Proof of Work Mechanism for DDoS Attack Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current DDoS attack mitigation methods, such as scrubbing services, struggle to keep up with increasing attack volumes, leading to a continuous arms race and increased costs for service providers.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a proof of work mechanism that requires clients to perform additional computational tasks during high demand periods, thereby discouraging and preventing DDoS attacks by shifting the burden from centralized scrubbers to client systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If scrubbing services are used to protect against DDoS attacks, then service protection is improved, but cost increases continuously
Solution Approach 1:
The system requires client systems to perform proof of work computations themselves, making each client responsible for demonstrating legitimacy. This self-service approach eliminates the need for centralized scrubbing services to process every request, thereby reducing service provider costs while maintaining protection against DDoS attacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the computational burden from centralized scrubbing services and transfers it to individual client systems. By requiring clients to complete proof of work tasks locally, the system removes the need for expensive centralized filtering infrastructure while maintaining attack mitigation capabilities.
2Reliability
If scrubbing services are used to filter attack traffic, then service protection is improved, but the scrubbers become ineffective when attack volume exceeds capacity
Solution Approach 1:
Each client system independently performs proof of work computations to demonstrate legitimacy. This distributed approach allows the system to handle unlimited attack volumes because the verification burden is spread across all clients rather than concentrated in centralized scrubbers with finite capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the DDoS protection function from centralized scrubbers and distributes it to individual client systems. Each client independently verifies its own legitimacy through proof of work, eliminating the single point of failure that limits centralized scrubbing capacity.
3Reliability
If proof of work is required during high demand periods, then DDoS attack prevention is improved, but client system computational burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts proof of work requirements based on server demand conditions. During high demand periods that may indicate attacks, proof of work is enforced to prevent abuse. During normal periods, the mechanism remains inactive or reduced, minimizing computational burden on legitimate clients while maintaining protection when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the system by introducing conditional proof of work requirements. The computational burden parameter is adjusted based on server load metrics, transitioning from low or zero burden during normal operation to higher burden during suspicious high-demand periods, thereby balancing protection needs with client energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to using proof of work for preventing distributed denial of server (“DDoS”) attacks. A server system can receive a resource request from a client system. The resource request can specify a resource. The server system can determine a congestion level based upon a load metric and a threshold. In response to determining that the load metric is above the threshold, the server system can determine that the congestion level is indicative of a high demand period. In response to the resource request being received during the high demand period, the server system can provide a work assignment to the client system. The server system can receive work results for the work assignment sent to the client system. In response to receiving the work results, the server system can process the resource request and can send the resource to the client system.