Securing Application-Level Topology Estimation Networks: Facing the Frog-Boiling Attack

Abstract

Abstract. Peer-to-peer real-time communication and media streaming applications optimize their performance by using application-level topology estimation services such as virtual coordinate systems. Virtual coordinate systems allow nodes in a peer-to-peer network to accurately predict latency between arbitrary nodes without the need of performing extensive measurements. However, systems that leverage virtual coordinates as supporting building blocks, are prone to attacks conducted by compromised nodes that aim at disrupting, eavesdropping, or mangling with the underlying communications. Recent research proposed techniques to mitigate basic attacks (inflation, deflation, oscillation) considering a single attack strategy model where attackers perform only one type of attack. In this work we explore supervised machine learning techniques to mitigate more subtle yet highly effective attacks (frog-boiling, network-partition) that are able to bypass existing defenses. We evaluate our techniques on the Vivaldi system against a more complex attack strategy model, where attackers perform sequences of all known attacks against virtual coordinate systems, using both simulations and Internet deployments.

Securing Virtual Coordinates by Enforcing Physical Laws

“…bandwidth, storage for a tamper-evident log, and computation for public-key cryptography), we do not compare Newton with them. Becker et al [33] propose a method for detecting frog-boiling by using a machine learning approach, where through a training data set the system learns what normal and abnormal data is. In contrast, our approach has no need to train the system and can detect abnormal behavior directly due to the applied physical laws.…”

“…In contrast, our approach has no need to train the system and can detect abnormal behavior directly due to the applied physical laws. Furthermore, while [33] can detect attacks are occuring but not find and discard the updates that are causing it, Newton is able to do both.…”