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Thwarting DOS server attacks

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    Thwarting DOS server attacks

    A couple of us have discussed massive unwanted hits on our Alpha server. I have them all the time, looking for some PHP resource. It causes my server to bog down to the point that AlwaysUp will restart the application. I asked my hosting company what they could do, and to my surprise, for free, they are now running my traffic through a device called the Cisco Guard. Not a firewall, but an intelligent device that watches for DOS type activity, and reroutes that unwanted traffic away from my server. Or at least supposedly, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

    So if you have this problem, read up on the Cisco Guard and DOS attacks. Your hosting company may provide it for free like mine, or there probably is a small-sized piece of hardware for your in-house installations.
    Steve Wood
    See my profile on IADN


    #2
    Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

    Welcome to the world of "Clean Pipes" Steve,
    It will be like going from B&W TV to HDTV.
    -- Yes from all I have heard Cisco Guard and/or a Arbor product actually work , and work well. The one problem is simply the cost, aka very big bucks.
    Thus I'm astounded that a Hosting company is offering such a service for free.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

      In my experience, anytime the word *Cisco* is uttered, big bucks will be following. :)
      Frank R

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

        Steve,

        Good info to know.
        Thanks

        Nicholas
        Nicholas Wieland
        LedgerSuite.com Corp
        [email protected]
        http://www.ledgersuite.com

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

          Originally posted by ColinJD View Post
          Thus I'm astounded that a Hosting company is offering such a service for free.
          I guess it makes sense since I assume they only need the one box, so the added security may attract some customers and means the service can be offered to everyone without extra cost.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

            Yeah so they added the Cisco "guard" and then a day later said "looks like you have no malicious traffic, so we removed the guard".
            Steve Wood
            See my profile on IADN

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

              Originally posted by Steve Wood View Post
              Yeah so they added the Cisco "guard" and then a day later said "looks like you have no malicious traffic, so we removed the guard".
              Great....

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

                But it was free.

                ;)
                Frank R

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

                  Originally posted by FrankR View Post
                  But it was free.

                  ;)
                  ... while it lasted! ;)

                  Well now you know if you ever get offered this service free, get some hackers to attack your site while the guard is used :p

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

                    Originally posted by NoeticCC View Post
                    ... while it lasted! ;)

                    Well now you know if you ever get offered this service free, get some hackers to attack your site while the guard is used :p
                    Niiiiiiice. :)
                    Frank R

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

                      This sounds crazy, but one thought I had was to automatically scan the Alpha access log for 404 errors or attempts to open particular files, typically main.php, then write that IP address in a blacklist. Alpha has a Deny by IP list, but it required restarting the server to initialize a new entry, so I would want to use something else like Apache or another service that listens to port 80 on the server.

                      Hey, then I could compete with the Cisco Guard!
                      Steve Wood
                      See my profile on IADN

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Thwarting DOS server attacks

                        Originally posted by Steve Wood View Post
                        ... then write that IP address in a blacklist. Alpha has a Deny by IP list, but it required restarting the server to initialize a new entry ...
                        It might be worth making a feature request for the server to refresh reading
                        the list every X interval of time.
                        Frank R

                        Comment

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