A Novel Application-Layer DDoS Attack Detection A1gorithm based on Client Intention

An application-layer attack can effectively achieve its objective with a small amount of traffic, and detection is difficult because the traffic type is very similar to that of legitimate users. We have discovered a unique characteristic that is produced by a difference in client intention: Both a legitimate user and DDoS attacker establish a session through a 3-way handshake over the TCP/IP layer. After a connection is established, they request at least one HTTP service by a Get request packet. The legitimate HTTP user waits for the server's response. However, an attacker tries to terminate the existing session right after the Get request. These different actions can be interpreted as a difference in client intention. In this paper, we propose a detection algorithm for application layer DDoS attacks based on this difference. The proposed algorithm was simulated using traffic dump files that were taken from normal user networks and Botnet-based attack tools. The test results showed that the algorithm can detect an HTTP-Get flooding attack with almost zero false alarms.