A Multi-resolution Port Scan Detection Technique for High-speed Networks

Abstract

In this paper, we present a novel failed flow dispersion estimation technique, called multi-window state map (MWSM), which requires a small amount of memory and a constant number of memory accesses for implementing the multi-resolution concept (e.g., MRDS). We then extended the proposed MWSM scheme into a complete port scan detector. The simulation results with real-world traffic traces indicate that the proposed estimation technique manages the expected relative error and average standard error of less than 0.8% and 9%, respectively, while limiting the memory consumption to less than 60% of MRDS. In addition, the number of false positives decreases by 61% compared to a scan detector based on MRDS when it is extended to a complete scan detector. Owing to its simple mechanism and architecture, the proposed technique is well suited to hardware implementation. Therefore, we believe that the proposed technique is practically viable in modern high-speed intrusion detection systems.