Implementation and Validation of the Web DDoS Shelter System(WDSS)

ABSTRACT The WDSS improves defensive capacity against web application layer DDoS attack by using web cache server and L7 switch which are added on the DDoS shelter system. When web DDoS attack occurs, security agents divert traffic from backbone network to sub-network of the WDSS and then DDoS protection device and L7 switch block abnormal packets. In the meantime, web cache server responds only to requests of normal clients and maintains stable web service. In this way, the WDSS can counteract the web DDoS attack which generates small traffic and depletes server-client session resource. Furthermore, the WDSS does not require IP tunneling because it is not necessary to retransfer the normal requests to original web server. In this paper, we validate operation of the WDSS and verify defensive capability against web application layer DDoS attacks. In order to do this, we built the WDSS on backbone network of an ISP. And we performed web DDoS tests by using a testing system that consists of zombie PCs. The tests were performed by three types and various amounts of web DDoS attacks. Test results suggest that the WDSS can detect small traffic of the web DDoS attacks which do not have repeat flow whereas the formal DDoS shelter system cannot.Keywords:Web DDoS, HTTP, Application Layer, Web Cache