How can you identify the source of a SYN flood attack?

Look for the IP in parallel to your response - typically, numerous IPs generate small traffic than one sending lots. Response includes configure load balancer and Firewall to discard high SYN requests, implement appropriate rate and SYN reply limits, consider using SYN cookies and honeypots, integrate failover servers, or build servers capable of handling significantly more load than anticipated can help and also future-proofs the system For a proactive approach, allocating budget for hosting critical servers with providers offering DOS/DDOS protection is advisable. Alternatively, subscribing to a DDOS service where the service provider manages the handshake process to critical IPs can be advantageous.

These attacks mess up the TCP handshake by sending tons of SYN packets to the server but never finishing the connection. This makes the server run out of resources and slow down or crash. To find out who’s behind the attack, you need to look at the symptoms on the server and check the network traffic with tools like netstat, ping, or tcpdump. These tools can help you spot weird patterns of SYN packets, like too many, too few, or fake source IP addresses. By following these packets, you can track down the source of the attack and stop it.

One key symptom is an unusually high volume of SYN packets compared to the normal traffic pattern. This can cause a significant increase in the number of half-open connections, leading to resource exhaustion on the targeted server more like the DOS attacks. Apart from this, there are other kinds of attacks as well namely; Direct SYN Flood Attacks, and SYN Spoofed Attacks.

Tools like Wireshark can filter and analyze network traffic to pinpoint the origin of the attack. Additionally, leveraging network flow data from routers and switches can provide insights into the flow of traffic and help trace the attack back to its source.

Increasing backlog queues buffers against SYN flood attacks by accommodating more connections. Filtering blocks malicious requests based on patterns or IPs. Reducing SYN-RECEIVED timers deallocates resources faster. SYN cache minimizes resource use by handling valid requests only. SYN cookies delay resource allocation until connection legitimacy is confirmed. Load balancers distribute traffic across servers, mitigating attacks. Firewalls and proxies filter traffic before reaching servers. Honeypots divert and study attacks, while rate limiting sets connection thresholds. Combining these techniques creates a layered defense. Cloud-based DDoS protection offloads and filters traffic, offering proactive defense against sophisticated attacks.