As the victim of a smurf attack, what protection measure is the most effective during the attack?

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is an attack meant to shut down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended users. DoS attacks accomplish this by flooding the target with traffic, or sending it information that triggers a crash. In both instances, the DoS attack deprives legitimate users (i.e. employees, members, or account holders) of the service or resource they expected.

Victims of DoS attacks often target web servers of high-profile organizations such as banking, commerce, and media companies, or government and trade organizations. Though DoS attacks do not typically result in the theft or loss of significant information or other assets, they can cost the victim a great deal of time and money to handle.

There are two general methods of DoS attacks: flooding services or crashing services. Flood attacks occur when the system receives too much traffic for the server to buffer, causing them to slow down and eventually stop. Popular flood attacks include:

• Buffer overflow attacks – the most common DoS attack. The concept is to send more traffic to a network address than the programmers have built the system to handle. It includes the attacks listed below, in addition to others that are designed to exploit bugs specific to certain applications or networks
• ICMP flood – leverages misconfigured network devices by sending spoofed packets that ping every computer on the targeted network, instead of just one specific machine. The network is then triggered to amplify the traffic. This attack is also known as the smurf attack or ping of death.
• SYN flood – sends a request to connect to a server, but never completes the handshake. Continues until all open ports are saturated with requests and none are available for legitimate users to connect to.

Other DoS attacks simply exploit vulnerabilities that cause the target system or service to crash. In these attacks, input is sent that takes advantage of bugs in the target that subsequently crash or severely destabilize the system, so that it can’t be accessed or used.

An additional type of DoS attack is the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. A DDoS attack occurs when multiple systems orchestrate a synchronized DoS attack to a single target. The essential difference is that instead of being attacked from one location, the target is attacked from many locations at once. The distribution of hosts that defines a DDoS provide the attacker multiple advantages:

• He can leverage the greater volume of machine to execute a seriously disruptive attack
• The location of the attack is difficult to detect due to the random distribution of attacking systems (often worldwide)
• It is more difficult to shut down multiple machines than one
• The true attacking party is very difficult to identify, as they are disguised behind many (mostly compromised) systems

Modern security technologies have developed mechanisms to defend against most forms of DoS attacks, but due to the unique characteristics of DDoS, it is still regarded as an elevated threat and is of higher concern to organizations that fear being targeted by such an attack.

Smurf Attack Meaning

A smurf attack is a form of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that occurs at the network layer. Smurfing attacks are named after the malware DDoS.Smurf, which enables hackers to execute them. More widely, the attacks are named after the cartoon characters The Smurfs because of their ability to take down larger enemies by working together.

DDoS smurf attacks are similar in style to ping floods, which are a form of denial-of-service (DoS) attack. A hacker overloads computers with Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo requests, also known as pings. The ICMP determines whether data reaches the intended destination at the right time and monitors how well a network transmits data. A smurf attack also sends ICMP pings but is potentially more dangerous because it can exploit vulnerabilities in the Internet Protocol (IP) and the ICMP.

What Is the History of Smurf Attacks?

A smurf attack was originally a code written by well-known hacker Dan Moschuk, also known as TFreak. One of the first attacks to use this approach took place in 1998 and initially targeted the University of Minnesota. The attack caused a cyber traffic jam that also affected the Minnesota Regional Network, a statewide internet service provider (ISP). It resulted in computers across the state shutting down, slowed down networks, and contributed to data loss.

How Does a Smurf Attack Work?

An ICMP for smurf attack is a form of DDoS attack that overloads network resources by broadcasting ICMP echo requests to devices across the network. Devices that receive the request respond with echo replies, which creates a botnet situation that generates a high ICMP traffic rate. 

As a result, the server is flooded with data requests and ICMP packets, which overwhelm the computer network and make it inoperable. This can be particularly problematic for distributed computing systems, which allow devices to act as computing environments and enable users to access resources remotely.

A smurf attack works through the following three-step process:

1. The DDoS.Smurf malware creates a network data packet that attaches to a false IP address. This is known as spoofing.
2. The packet contains an ICMP ping message, which commands network nodes to send a reply.
3. This process, known as ICMP echoes, creates an infinite loop that overwhelms a network with constant requests.

What Are the Types of Smurf Attacks?

What does smurfing mean? The answer can depend on the types of DDoS attacks that occur, which typically take the form of a basic or advanced smurf attack.

Basic Smurf Attack

A basic smurf attack occurs when the attacker floods the target network with infinite ICMP request packets. Packets include a source address set to the network’s broadcast address, which prompts every device on the network that receives the request to issue a response. This causes a massive amount of traffic, which will eventually take the system down.

Advanced Smurf Attack

An advanced smurf attack starts as a basic attack. However, the echo requests are capable of configuring sources so they can respond to additional third-party victims. This enables attackers to target multiple victims simultaneously, which means they can slow down more extensive networks and target bigger groups of victims and larger sections of the web.

Smurf Attack Transmssion and Effects

The smurf attack Trojan horse or malware can be inadvertently transmitted by downloading software or applications from unverified websites or via infected or spoofed email links. Smurf attacks can also be bundled in rootkits, which enable hackers to create backdoors that help them easily gain unauthorized access to data and systems. 

The smurf program will typically remain hidden on the computer until activated by the attacker, enabling them to cripple networks and servers for days. Furthermore, a DoS smurf attack can often be the first step toward a more significant cyberattack, such as data theft.

How Fortinet Can Help?

Smurf attacks can be avoided by turning off IP broadcast addressing on all network routers. Defending against smurf attacks requires a threat prevention strategy that enables organizations to monitor network traffic, detect anomalous, suspicious, or malicious behavior, block malware, and shut down attacks before they begin.

The Fortinet FortiDDoS solution helps organizations keep their networks secure against smurf attacks and the misuse of ICMP. FortiDDoS is a dynamic, multi-layered solution that examines device behavior and flags any unusual activity to prevent potential attacks before they begin. It protects businesses from known and zero-day threats, is easy to deploy and manage, and provides comprehensive analysis and reporting. It can examine hundreds of thousands of data aspects simultaneously, which ensures a comprehensive defense against DDoS attacks.

What security mechanism can be used to detect attacks originating on the Internet?

Which of the following attacks tries to Associated incorrect MAC address with a known IP address?

Which of the following best describes a man in the middle attack?

Which of the following tools would you use to view the MAC addresses associated with IP addresses that the local workstation has contacted recently?