuracy.The analysis shows that the proposed system has a higher throughput,lower jitter,and higher accuracy as compared to the existing schemes.

The History, Trend, Types, and Mitigation of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks

Over time, the world has transformed digitally and there is total dependence on the internet. Many more gadgets are continuously interconnected in the internet ecosystem. This fact has made the Internet a global information source for every being. Despite all this, attacker knowledge by cybercriminals has advanced and resulted in different attack methodologies on the internet and its data stores. This paper will discuss the origin and significance of Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). These kinds of attacks remain the most effective methods used by the bad guys to cause substantial damage in terms of operational, reputational, and financial damage to organizations globally. These kinds of attacks have hindered network performance and availability. The victim’s network is flooded with massive illegal traffic hence, denying genuine traffic from passing through for authorized users. The paper will explore detection mechanisms, and mitigation techniques for this network threat.

A Novel Formal Theory for Security Protocol Analysis of Denial of Service Based on Extended Strand Space Model

Denial of Service Distributed Denial of Service （DOS） attack, especially （DDoS） attack, is one of the greatest threats to Internet. Much research has been done for it by now, however, it is always concentrated in the behaviors of the network and can not deal with the problem exactly. In this paper, we start from the security of the protocol, then we propose a novel theory for security protocol analysis of Denial of Service in order to deal with the DoS attack. We first introduce the conception of weighted graph to extend the strand space model, then we extend the penetrator model and define the goal of anti-DoS attack through the conception of the DoS-stop protocol, finally we propose two kinds of DoS test model and erect the novel formal theory for security protocol analysis of Denial of Service. Our new formal theory is applied in two example protocols. It is proved that the Internet key exchange （IKE） easily suffers from the DoS attacks, and the efficient DoS- resistant secure key exchange protocol （JFK） is resistant against DoS attack for the server, respectively.

Modeling and Simulation of Low Rate of Denial of Service Attacks

The low-rate denial of service attack is more applicable to the network in recent years as a means of attack, which is different from the traditional field type DoS attacks at the network end system or network using adaptive mechanisms exist loopholes flow through the low-rate periodic attacks on the implementation of high-efficiency attacked by an intruder and not be found, resulting in loss of user data or a computer deadlock. LDos attack since there has been extensive attention of researchers, the attack signature analysis and detection methods to prevent network security have become an important research topic. Some have been proposed for the current attacks were classified LDoS describe and model, and then in NS-2 platform for experimental verification, and then LDoS attack detection to prevent difficulties are discussed and summarized for the future such attacks detection method research work to provide a reference.

Game-theoretical Model for Dynamic Defense Resource Allocation in Cyber-physical Power Systems Under Distributed Denial of Service Attacks

Electric power grids are evolving into complex cyber-physical power systems(CPPSs)that integrate advanced information and communication technologies(ICTs)but face increasing cyberspace threats and attacks.This study considers CPPS cyberspace security under distributed denial of service(DDoS)attacks and proposes a nonzero-sum game-theoretical model with incomplete information for appropriate allocation of defense resources based on the availability of limited resources.Task time delay is applied to quantify the expected utility as CPPSs have high time requirements and incur massive damage DDoS attacks.Different resource allocation strategies are adopted by attackers and defenders under the three cases of attack-free,failed attack,and successful attack,which lead to a corresponding consumption of resources.A multidimensional node value analysis is designed to introduce physical and cybersecurity indices.Simulation experiments and numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model for the appropriate allocation of defense resources in CPPSs under limited resource availability.

