DTS: dynamic traffic scrubbing against link flooding attacks with programmable data plane
Zheng Zhao, Fang Liu, Z. D. Meng, Qi Zhao, Xin Xie · 2025
Link flood attacks (LFA) represent a significant cybersecurity threat due to their ability to cause extensive network disruptions. Traditional traffic scrubbing methods, relying on static rules, often struggle to counter dynamic LFAs effectively. This paper introduces the dynamic traffic scrubbing (DTS) method, leveraging programmable data planes. DTS integrates moving target defense principles into traffic scrubbing, dynamically deploying and adjusting scrubbing rules to thwart attackers. Game theory is employed to analyze the distributed denial of service attack and defense strategies. Experimental results demonstrate that DTS effectively mitigates dynamic LFAs with minimal overhead, showcasing its robustness in defending against sophisticated cyber threats.