Infrastructure & Network Security

DDoS Testing & Mitigation Advisory

  • May 9, 2025
  • 0

Sherlocked Security – DDoS Testing & Mitigation Advisory

Resilience Under Fire: Simulate, Assess, and Harden Your Network Against DDoS Attacks

1. Statement of Work (SOW)

Service Name: DDoS Testing & Mitigation Advisory
Client Type: High-Availability Platforms, SaaS Providers, Finance, Telcos, eCommerce
Service Model: Controlled Simulation + Advisory / Readiness Assessment / Playbook Development
Compliance Alignment: ISO 27001, NIST SP 800-61, PCI-DSS 4.x (Resilience), FFIEC

Scope Includes:

  • Volumetric DDoS (UDP floods, amplification)
  • Protocol-based Attacks (SYN floods, Slowloris, malformed packets)
  • Application-Layer DDoS (HTTP/S GET/POST, DNS exhaustion)
  • State-Exhaustion Attacks (Firewall/Load Balancer overload)
  • Cloud-based DoS surface (e.g., AWS/GCP/Azure public endpoints)

2. Our Approach

[Test Simulation] → [Mitigation Assessment] → [Tooling & Control Review] → [Playbook Creation] → [Executive Debrief]

3. Methodology

  • Discovery & Scoping

    • Identify critical services, DNS zones, edge IPs, CDNs, and DDoS protection providers (if any)
    • Coordinate safe testing windows and whitelist test IPs

  • Threat Modeling

    • Map realistic DDoS scenarios based on industry, exposure, and known attacker TTPs
    • Align attack types with past incidents or intelligence

  • Controlled Attack Simulation (No-damage test model)

    • Use safe tooling (e.g., LOIC variants, Hping3, BoNeSi, custom scripts)
    • Inject low-rate bursts or emulate flood patterns without disruption

  • Mitigation Capability Assessment

    • Observe behavior of cloud WAFs, edge routers, scrubbing centers, load balancers
    • Test rate-limiting, geo/IP filtering, SYN cookies, and anomaly detection

  • Response Process Review

    • Evaluate detection time, alerting, IR escalation, and containment
    • Validate runbooks and responsible personnel readiness

  • Mitigation Strategy Design

    • Recommend hybrid defense approach: on-prem + cloud scrubbing
    • Define traffic diversion thresholds and signal automation

4. Deliverables

  • DDoS Threat Model & Attack Matrix
  • Safe Simulation Results Summary
  • Protection Gap Analysis
  • Configuration Review of Edge Defenses
  • Cloud DDoS/WAF Service Recommendations
  • Response Runbook (with Escalation Paths)
  • Executive Summary with RTO/RPO Insights
  • Optional: Annual DDoS Simulation Plan

5. Client Requirements

  • List of publicly exposed IPs, URLs, DNS records
  • DDoS protection tools in use (Cloudflare, AWS Shield, Arbor, etc.)
  • Network diagrams (edge to app)
  • Contact list for real-time testing coordination
  • Change freeze windows (if applicable)
  • Legal/insurance approval (for simulation testing)

6. Tools & Technology Stack

  • Simulation: Hping3, BoNeSi, SlowHTTPTest, LOIC/NLOIC (in controlled environments)
  • Monitoring: NetFlow, Zabbix, Grafana, ELK, Cloud provider dashboards
  • Protection Platforms: AWS Shield/CloudFront, Azure DDoS Protection, Cloudflare, Arbor Peakflow, F5 Silverline
  • SIEM Integration: Splunk, Sentinel, QRadar

7. Engagement Lifecycle

  1. Scope Review & Discovery
  2. DDoS Threat Modeling
  3. Simulation Planning & Approval
  4. Controlled Testing Execution
  5. Monitoring & Mitigation Review
  6. Remediation & Tooling Advisory
  7. Runbook Development & Handoff

8. Why Sherlocked?

Feature Advantage
Safe, Controlled Testing We simulate without taking production down
Platform-Agnostic Expertise Experience with AWS, Azure, GCP, and hybrid networks
End-to-End Resilience From mitigation tuning to IR playbooks
Attack-Informed Design Tests based on real-world attack vectors and TTPs

9. Case Studies

Global eCommerce Platform – Cloud DDoS Readiness

Problem: Lacked confidence in AWS Shield protections during high-traffic sales events
Solution: Simulated low-rate volumetric and HTTP floods across multiple regions
Outcome: Improved alerting, tuned rate limits, and validated AWS WAF rules

Regional Bank – Application-Layer DDoS Gap

Problem: HTTPS login form targeted by botnet
Solution: Simulated POST-based slow attacks, enhanced CAPTCHA, integrated App Firewall
Outcome: Reduced auth-layer resource usage by 80% under stress

10. SOP – Standard Operating Procedure

  1. Pre-Engagement

    • Gather external footprint and confirm downtime policy
    • Secure written approval and define test scope

  2. Test Preparation

    • Whitelist IPs, validate mitigation controls are in passive mode
    • Baseline latency, bandwidth, and error rates

  3. Controlled Attack Execution

    • Gradually escalate traffic patterns across types (TCP, UDP, HTTP)
    • Monitor packet drops, CPU load, service availability

  4. Observation & Response Evaluation

    • Assess IR team’s response, alert timelines, and mitigation effectiveness

  5. Post-Engagement Reporting

    • Document findings, gaps, and protection effectiveness
    • Recommend new tooling, rules, or escalation thresholds

  6. Playbook Development

    • Deliver detailed runbooks for detection, triage, mitigation, and communication

11. DDoS Readiness Checklist

Pre-Test

  • [ ] External DNS/IPs documented
  • [ ] Legal approval for testing
  • [ ] IR team notified and ready
  • [ ] Monitoring tools baseline established

During Test

  • [ ] Simulate volumetric and app-layer patterns
  • [ ] Observe protection tool behavior
  • [ ] Measure latency, throughput, error rates

Post-Test

  • [ ] Evaluate alerting and mitigation response
  • [ ] Identify missed thresholds or false negatives
  • [ ] Update detection logic and response runbook

Continuous Improvement

  • [ ] Quarterly simulation planning
  • [ ] Review cloud provider protection updates
  • [ ] Maintain response team readiness and documentation
Network Architecture Review
Endpoint Detection & Response