Distributed denial-of-service attack detection and mitigation based on autonomous system number

1. An apparatus for mitigating a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in a networked computing system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one controller configured: to receive an output signal from a detector in the networked computing system, the output signal being indicative of a probability of a DDoS attack based at least in part on a threat level corresponding to an Autonomous System Number (ASN) associated with a source Internet Protocol (IP) address of data packets received by the detector when a volume of the received data packets exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the ASN having an assigned probability number, the assigned probability number indicating a percentage probability of a presence of a DDoS attack; to obtain action information from a table, each table entry correlating a specific ASN with at least one corresponding action for mitigating a DDoS attack; and to generate at least one control signal for initiating at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack identified by the volume of the data packets as a function of the obtained action information, wherein the detector comprises a comparator adapted to generate a comparison output indicative of whether the volume of the data packets received by the detector exceeds the threshold value and wherein the threshold value is dynamically generated as a function of at least one of a behavior and an operational status of the networked computing system; and

at least one mitigation device in operative communication with the at least one controller, the at least one mitigation device performing at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack in response to the control signal generated by the at least one controller.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack performed by the mitigation device comprises at least one of rate-limiting a flow of malicious data traffic received by a router in the networked computing system, discarding packets from the malicious data traffic, and performing deep packet inspection (DPI) on at least a subset of the packets constituting the malicious data traffic.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein when the output signal received from the detector indicates the presence of a DDoS attack, the at least one controller is configured to cause the router to divert the malicious data traffic received by the router to a different data path.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the malicious data traffic is diverted by the router changing a target IP address of the malicious data traffic in response to the control signal generated by the at least one controller.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mitigation device is incorporated in at least one of the controller and a router in the networked computing system.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein determining whether a volume of the data packets received by the detector exceeds the prescribed threshold value comprises evaluating at least one of total User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic, total Domain Name System (DNS) traffic, and at least one protocol commonly used for DDoS attacks.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the action information obtained by the controller is dynamically adjusted based on at least one of a set of rules, an algorithm and manually by a user, to thereby update at least one action for mitigating a DDoS attack for at least one corresponding ASN.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mitigation device resides in a router in the networked computing system, the at least one controller being in communication with the router and supplying the at least one control signal to the router for mitigating the DDoS attack.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mitigation device comprises a first mitigation device residing in the at least one controller and a second mitigation device residing in a router in the networked computing system, and wherein the at least one controller is in communication with the second mitigation device, each of the first and second mitigation devices being configured to perform independent DDoS mitigation actions as a function of corresponding control signals generated by the at least one controller.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mitigation device comprises a first mitigation device residing in the at least one controller and a second mitigation device residing in a router in the networked computing system, and wherein the at least one controller is in communication with the second mitigation device, the first and second mitigation devices being configured to perform DDoS mitigation actions in conjunction with one another as a function of at least one control signal generated by the at least one controller.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when the output signal received from the detector indicates the presence of a DDoS attack, the at least one controller is configured to log at least one characteristic pertaining to an operation of the networked computing system.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one characteristic pertaining to the operation of the networked computing system comprises at least one of traffic volume, date when the volume of the received data packets exceeds the prescribed threshold value, time when the volume of the received data packets exceeds the prescribed threshold value, and IP source ASN.

13. A method of mitigating a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in a networked computing system, the method comprising:

receiving an output signal from a detector in the networked computing system, the output signal being indicative of a probability of a DDoS attack based at least in part on a threat level corresponding to an Autonomous System Number (ASN) associated with a source Internet Protocol (IP) address of data packets received by the detector when a volume of the received data packets exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the ASN having an assigned probability number, the assigned probability number indicating a percentage probability of a presence of a DDoS attack;

obtaining action information from a table that correlates each specific ASN with at least one corresponding action for mitigating a DDoS attack; and

generating at least one control signal for initiating at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack identified by the volume of the data packets as a function of the obtained action information, wherein the detector comprises a comparator adapted to generate a comparison output indicative of whether the volume of the data packets received by the detector exceeds the threshold value and wherein the threshold value is dynamically generated as a function of at least one of a behavior and an operational status of the networked computing system.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack performed by the mitigation device comprises at least one of rate-limiting a flow of malicious data traffic received by a router in the networked computing system, discarding packets from the malicious data traffic, and performing deep packet inspection (DPI) on at least a subset of the packets constituting the malicious data traffic.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising causing the router to divert the malicious data traffic received by the router to a different data path when the output signal received from the detector indicates the presence of a DDoS attack.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising dynamically adjusting the action information obtained by the controller based on at least one of a set of rules, an algorithm and manually by a user, to thereby update at least one action for mitigating a DDoS attack for at least one corresponding ASN.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether a volume of the data packets received by the detector exceeds the prescribed threshold value comprises evaluating at least one of total User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic, total Domain Name System (DNS) traffic, and at least one protocol commonly used for DDoS attacks.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising logging at least one characteristic pertaining to an operation of the networked computing system when the output signal received from the detector indicates the presence of a DDoS attack.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one characteristic pertaining to the operation of the networked computing system comprises at least one of traffic volume, date when the volume of the received data packets exceeds the prescribed threshold value, time when the volume of the received data packets exceeds the prescribed threshold value, and IP source ASN.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method of:

receiving an output signal from a detector in the networked computing system, the output signal being indicative of a probability of a DDoS attack based at least in part on a threat level corresponding to an Autonomous System Number (ASN) associated with a source Internet Protocol (IP) address of data packets received by the detector when a volume of the received data packets exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the ASN having an assigned probability number, the assigned probability number indicating a percentage probability of a presence of a DDoS attack;

obtaining action information from a table that correlates each specific ASN with at least one corresponding action for mitigating a DDoS attack; and

generating at least one control signal for initiating at least one action for mitigating the DDoS attack identified by the volume of the data packets as a function of the obtained action information, wherein the detector comprises a comparator adapted to generate a comparison output indicative of whether the volume of the data packets received by the detector exceeds the threshold value and wherein the threshold value is dynamically generated as a function of at least one of a behavior and an operational status of the networked computing system.