A Reputation and Reward Scheme for a Cooperative Network Defense

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks rise in frequency, diversity, and intensity. Often, centralized defense approaches lack hard- and software capabilities. A cooperative, multi-domain DDoS mitigation system provides defense services on top of an existing, distributed infrastructure. However, participants in these systems lack incentives for cooperation and reputation. Thus, reward systems can fill this gap by providing necessary incentives for cooperation among service providers and consumers. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a reputation scheme for the Blockchain Signaling System (BloSS). A smart contract-enabled process automates reputation management to diminish malicious behavior by incentive design. Among other metrics, Beta reputation provides intelligence to identify and reward honest participants.