Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Mitigation Using Blockchain-A Comprehensive Insight

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a major threat impeding service to legitimate requests on any network. Although the first DDoS attack was reported in 1996, the complexity and sophistication of these attacks has been ever increasing. A 2 TBps attack was reported in mid-August 2020 directed towards critical infrastructure, such as finance, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that these attacks will double, reaching over 15 million, in the next 2 years. A number of mitigation schemes have been designed and developed since its inception but the increasing complexity demands advanced solutions based on emerging technologies. Blockchain has emerged as a promising and viable technology for DDoS mitigation. The inherent and fundamental characteristics of blockchain such as decentralization, internal and external trustless attitude, immutability, integrity, anonymity and verifiability have proven to be strong candidates, in tackling this deadly cyber threat. This survey discusses different approaches for DDoS mitigation using blockchain in varied domains to date. The paper aims at providing a comprehensive review, highlighting all necessary details, strengths, challenges and limitations of different approaches. It is intended to serve as a single platform to understand the mechanics of current approaches to enhance research and development in the DDoS mitigation domain.

Automated summary

DDoS attacks pose a significant threat to network security and can be mitigated using blockchain technology. The complexity and scale of these attacks continue to increase, challenging research and development in the security field. Leveraging the characteristics of blockchain can effectively address this network threat.