Software-Based Platform for Education and Training of DDoS Attacks Using Virtual Networks

Abstract

The education and training of security networks is an essential challenge for the academy, due to the vertiginous increase of threats and vulnerabilities. This study aims to implement a software-based experimental platform over virtual network environments, in order to stimulate teaching in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. We have used the theories of learning oriented to the experience, reflexive observation, and active experimentation of the students. This allowed to evaluate the learning objectives based on Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. From the software point of view, the experimental paradigm of Software Engineering has been applied, using Scrum as an agile methodology. During the development of the application, we implemented different roles including attackers, learners as well as victims in order to reconstruct and understand real attacks on IP networks. Hereby, for the role of attackers, we have used an interface to select the type of attack, while for the role of learners, we designed an intuitive interface that presents through natural language, to select possible firewall rules. This helped to learn, detect and mitigate potential attacks. Finally, for the role of victims, we included an analytical approach, which allowed to recognize online the impact of attacks on the performance of the computer system. The results demonstrate the functionality of the platform confirming that the introduced software meets the Usability criteria. Finally, our results present a network security learning, determined in terms of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.