Identifying Denial of Service attacks and appropriate mitigation strategies for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises

This research report investigated the potential risks from DoS (Denial of Service) attacks
faced by SMEs (Small to Medium-sized Enterprises) that have an online presence. From the
examination of case studies, reports, global surveys, and discussions with IT professionals
this report evaluates which DoS attacks are the most prolific, and which DoS threats
organisations need to secure against. From the results of the investigation it can be seen that
the potential risk of becoming the target of a DoS attack continues to pose a significant threat
to an organisation regardless of the size. It was evident from the results of the initial research
that further investigation was required to evaluate which DoS threat were of most concern to
SMEs (Small to Medium sized Enterprises). Through practical experimentation in a
controlled network laboratory environment, a number of DoS attacks that are of current
concern to SMEs were investigated, the main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate
appropriate mitigation strategies to secure against the identified DoS attacks. This report
concludes by highlighting that SMEs may be susceptible to well-known DoS attacks when
deploying network hardware in default configuration, and by identifying the appropriate DoS
mitigation options available to network and security administrators associated with SMEs.
The conclusion also shows how these DoS mitigation options can be practically applied to the
type of network hardware typically deployed in a SME environment.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• Background to the problem/issue
• Justification for the research
• Aim and objectives
• Scope of the research
• Outline of the dissertation
• Research definition
• The practical problem/issue
• Existing relevant knowledge
• Well known DoS attacks
• Communications standards and protocols
• DoS mitigation and access control considerations
• Summarising the existing body of knowledge
• Research questions
• Proposed methodology
• Methods and techniques selected
• Justification
• Research procedures
• The personal interviews
• The online survey
• The practical experiments
• Ethical considerations
• Analysis and interpretation
• Summary of data collected
• Data analysis
• The interview phase
• The Online survey
• DoS experiments using the test network
• Interpretation in relation to the research questions
• Interpretation in relation to the research aim
• Conclusions
• Conclusions about the research questions
• Research question 1
• Research question 2
• Research question 3
• Research question 4
• Conclusions about the research aim
• Further work
• Implications of the research
• Reflection on the experience of the research process

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This dissertation explores the potential risks of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks faced by Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with an online presence. The primary objective is to investigate the most prevalent DoS attacks and identify effective mitigation strategies to protect SMEs from these threats. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of DoS attack vulnerabilities and provide practical solutions for securing SME networks. Key themes explored include: * **DoS attack vulnerabilities in SMEs:** Identifying the most common DoS attacks and assessing their impact on SMEs. * **Mitigation strategies for DoS attacks:** Evaluating and proposing practical solutions to counter DoS attacks in SME environments. * **Network security considerations:** Analyzing the importance of proper network configuration and security measures to prevent DoS attacks. * **Practical applications of DoS mitigation techniques:** Demonstrating how to implement mitigation strategies on network hardware commonly used by SMEs. * **The role of network administrators in DoS attack prevention:** Examining the responsibilities and best practices for network administrators in protecting SMEs from DoS attacks.

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

• Introduction: This chapter provides an overview of the research, including its background, justification, aims, scope, and outline. It introduces the problem of DoS attacks and their potential impact on SMEs.
• Research definition: This chapter defines the practical problem and explores existing knowledge related to DoS attacks, including well-known attack types, relevant communication standards and protocols, and mitigation strategies.
• Proposed methodology: This chapter outlines the research methods and techniques used, including personal interviews, an online survey, and practical experiments conducted in a controlled network laboratory environment. The justification for these methods is explained, along with the research procedures and ethical considerations.
• Analysis and interpretation: This chapter presents a summary of the data collected through interviews, surveys, and experiments. It analyzes the data, drawing conclusions about the most prevalent DoS attacks, their impact on SMEs, and the effectiveness of different mitigation strategies.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This research focuses on the practical implications of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). It explores the vulnerabilities of SMEs to DoS attacks, investigates the most common types of attacks, and analyzes effective mitigation strategies for securing SME networks. Key concepts covered include network security, access control, communication protocols, and practical implementations of DoS mitigation techniques.

Details

• College: The Open University
• Course: MSc Advanced Networking
• Grade: Merit
• Author: Andy Reed (Author)
• Publication Year: 2012
• Pages: 75
• Catalog Number: V268906
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656592280
• ISBN (Book): 9783656592235
• Language: English
• Tags: DoS Denail of Service IT Security Hacking Computer security