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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.(

Denial of Service Due to Direct and Indirect ARP Storm Attacks in LAN Environment

ARP-based Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks due to ARP-storms can happen in local area networks where many computer systems are infected by worms such as Code Red or by DDoS agents. In ARP attack, the DDoS agents constantly send a barrage of ARP requests to the gateway, or to a victim computer within the same sub-network, and tie up the resource of attacked gateway or host. In this paper, we set to measure the impact of ARP-attack on resource exhaustion of computers in a local area network. Based on attack experiments, we measure the exhaustion of processing and memory resources of a victim computer and also other computers, which are located on the same network as the victim computer. Interestingly enough, it is observed that an ARP-attack not only exhausts resource of the victim computer but also significantly exhausts processing resource of other non-victim computers, which happen to be located on the same local area network as the victim computer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Optimal Coordination of Transportable Power Sources and Repair Crews for Service Restoration of Distribution Networks Considering Uncertainty of Traffic Congestion

This paper proposes a new method for service restoration of distribution network with the support of transportable power sources(TPSs)and repair crews(RCs).Firstly,a coupling model of distribution networks and vehicle routing of TPSs and RCs is proposed,where the TPSs serve as emergency power supply sources,and the RCs are used to repair the faulted lines.Considering the uncertainty of traffic congestion,the probability distribution of the travel time spent on each road is derived based on the Nesterov user equilibrium model,and a two-stage stochastic program is formulated to determine the optimal routings of TPSs and RCs.To efficiently solve the proposed stochastic mixed-integer linear program(MILP),a two-phase scenario reduction method is then developed to scale down the problem size,and an adaptive progressive hedging algorithm is used for an efficient solution.The effectiveness of the proposed methods and algorithms has been illustrated in a modified IEEE 33-bus system.

AN INTELLIGENT METHOD FOR REAL-TIME DETECTION OF DDOS ATTACK BASED ON FUZZY LOGIC

The paper puts forward a variance-time plots method based on slide-window mechanism tocalculate the Hurst parameter to detect Distribute Denial of Service(DDoS)attack in real time.Basedon fuzzy logic technology that can adjust itself dynamically under the fuzzy rules,an intelligent DDoSjudgment mechanism is designed.This new method calculates the Hurst parameter quickly and detectsDDoS attack in real time.Through comparing the detecting technologies based on statistics andfeature-packet respectively under different experiments,it is found that the new method can identifythe change of the Hurst parameter resulting from DDoS attack traffic with different intensities,andintelligently judge DDoS attack self-adaptively in real time.

Dynamic Threshold-Based Approach to Detect Low-Rate DDoS Attacks on Software-Defined Networking Controller

The emergence of a new network architecture,known as Software Defined Networking(SDN),in the last two decades has overcome some drawbacks of traditional networks in terms of performance,scalability,reliability,security,and network management.However,the SDN is vulnerable to security threats that target its controller,such as low-rate Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attacks,The low-rate DDoS attack is one of the most prevalent attacks that poses a severe threat to SDN network security because the controller is a vital architecture component.Therefore,there is an urgent need to propose a detection approach for this type of attack with a high detection rate and low false-positive rates.Thus,this paper proposes an approach to detect low-rate DDoS attacks on the SDN controller by adapting a dynamic threshold.The proposed approach has been evaluated using four simulation scenarios covering a combination of low-rate DDoS attacks against the SDN controller involving(i)a single host attack targeting a single victim;(ii)a single host attack targeting multiple victims;(iii)multiple hosts attack targeting a single victim;and(iv)multiple hosts attack targeting multiple victims.The proposed approach’s average detection rates are 96.65%,91.83%,96.17%,and 95.33%for the above scenarios,respectively;and its average false-positive rates are 3.33%,8.17%,3.83%,and 4.67%for similar scenarios,respectively.The comparison between the proposed approach and two existing approaches showed that it outperformed them in both categories.

