Crossfire Attack Detection in 6G Networks with the Internet of Things (IoT)

As the internet plays an increasingly vital role in our daily lives, the threat of denial of service (DoS) attacks continues to loom, posing significant challenges to network security. With the proliferation of internet-of-things (IoT) devices, including those in the healthcare sector (IoMT), the need to secure these networks becomes even more critical. The emergence of Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) servers has shifted the focus toward processing data near the network edge to alleviate network congestion. However, a new form of DoS attack, known as the crossfire attack, presents a complex challenge as it is difficult to detect and can have devastating effects on networks. While Software Defined Networks (SDNs) offer promise in mitigating DoS attacks, they also introduce vulnerabilities of their own. This paper explores the current landscape of IoT, IoMT, DoS attacks, and crossfire attacks. It discusses existing defense strategies and proposes a defense mechanism that leverages packet header inspection to differentiate between adversarial and benign packets. The paper concludes with the execution of a crossfire attack in a Mininet environment with the RYU SDN controller, highlighting the need for multiple approaches to protect critical servers in the face of persistent DDoS attacks.