Lightweight, Low-Rate Denial-of-Service Attack Prevention and Control Program for IoT Devices

Abstract

As information technology has become more advanced, the Internet of things (IoT) has evolved from being a mere concept to becoming a part of everyday life. IoT-based home appliance applications have matured, and numerous relevant software programs have been made commercially available. Therefore, IoT-created security issues have become an issue that must be addressed.
Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) transmission is one of the main transmission methods used in IoT-based communication. As HTTP evolves from the original HTTP/1.0 to the current HTTP/2, transmission efficiency and security have undergone considerable improvements. However, despite these improvements, HTTP/2 remains exposed to various risks, one of the most common of which is low-rate denial-of-service attacks (DoS attacks). Using this type of attack, hackers can paralyze target hosts. This hinders the target hosts’ ability to respond promptly, causing substantial damage to their systems.
Although DoS attacks are one of the most commonly used methods by hackers to attack target hosts, most mainframe computers are equipped with excellent DoS attack prevention and control programs. Nevertheless, most IoT devices do not have high computing power and are thus prone to DoS attacks. Therefore, this study examined the feasibility of using a lightweight, low-rate DoS attack prevention and control program in IoT devices with low computing power. The objective is to enable these devices to prevent and control DoS attacks.