A comprehensive survey on DDoS detection, mitigation, and defense strategies in software-defined networks

Abstract

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has become increasingly prevalent in cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and various environments to optimize network efficiency. While it provides a flexible network infrastructure, it also faces security threats, particularly from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks due to its centralized design. This survey comprehensively reviews the efforts of various researchers in safeguarding SDN against DDoS attacks and analyzes different detection and mitigation strategies employed in SDN environments. Furthermore, the survey explores various types of DDoS attacks that can occur across different planes and communication links in SDN. Additionally, emerging security measures for preventing DDoS attacks in SDN are examined. The survey also reviews the datasets, tools, and simulators used for detecting DDoS attacks in SDN. Moreover, the survey identifies various open challenges in detecting and mitigating DDoS attacks in SDN and outlines potential future research directions. Lastly, the survey provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of various DDoS detection techniques based on various essential parameters.