Local DDoS testbed bids to future-proof systems
Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology hope to test and mitigate the risks of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack by creating and running their own internal testbed.
The new dosTF testbed, one of the few available globally, uses eight Linux and Windows-based PCs and three VMware servers to create 200 virtual hosts used in cohort to simulate the attacks. The idea is to better understand the global attack methodology and develop protection methods. Each PC is fitted with two Ethernet cards - one for incoming traffic and the other for monitoring - and is monitored by SNMP messaging, with experimental scenarios recorded in XML format to be later documented and potentially replayed for further experimentation.
One of the researchers involved in the project, Desmond Schmidt, told the World Computing Congress 2010 in Brisbane it was vital to conduct the experiments on an internal network, rather than on a live system or the wider internet, in order to better understand the attacks without breaking laws in numerous countries.