Vulnerability Assessment of Distributed Load Shedding Algorithm for Active Distribution Power System Under Denial of Service Attack

In order to deal with frequency deviation andsupply-demand imbalance in active distribution power system, inthis paper a distributed under frequency load shedding (UFLS)strategy is proposed. Different from conventional centralizedUFLS schemes, no centralized master station gathering all thebuses’ information is required. Instead, each bus decides itsown load shedding amount by only relying on limited peer-topeer communication. However, such UFLS strategy may sufferfrom some unexpected cyber-attacks such as integrity attacksand denial of service (DoS) attack. The latter DoS attack aimsto degrade the system performance by jamming or breakingthe communication, which is of high probability to happen inpractical power system. To assess the vulnerability of proposeddistributed UFLS algorithm, the effect of DoS attack on distributed average consensus algorithm is theoretically derived,which indicates that the final consensus value can be estimatedby a given attack probability. It is also investigated that such DoSattack does harm to the load shedding amount and finally affectsthe system frequency performance in the active distributionpower system. Several case studies implemented on an IEEE33-bus active distribution power system are conducted to verifythe effectiveness of the theoretical findings and investigate thevulnerability of the considered power system.

Adaptive Butterfly Optimization Algorithm(ABOA)Based Feature Selection and Deep Neural Network(DNN)for Detection of Distributed Denial-of-Service(DDoS)Attacks in Cloud

Cloud computing technology provides flexible,on-demand,and completely controlled computing resources and services are highly desirable.Despite this,with its distributed and dynamic nature and shortcomings in virtualization deployment,the cloud environment is exposed to a wide variety of cyber-attacks and security difficulties.The Intrusion Detection System(IDS)is a specialized security tool that network professionals use for the safety and security of the networks against attacks launched from various sources.DDoS attacks are becoming more frequent and powerful,and their attack pathways are continually changing,which requiring the development of new detection methods.Here the purpose of the study is to improve detection accuracy.Feature Selection(FS)is critical.At the same time,the IDS’s computational problem is limited by focusing on the most relevant elements,and its performance and accuracy increase.In this research work,the suggested Adaptive butterfly optimization algorithm(ABOA)framework is used to assess the effectiveness of a reduced feature subset during the feature selection phase,that was motivated by this motive Candidates.Accurate classification is not compromised by using an ABOA technique.The design of Deep Neural Networks(DNN)has simplified the categorization of network traffic into normal and DDoS threat traffic.DNN’s parameters can be finetuned to detect DDoS attacks better using specially built algorithms.Reduced reconstruction error,no exploding or vanishing gradients,and reduced network are all benefits of the changes outlined in this paper.When it comes to performance criteria like accuracy,precision,recall,and F1-Score are the performance measures that show the suggested architecture outperforms the other existing approaches.Hence the proposed ABOA+DNN is an excellent method for obtaining accurate predictions,with an improved accuracy rate of 99.05%compared to other existing approaches.

Cyberattack Ramifications, The Hidden Cost of a Security Breach

In this in-depth exploration, I delve into the complex implications and costs of cybersecurity breaches. Venturing beyond just the immediate repercussions, the research unearths both the overt and concealed long-term consequences that businesses encounter. This study integrates findings from various research, including quantitative reports, drawing upon real-world incidents faced by both small and large enterprises. This investigation emphasizes the profound intangible costs, such as trade name devaluation and potential damage to brand reputation, which can persist long after the breach. By collating insights from industry experts and a myriad of research, the study provides a comprehensive perspective on the profound, multi-dimensional impacts of cybersecurity incidents. The overarching aim is to underscore the often-underestimated scope and depth of these breaches, emphasizing the entire timeline post-incident and the urgent need for fortified preventative and reactive measures in the digital domain.

Packet track and traceback mechanism against denial of service attacks

The denial of service attack is a main type of threat on the Internet today. On the basis of path identification （Pi） and Internet control message protocol （ICMP） traceback （iTrace） methods, a packet track and traceback mechanism is proposed, which features rapid response and high accuracy. In this scheme, routers apply packet marking scheme and send traceback messages, which enables the victim to design the path tree in peace time. During attack times the victim can trace attackers back within the path tree and perform rapid packet filtering using the marking in each packet. Traceback messages overcome Pi＇s limitation, wherein too much path information is lost in path identifiers; whereas path identifiers can be used to expedite the design of the path-tree, which reduces the high overhead in iTrace. Therefore, our scheme not only synthesizes the advantages but also compromises the disadvantages of the above two methods. Simulation results with NS-2 show the validity of our scheme.

