Maneuvering Around Clouds: Bypassing Cloud-based Security Providers

The increase of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks in volume, frequency, and complexity, combined with the constant required alertness for mitigating web application threats, has caused many website owners to turn to Cloud-based Security Providers (CBSPs) to protect their infrastructure. These solutions typically involve the rerouting of traffic from the original website through the CBSP’s network, where malicious traffic can be detected and absorbed before it ever reaches the servers of the protected website. The most popular Cloud-based Security Providers do not require the purchase of dedicated traffic-rerouting hardware, but rely solely on changing the DNS settings of a domain name to reroute a website’s traffic through their security infrastructure. Consequently, this rerouting mechanism can be completely circumvented by directly attacking the website’s hosting IP address. Therefore, it is crucial for the security and availability of these websites that their real...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: CCS
• Authors: Thomas Vissers, Tom van Goethem, Wouter Joosen, Nick Nikiforakis
• Keywords: CCS 2015, Security Privacy