Method of preventing TCP-based denial-of-service attacks on mobile devices

• US 9,055,099 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2007
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung SDS (China) Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung SDS (China) Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Yoo, In Seon
• Primary Examiner(s): SHOLEMAN, ABU S
• Application Number:
  US12/672,408
• Publication Number:
  US 20100299753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,825 Days
• Field of Search: 726 23- 25, 713/163
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Provided is a method of preventing a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-based Denial of Service (DoS) attack on a mobile device. The method efficiently prevents a DoS attack on a mobile device, which wirelessly and constantly transmits TCP packets to the mobile device using a TCP protocol and thereby exhausts resources of a wireless network and also battery power of the mobile device depending on a battery. An attack conventionally made in a wired network by abusing TCP-based three-way handshaking is more severe in the wireless network of mobile devices. To prevent such an attack on a mobile device, the method capable of checking three-way handshaking and each transition operation makes the mobile device check whether or not a received TCP packet is valid. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently prevent a DoS attack from exhausting wireless resources and battery power of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of preventing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by checking flow of packets transmitted between a base station and a mobile station using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting, at the mobile station, a connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station when the base station transmits a connection request SYN packet for a TCP connection to the mobile station, and the mobile station receives the transmitted connection request SYN packet;

transmitting, at the base station, an acknowledgement ACK_—

2 packet corresponding to the connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the mobile station when the transmitted connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet is received;

establishing the TCP connection when the mobile station receives the transmitted acknowledgement ACK_—

2 packet; and

determining that the established TCP connection is abnormal and terminating the established TCP connection if the mobile station receives a packet, in which a reset RST or connection request SYN flag is set, transmitted from the base station, wherein when the TCP connection is established, and then the mobile station cannot receive any packet during a previously set timeout period, the base station is determined to have abnormally terminated the TCP connection, and the mobile station safely terminates the TCP connection.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the timeout period is set to 0.5 seconds.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program capable of executing the method according to claim 1.

3. A method of preventing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by checking flow of packets transmitted between a base station and a mobile device using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, the method comprising the steps of

transmitting, at the mobile device, a connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station when the base station transmits a connection request SYN packet for a TCP connection to the mobile device, and then the mobile device receives the transmitted connection request SYN packet;

receiving, at the base station, the transmitted connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet and then, in response to the SYN/ACK_—

1 packet, transmitting a finish FIN packet to the mobile device; and

determining that the TCP connection is abnormal and terminating the TCP connection if the mobile device receives the transmitted finish FIN packet, wherein when the mobile device cannot receive any packet during a previously set timeout period after transmitting the connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station, the base station is determined to have abnormally terminated the TCP connection, and the mobile device safely terminates the TCP connection.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program capable of executing the method according to claim 3.

11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the timeout period is set to 0.5 seconds.

4. A method of preventing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by checking flow of packets transmitted between a base station and a mobile device using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, the method comprising the steps of

transmitting, at the mobile device, a connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station when the base station transmits a connection request SYN packet for a TCP connection to the mobile device, and then the mobile device receives the transmitted connection request SYN packet;

receiving, at the base station, the transmitted connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet and then, in response to the SYN/ACK_—

1 packet, transmitting an acknowledgement finish ACK_—

2/FIN packet, in which an acknowledgement ACK_—

2 flag corresponding to the connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet and a FIN flag are set, to the mobile device; and

determining that the TCP connection is abnormal and terminating the TCP connection if the mobile device receives the transmitted acknowledgement finish ACK_—

2/FIN packet, wherein when the mobile device cannot receive any packet during a previously set timeout period after transmitting the connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station, the base station is determined to have abnormally terminated the TCP connection, and the mobile device safely terminates the TCP connection.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program capable of executing the method according to claim 4.

12. The method according to claim 4, wherein the timeout period is set to 0.5 seconds.

5. A method of preventing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by checking flow of packets transmitted between a base station and a mobile device using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting, at the mobile device, a connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station when the base station transmits a connection request SYN packet for a TCP connection to the mobile device, and then the mobile device receives the transmitted connection request SYN packet;

receiving, at the base station, the transmitted connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet and then, in response to the SYN/ACK_—

1 packet, retransmitting the connection request SYN packet to the mobile device; and

determining that the TCP connection is abnormal and terminating the TCP connection if the mobile device receives the retransmitted connection request SYN packet, wherein when the mobile device cannot receive any packet during a previously set timeout period after transmitting the connection request acknowledgement SYN/ACK_—

1 packet to the base station, the base station is determined to have abnormally terminated the TCP connection, and the mobile device safely terminates the TCP connection.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the timeout period is set to 0.5 seconds.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program capable of executing the method according to claim 5.