Formalized Description of Distributed Denial of Service Attack

The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is one of the dangers in intrusion modes. It's difficult to defense and can cause serious damage to the system. Based on a careful study of the attack principles and characteristics, an object-oriented formalized description is presented, which contains a three-level framework and offers full specifications of all kinds of DDoS modes and their features and the relations between one another. Its greatest merit lies in that it contributes to analyzing, checking and judging DDoS. Now this formalized description has been used in a special IDS and it works very effectively.(

Threshold-Based Software-Defined Networking(SDN)Solution for Healthcare Systems against Intrusion Attacks

The healthcare sector holds valuable and sensitive data.The amount of this data and the need to handle,exchange,and protect it,has been increasing at a fast pace.Due to their nature,software-defined networks(SDNs)are widely used in healthcare systems,as they ensure effective resource utilization,safety,great network management,and monitoring.In this sector,due to the value of thedata,SDNs faceamajor challengeposed byawide range of attacks,such as distributed denial of service(DDoS)and probe attacks.These attacks reduce network performance,causing the degradation of different key performance indicators(KPIs)or,in the worst cases,a network failure which can threaten human lives.This can be significant,especially with the current expansion of portable healthcare that supports mobile and wireless devices for what is called mobile health,or m-health.In this study,we examine the effectiveness of using SDNs for defense against DDoS,as well as their effects on different network KPIs under various scenarios.We propose a threshold-based DDoS classifier(TBDC)technique to classify DDoS attacks in healthcare SDNs,aiming to block traffic considered a hazard in the form of a DDoS attack.We then evaluate the accuracy and performance of the proposed TBDC approach.Our technique shows outstanding performance,increasing the mean throughput by 190.3%,reducing the mean delay by 95%,and reducing packet loss by 99.7%relative to normal,with DDoS attack traffic.

Internet of Things Enabled DDoS Attack Detection Using Pigeon Inspired Optimization Algorithm with Deep Learning Approach

Internet of Things(IoTs)provides better solutions in various fields,namely healthcare,smart transportation,home,etc.Recognizing Denial of Service(DoS)outbreaks in IoT platforms is significant in certifying the accessibility and integrity of IoT systems.Deep learning(DL)models outperform in detecting complex,non-linear relationships,allowing them to effectually severe slight deviations fromnormal IoT activities that may designate a DoS outbreak.The uninterrupted observation and real-time detection actions of DL participate in accurate and rapid detection,permitting proactive reduction events to be executed,hence securing the IoT network’s safety and functionality.Subsequently,this study presents pigeon-inspired optimization with a DL-based attack detection and classification(PIODL-ADC)approach in an IoT environment.The PIODL-ADC approach implements a hyperparameter-tuned DL method for Distributed Denial-of-Service(DDoS)attack detection in an IoT platform.Initially,the PIODL-ADC model utilizes Z-score normalization to scale input data into a uniformformat.For handling the convolutional and adaptive behaviors of IoT,the PIODL-ADCmodel employs the pigeon-inspired optimization(PIO)method for feature selection to detect the related features,considerably enhancing the recognition’s accuracy.Also,the Elman Recurrent Neural Network(ERNN)model is utilized to recognize and classify DDoS attacks.Moreover,reptile search algorithm(RSA)based hyperparameter tuning is employed to improve the precision and robustness of the ERNN method.A series of investigational validations is made to ensure the accomplishment of the PIODL-ADC method.The experimental outcome exhibited that the PIODL-ADC method shows greater accomplishment when related to existing models,with a maximum accuracy of 99.81%.

