SDN-Based DDoS Detection and Mitigation

Level of Education of Students Involved

Graduate

Faculty Sponsor

Haydar Cukurtepe

College

College of Engineering (COE)

Discipline(s)

Network Security

ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-4670-4877

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-30-2026

Abstract

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks pose a persistent and growing threat to modern network infrastructure, capable of overwhelming resources and disrupting critical services. Traditional network architecture often lacks the flexibility and real-time visibility required to effectively counter such threats. Software-Defined Networking (SDN), with its separation of control and data planes, provides a programmable framework capable of real-time monitoring and dynamic traffic control. This paper proposes an SDN-based framework for DDoS detection and mitigation, implemented using the RYU controller and the Mininet network simulation environment. The proposed system continuously monitors network behavior through the collection and analysis of flow statistics, port statistics, and aggregated IP-level data to identify traffic anomalies associated with ICMP flooding, UDP flooding, TCP SYN flood, and mixed attack scenarios. An adaptive threshold-based detection mechanism is employed to distinguish malicious behavior from legitimate traffic, followed by automated mitigation actions to maintain normal network operations. Experimental results obtained from the simulation environment demonstrate the viability of the proposed approach. The findings suggest that SDN presents a promising foundation for building intelligent, real-time network defense systems capable of adapting to evolving DDoS threats.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

I am a graduate student in Information Technology and a Fulbright Foreign Student Program fellow. Since earning my bachelor’s degree in 2017, I have gained over eight years of experience in computer networking and system administration. My work revealed the critical role of secure networks as the backbone of modern communication. As Information and Communication Technology continues to expand exponentially, I am driven to advance my cybersecurity knowledge and help protect organizations from evolving digital threats.

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