MPLS-based mitigation technique to handle cyber attacks
Nabil Hachem · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2014
Cyber attacks cause considerable losses not only for end-users but also service providers. They are fostered by myriad of infected resources and mostly rely on network resources for whether propagating, controlling or damaging. There is an essential need to address these numerous attacks by efficient defence strategies. Researchers have dedicated large resources without reaching a comprehensive method to protect from network attacks. Defence strategies involve first a detection process, completed by mitigation actions. Research on detection is more active than on mitigation. Yet, it is crucial to close the security loop with efficient technique to mitigate counter attacks and their effects. In this thesis, we propose a novel technique to react to attacks that misuse network resources, e.g., DDoS, Botnet, worm spreading, etc. Our technique is built upon network traffic management techniques. We use the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology to manage the traffic diagnosed to be part of a network misuse by detection processes. The goals of our technique can be summarized as follows: first to provide the means — via QoS and routing schemes — to segregate the suspicious flows from the legitimate traffic; and second, to take control over suspicious flows. We profit from the enhancement on the inter-domain MPLS to permit a cooperation among providers building a large-scale defence mechanism. We develop a system to complete the management aspects of the proposed technique. This system performs tasks such as alert data extraction, strategy adaptation and equipments configurations. We model the system using a clustering method and a policy language in order to consistently and automatically manage the mitigation context and environment in which the proposed technique is running. Finally, we show the applicability of the technique and the system through simulation. We evaluate and analyse the QoS and financial impacts inside MPLS networks. The application of the technique demonstrates its effectiveness and reliability in not only alleviating attacks but also providing financial benefits for the different players in the mitigation chain, i.e., service providers