Detecting and Preventing of Attacks in Cloud Computing Using Hybrid Algorithm

Cloud computing is the technology that is currently used to provide users with infrastructure,platform,and software services effectively.Under this system,Platform as a Service(PaaS)offers a medium headed for a web development platform that uniformly distributes the requests and resources.Hackers using Denial of service(DoS)and Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attacks abruptly interrupt these requests.Even though several existing methods like signature-based,statistical anomaly-based,and stateful protocol analysis are available,they are not sufficient enough to get rid of Denial of service(DoS)and Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attacks and hence there is a great need for a definite algorithm.Concerning this issue,we propose an improved hybrid algorithm which is a combination of Multivariate correlation analysis,Spearman coefficient,and mitigation technique.It can easily differentiate common traffic and attack traffic.Not only that,it greatly helps the network to distribute the resources only for authenticated requests.The effects of comparing with the normalized information have shown an extra encouraging detection accuracy of 99%for the numerous DoS attack as well as DDoS attacks.

Unweighted Voting Method to Detect Sinkhole Attack in RPL-Based Internet of Things Networks

The Internet of Things(IoT)consists of interconnected smart devices communicating and collecting data.The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks(RPL)is the standard protocol for Internet Protocol Version 6(IPv6)in the IoT.However,RPL is vulnerable to various attacks,including the sinkhole attack,which disrupts the network by manipulating routing information.This paper proposes the Unweighted Voting Method(UVM)for sinkhole node identification,utilizing three key behavioral indicators:DODAG Information Object(DIO)Transaction Frequency,Rank Harmony,and Power Consumption.These indicators have been carefully selected based on their contribution to sinkhole attack detection and other relevant features used in previous research.The UVM method employs an unweighted voting mechanism,where each voter or rule holds equal weight in detecting the presence of a sinkhole attack based on the proposed indicators.The effectiveness of the UVM method is evaluated using the COOJA simulator and compared with existing approaches.Notably,the proposed approach fulfills power consumption requirements for constrained nodes without increasing consumption due to the deployment design.In terms of detection accuracy,simulation results demonstrate a high detection rate ranging from 90%to 100%,with a low false-positive rate of 0%to 0.2%.Consequently,the proposed approach surpasses Ensemble Learning Intrusion Detection Systems by leveraging three indicators and three supporting rules.

Toward Secure Software-Defined Networks Using Machine Learning: A Review, Research Challenges, and Future Directions

Over the past few years,rapid advancements in the internet and communication technologies have led to increasingly intricate and diverse networking systems.As a result,greater intelligence is necessary to effectively manage,optimize,and maintain these systems.Due to their distributed nature,machine learning models are challenging to deploy in traditional networks.However,Software-Defined Networking(SDN)presents an opportunity to integrate intelligence into networks by offering a programmable architecture that separates data and control planes.SDN provides a centralized network view and allows for dynamic updates of flow rules and softwarebased traffic analysis.While the programmable nature of SDN makes it easier to deploy machine learning techniques,the centralized control logic also makes it vulnerable to cyberattacks.To address these issues,recent research has focused on developing powerful machine-learning methods for detecting and mitigating attacks in SDN environments.This paper highlighted the countermeasures for cyberattacks on SDN and how current machine learningbased solutions can overcome these emerging issues.We also discuss the pros and cons of using machine learning algorithms for detecting and mitigating these attacks.Finally,we highlighted research issues,gaps,and challenges in developing machine learning-based solutions to secure the SDN controller,to help the research and network community to develop more robust and reliable solutions.

