Smarter Defense Against Carpet-Bombing Attacks

As cyberthreats evolve, so must our defenses. One of the most effective forms of modern distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks is carpet bombing—a technique that spreads low-volume attack traffic across a wide range of IP addresses within a network. Unlike traditional DDoS attacks that target a single endpoint, carpet bombing floods entire subnets, making detection and mitigation significantly more challenging. These attacks can generate thousands of small alerts, overwhelming security teams and slipping past conventional defenses.  Traditional mitigation tools may either miss the attack entirely or respond too broadly, disrupting normal operations.

This is where NETSCOUT Arbor’s Adaptive DDoS Protection and Precise Protection Prefixes (PPPs) come into play. Together, they offer a dynamic, intelligent approach to identifying and neutralizing these stealthy attacks.

NETSCOUT’s Adaptive DDoS Protection leverages real-time analytics and machine learning to detect these subtle patterns. At the core of this system are PPPs—automatically generated IP ranges that pinpoint exactly where an attack is occurring. These prefixes are continuously updated as the attack evolves, ensuring that mitigation efforts remain accurate and effective.

When a carpet-bombing DDoS attack is detected, PPPs take the following actions:

• Quickly identify the specific prefixes under attack
• Redirect only the affected traffic to mitigation systems, avoiding unnecessary disruption by over-mitigation
• Continuously adapt by diverting new subnets and releasing others as the attack shifts, ensuring ongoing protection

This targeted approach not only improves mitigation accuracy but also reduces the strain on infrastructure and security operations center (SOC) teams. By consolidating thousands of alerts into a single, actionable response, organizations can respond faster and more effectively.

In a world where DDoS attacks are becoming more distributed and deceptive, Adaptive DDoS Protection with PPPs offers a smarter, more scalable defense against carpet-bombing attacks.

Learn about NETSCOUT’s smarter protection against carpet-bombing DDoS attacks.