Using active networking to thwart distributed denial of service attacks

Active Networking is primarily a DARPA-funded project focusing on mechanisms, applications, and operating systems research to develop a reconfigurable network infrastructure. The Active Network (AN) paradigm offers the attractive capability of carrying executable payloads that can change the characteristic of a given platform. The Active Network Backbone (ABone) has emerged as a testbed for developing AN projects. It is made up of government, educational, and commercial groups bound together with a common interest in Active Networking. This framework will provide a fertile ground for testing a new AN mechanism that will repel Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. One such AN project exists at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)/Information Directorate. The focal point of our research is to implement a reaction mechanism based on AN technology to automatically repel a DDoS attack.