450 Large Scale and Big Data
14.5.2 maChine-generateD attaCks anD iP size Distributions
Machine-generated attacks can be performed in various ways, depending on the
resources available, motivations, and skills of the attackers. For instance, if an
attacker controls a large number of hosts through a botnet, the attack can be highly
distributed across the available hosts to maximize the overall amount of trafc
generated while maintaining a low-activity prole for each individual host. This
type of attacks is referred to as botnet-based attacks. Conversely, if an attacker
controls a few hosts but still wants to generate a large amount of trafc, she can use
anonymizing proxies, such as TOR nodes, to hide the actual source IPs involved. This ...