Preventing denial of service in public networks

For over a decade, denial-of-service attacks have been one of the most common classes of attack. This article provides an update on the subject.

Following a taxonomy of existing attacks, some figures characterizing current attacks are given. It is then shown that current architectures for combating denial of service attacks are organized according to a number of phases, and some of the associated techniques are described.

Finally, we look at a number of implementation methods, ranging from the use of equipment already present in a network, to outsourcing to a cloud-based protection service, to the use of specialized equipment.