Resilient Service Authentication for Smart City Application Using IoT

Internet of Things(IoT)support for smart city systems improves ser-vice scales by ignoring various user congestion.People are looking for different security features for reliable and robust applications.Here,the Permanent Denial of Service(PDoS)problem arises from improper user identification.This article introduces the Service-Reliant Application Authentication(SRAA)to prevent PDoS attacks in a smart area of the city.In this authentication method,the security of the application is ensured through the distribution of guarded access.The supervised access distribution uses user interface features and sync with the user device.Abnormality in linking user device,application,and authentication is seen in Back Propagation(BP)readings.BP learning reduces given weights based on abnormalities trained during the access distribution process.The oddity is reflected in the sequence from previous training sessions to ensure consistent syn-chronization of distributed services.From PDoS,the web device displays a few unattended loads on the service,which reduces service failure.The effectiveness of the proposed verification method is verified using delays to verify metric accu-racy,false standard,sync failure,and bit rate.

Iterative Dichotomiser Posteriori Method Based Service Attack Detection in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing(CC)is an advanced technology that provides access to predictive resources and data sharing.The cloud environment represents the right type regarding cloud usage model ownership,size,and rights to access.It introduces the scope and nature of cloud computing.In recent times,all processes are fed into the system for which consumer data and cache size are required.One of the most security issues in the cloud environment is Distributed Denial of Ser-vice(DDoS)attacks,responsible for cloud server overloading.This proposed sys-tem ID3(Iterative Dichotomiser 3)Maximum Multifactor Dimensionality Posteriori Method(ID3-MMDP)is used to overcome the drawback and a rela-tively simple way to execute and for the detection of(DDoS)attack.First,the pro-posed ID3-MMDP method calls for the resources of the cloud platform and then implements the attack detection technology based on information entropy to detect DDoS attacks.Since because the entropy value can show the discrete or aggregated characteristics of the current data set,it can be used for the detection of abnormal dataflow,User-uploaded data,ID3-MMDP system checks and read risk measurement and processing,bug ratingfile size changes,orfile name changes and changes in the format design of the data size entropy value.Unique properties can be used whenever the program approaches any data error to detect abnormal data services.Finally,the experiment also verifies the DDoS attack detection capability algorithm.

Adaptive Cloud Intrusion Detection System Based on Pruned Exact Linear Time Technique

Cloud computing environments,characterized by dynamic scaling,distributed architectures,and complex work-loads,are increasingly targeted by malicious actors.These threats encompass unauthorized access,data breaches,denial-of-service attacks,and evolving malware variants.Traditional security solutions often struggle with the dynamic nature of cloud environments,highlighting the need for robust Adaptive Cloud Intrusion Detection Systems(CIDS).Existing adaptive CIDS solutions,while offering improved detection capabilities,often face limitations such as reliance on approximations for change point detection,hindering their precision in identifying anomalies.This can lead to missed attacks or an abundance of false alarms,impacting overall security effectiveness.To address these challenges,we propose ACIDS(Adaptive Cloud Intrusion Detection System)-PELT.This novel Adaptive CIDS framework leverages the Pruned Exact Linear Time(PELT)algorithm and a Support Vector Machine(SVM)for enhanced accuracy and efficiency.ACIDS-PELT comprises four key components:(1)Feature Selection:Utilizing a hybrid harmony search algorithm and the symmetrical uncertainty filter(HSO-SU)to identify the most relevant features that effectively differentiate between normal and anomalous network traffic in the cloud environment.(2)Surveillance:Employing the PELT algorithm to detect change points within the network traffic data,enabling the identification of anomalies and potential security threats with improved precision compared to existing approaches.(3)Training Set:Labeled network traffic data forms the training set used to train the SVM classifier to distinguish between normal and anomalous behaviour patterns.(4)Testing Set:The testing set evaluates ACIDS-PELT’s performance by measuring its accuracy,precision,and recall in detecting security threats within the cloud environment.We evaluate the performance of ACIDS-PELT using the NSL-KDD benchmark dataset.The results demonstrate that ACIDS-PELT outperforms existing cloud intrusion detection techniques in terms of accuracy,precision,and recall.This superiority stems from ACIDS-PELT’s ability to overcome limitations associated with approximation and imprecision in change point detection while offering a more accurate and precise approach to detecting security threats in dynamic cloud environments.