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  • What Are DoS Attacks?

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    Ian E Comings
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    A paper i wrote about Denial of Service Attacks for my Security + class. The paper covers why DoS attacks are so dangerous as well as touching on the threat of DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service Attacks.

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    What are DoS attacks?

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    A paper i wrote about Denial of Service Attacks for my Security + class. The paper covers why DoS attacks are so dangerous as well as touching on the threat of DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service Attacks.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    25 views2 pages

    What Are DoS Attacks?

    Uploaded by

    Ian E Comings
    A paper i wrote about Denial of Service Attacks for my Security + class. The paper covers why DoS attacks are so dangerous as well as touching on the threat of DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service Attacks.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 2

    IanComings InformationSecurityPrinciples 9/21/2012 DDOSPaper

    ItisMondaymorningandyouaresittinginyourofficegettingreadytorolloutsome updatesandtheilk.Unfortunately,justasyouareabouttopresstheenterkeytoactivatethe updates,theservercrashesandyournetworkcrumblesdowntonothingbutaquiveringmess. Wonderingwhathappened,youcheckthenetworkconnectiononlytofindthatwhenyoupingthe server,thepingfailsduetotoomuchnetworktraffic.Guesswhat?Youmayhavebeenavictim ofaDDOSattackalsoknownasaDistributedDenialofServiceattack. WhatisaDistributedDenialofServiceAttackyoumayask?Itissimplywhathappens whenanentityorgroupofentitiesattemptingtodisrupttheservice(s)ofanetworkthrougha varietyofmethodssuchasfloodingyoursitewithmassiveamountsoftrafficbothlegitimateand nonlegitimate.Whatthisdoesisbogdownthetargetmachinetillitisunabletoprocess anythingeffectivelyhaltingallworkbeingdoneonthemachine.Onecommonresultoftheattack isthetargetmachineresettingduetoserveroverload. Howcanyoutellifyournetworkisundersuchanattack?Well,theUnitedStates ComputerEmergencyReadinessTeam(USCERT)http://www.uscert.gov/1 hasalreadylaidit alloutforus. DoS/DDoSattacksmaybethecauseofthesesymptoms:Anunusuallyslowperforming network,beingunabletoaccessacertainwebsiteorservice,beingcompletelyunabletoaccess theinternet,andlastlyamassiveinfluxofspamemails.Spamemailattacksarecalledemail bombs. So,whatarethetwomostcommontypesofDoSattacks?Simply,themostcommon typesofDoSattacksareonesthatcrashservicesandthosethatfloodthem.DoSattacksmay alsohavemaliciouscodeinjectedintothemthatissettoactivatethatwouldmaxoutyourCPU, createmicrocodeerrorsandnotlimitedtocrashingtheOSitself.SinceaDoS/DDoSattackis socomplexandIcouldspendalldaytalkingaboutit,Iamgoingtolistafewcommonformsof attackthatshouldyoubeattacked,youmaycomeacross.AccordingtoWikipedia2 ,thelistmay includebutisinnowaylimitedto:TheInfamous,PingofDeathakatheICMPflood.The
    "UnitedStatesComputerEmergencyReadinessTeam."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,09 June2012.Web.21Sept.2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Computer_Emergency_Readiness_Team>.
    1 2

    "DenialofserviceAttack."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,18Sept.2012.Web.21Sept.

    2012.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denialofservice_attack>.

    TCP/SYNPacketFloodalsoknownasaSYNFlood.ATeardropattacktargetingTCP/IP fragmentationreassemblycode.LowrateDenialofServiceattacksallowingtheattackeraless likelychanceofbeingdetected.PeertoPeerattackssometimesreferredtoasDDoSattacks sincetheymakeuseofthedecentralizednatureofP2Pnetworkstofloodthetargetnetwork. ResourceStarvingthenetworkattacks.APermanentDenialofServiceAttackorPDoSwhichso baditdamagesthehardwarewhichresultsinhavingtoreplacethesystem.Bufferoverflows whichconsumemassiveamountsofresources.Nukeswhichfloodasystemwithcorruptdata untilitcrashes.ICMPEchoRequestattackscommonlyreferredtoasSmurfAttackswhichcan reroutethepingrequestsofthenetworktotraveltothetargetedmachine. NowthatIhavegivenyousomebackgroundonsomeofthemorecommonmethodsof attack,letusdelveintomethodsofdefendingyournetworkfromDoS/DDoSattacks.According toMicrosoft 3 ,thereareseveralpracticesthatcanhelppreventaDoSorDDoSattack. Tostartoff,keepaseriesoflogsthatdefinethechangesmadetothesystem/network andthereasonsbehindthem.Next,startmakingStandardOperatingProcedure(SOP)Plans andContingencyplans.Understandthatjustbecauseyousucceededinpreventinganattack today,itdoesnotmeanthatyouaresafeindefinitely.Also,itiscriticalthateachadministrator knowstheconfigurationforwardandbackwardbecausesimplymonitoringthenetworkwillnot cutit.Rundrillsandtestslocallyandremotelytoensurethatshouldacrisishappenyouand yourteamareprepared.Justbecauseyouthinktheprogramsyourunaregooddoesnotmean theycannotharmyournetwork.Makeabackuplogofeachrevisionwithextensive documentationofthenetworkconfigurationincaseyouneedit.Ifyouseeananomalyinvestigate it,itcouldbethefirstwarningofanattack.Educateyourselfonthecomparisonofsimplicity, costandsurvivability.Lastly,doeverythingyoucantopreventbeinginfiltratedbyhackers. IhopethisbriefoverviewofDenialofServiceattackshashelpedyoutobetter understandtheveryrealthreatofDoSandDDoSattacks.

    Cretzman,Michael,andToddWeeks."BestPracticesforPreventingDoS/DenialofService

    Attacks."BestPracticesforPreventingDoS/DenialofServiceAttacks.Microsoft,n.d.Web.21 Sept.2012.<http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/cc750213.aspx>.

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