Experimental Evaluation of Juniper Network's Netscreen-5GT Security Device against Layer4 Flood Attacks

Cyber attacks are continuing to hamper working of Internet services despite increased use of network secu-rity systems such as firewalls and Intrusion protection systems (IPS). Recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on Dec 8th, 2010 by Wikileak supporters on Visa and Master Card websites made headlines on prime news channels all over the world. Another famous DDoS attacks on Independence Day weekend, on July 4th, 2009 were launched to debilitate the US and South Korean governments’ websites. These attacks raised questions about the capabilities of the security systems that were used in the network to counteract such attacks. Firewall and IPS security systems are commonly used today as a front line defense mechanism to defend against DDoS attacks. In many deployments, performances of these security devices are seldom evaluated for their effectiveness. Different security devices perform differently in stopping DDoS attacks. In this paper, we intend to drive the point that it is important to evaluate the capability of Firewall or IPS secu-rity devices before they are deployed to protect a network or a server against DDoS attacks. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of a security device called Netscreen 5GT (or NS-5GT) from Juniper Networks under Layer-4 flood attacks at different attack loads. This security device NS-5GT comes with a feature called TCP-SYN proxy protection to protect against TCP-SYN based DDoS attacks, and UDP protection feature to protect against UDP flood attacks. By looking at these security features from the equipments data sheet, one might assume the device to protect the network against such DDoS attacks. In this paper, we con-ducted real experiments to measure the performance of this security device NS-5GT under the TCP SYN and UDP flood attacks and test the performance of these protection features. It was found that the Juniper’s NS-5GT mitigated the effect of DDoS traffic to some extent especially when the attack of lower intensity. However, the device was unable to provide any protection against Layer4 flood attacks when the load ex-ceeded 40Mbps. In order to guarantee a measured level of security, it is important for the network managers to measure the actual capabilities of a security device, using real attack traffic, before they are deployed to protect a critical information infrastructure.

Entropy-Based Approach to Detect DDoS Attacks on Software Defined Networking Controller

The Software-Defined Networking(SDN)technology improves network management over existing technology via centralized network control.The SDN provides a perfect platform for researchers to solve traditional network’s outstanding issues.However,despite the advantages of centralized control,concern about its security is rising.The more traditional network switched to SDN technology,the more attractive it becomes to malicious actors,especially the controller,because it is the network’s brain.A Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attack on the controller could cripple the entire network.For that reason,researchers are always looking for ways to detect DDoS attacks against the controller with higher accuracy and lower false-positive rate.This paper proposes an entropy-based approach to detect low-rate and high-rate DDoS attacks against the SDN controller,regardless of the number of attackers or targets.The proposed approach generalized the Rényi joint entropy for analyzing the network traffic flow to detect DDoS attack traffic flow of varying rates.Using two packet header features and generalized Rényi joint entropy,the proposed approach achieved a better detection rate than the EDDSC approach that uses Shannon entropy metrics.

AN APPROACH OF DEFENDING AGAINST DDOS ATTACK

An approach of defending against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack based on flow model and flow detection is presented. The proposed approach can protect targets from DDoS attacking, and allow targets to provide good service to legitimate traffic under DDoS attacking, with fast reaction. This approach adopts the technique of dynamic comb filter, yields a low level of false positives of less than 1.5%, drops similar percentage of good traffic, about 1%, and passes neglectable percentage of attack bandwidth to the victim, less than 1.5%. The prototype of commercial product, D-fighter, is developed by implementing this proposed approach on Intel network processor platform IXP1200.

DDoS Detection for 6G Internet of Things: Spatial-Temporal Trust Model and New Architecture

With the rapid development of the sixth generation(6G)network and Internet of Things(IoT),it has become extremely challenging to efficiently detect and prevent the distributed denial of service(DDoS)attacks originating from IoT devices.In this paper we propose an innovative trust model for IoT devices to prevent potential DDoS attacks by evaluating their trustworthiness,which can be deployed in the access network of 6G IoT.Based on historical communication behaviors,this model combines spatial trust and temporal trust values to comprehensively characterize the normal behavior patterns of IoT devices,thereby effectively distinguishing attack traffic.Experimental results show that the proposed method can efficiently distinguish normal traffic from DDoS traffic.Compared with the benchmark methods,our method has advantages in terms of both accuracy and efficiency in identifying attack flows.