In the International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks
(DSN), June-July 2004.
Abstract:
We propose a framework and methodology for quantifying the effect of
denial of service (DoS) attacks on a distributed system. We present a
systematic study of the resistance of gossip-based multicast protocols
to DoS attacks. We show that even distributed and randomized
gossip-based protocols, which eliminate single points of failure, do
not necessarily eliminate vulnerabilities to DoS attacks. We propose
Drum -- a simple gossip-based multicast protocol that eliminates such
vulnerabilities. Drum was implemented in Java and tested on a large
cluster. We show, using closed-form mathematical analysis,
simulations, and empirical tests, that Drum survives severe DoS
attacks.