TARU PUBLICATIONS
Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography cover
Open Access ·Peer-reviewed·ISSN (Online): 2169-0065·ISSN (Print): 0972-0529

Monthly Journal: Publishes theoretical and applied research in all areas of Discrete Mathematical Sciences, Cryptography, Combinatorics, Elliptic Curves and Information Security.

Issues up to 2022 co-published with and available at:Taylor & Francis Online
submissions@tarupublications.com
Open Access Research Article

Secure flow authentication and CNN-based detection for DDoS mitigation in SDN

, , , * ,

* Corresponding author · click or hover a name for details

pp. 1503–1519Vol. 29Issue 3March 2026DOI: 10.47974/JDMSC-2628 Crossmark XML
Received:
01 Sep 2025
Published Online:
13 Mar 2026
Article type:
Research Article
Language:
EN
Article no.:
JDMSC-2628
Pages:
1503–1519

Abstract

By separating control plane from data plane, Software-Defined Networking has revolutionized network management by facilitating centralized control and increased network adaptability. DDoS in particular, are security flaws introduced by SDN that have the potential to seriously impair network services. This study presents a novel two-phase method for using CNN to increase the security of SDN settings. Establishing a secure authentication method that stops unauthorized nodes from accessing network services is the first step in reducing the risk of unauthorized access. The identification and mitigation of DDoS attacks launched by verified nodes is the focus of the second phase. For real-time traffic analysis, a CNN-based detection system is developed, trained on multiple datasets, including CICDDoS2019, and integrated into the SDN controller. Comprehensive tests utilizing simulation tools show how effective the suggested methodology is at improving detection accuracy, lowering false positive rates, and preserving network performance. This study provides a flexible, effective, and reliable approach to enhance DDoS detection and mitigation in SDN systems.

Keywords

Subject Classifications

68M2568P25

References

[1] V. G. Nguyen, A. Brunstrom, K. J. Grinnemo, and J. Taheri, “SDN/NFV-based mobile packet core network architectures: A survey,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 1567–1602 (2017), doi: 10.1109/COMST.2017.2690823.
[2] V. Varadharajan, K. Karmakar, U. Tupakula, and M. Hitchens, “A policy-based security architecture for software-defined networks,” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 897–912 (2019), doi: 10.1109/TIFS.2018.2866244.
[3] M. Dandotiya and R. R. S. Makwana, “DDoS attack detection and mitigation in SDN environment: A deep learning perspective,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Interdisciplinary Approaches in Technology and Management for Social Innovation (IATMSI), Gwalior, India, pp. 1–6 (2024), doi: 10.1109/IATMSI60426.2024.10502843.
[4] M. V. O. Assis, L. F. Carvalho, J. Lloret, and M. L. Proença, “A GRU deep learning system against attacks in software defined networks,” Journal of Network and Computer Applications, vol. 177, Art. no. 102942 (2021), doi: 10.1016/j.jnca.2020.102942.
[5] Y. Cao, H. Jiang, Y. Deng, J. Wu, P. Zhou, and W. Luo, “Detecting and mitigating DDoS attacks in SDN using spatial-temporal graph convolutional network,” IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 3571–3585 (Nov.–Dec. 2022), doi: 10.1109/TDSC.2021.3083075.
[6] M. Dandotiya and R. R. S. Makwana, “Improving network security with hybrid model for DDoS attack detection,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Blockchain and Distributed Systems Security (ICBDS), Pune, India, pp. 1–8 (2024), doi: 10.1109/ICBDS61829.2024.10837036.
[7] M. Dandotiya, A. Khunteta, and R. R. S. Makwana, “Enhancing SDN security: Mitigating DDoS attacks with robust authentication and Shapley analysis,” Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 249–265 (2025), doi: 10.47974/JDMSC-2219.
[8] V. K. Singh, “DDoS attack detection and mitigation using statistical and machine learning methods in SDN,” M.S. thesis, College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (2020).
[9] M. Dandotiya, P. Rahi, A. Khunteta, A. Anushya, and S. S. Ahmad, “SAFE: A secure authenticated and integrated framework for e-learning,” in Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Information Management & Machine Intelligence (ICIMMI), New York, NY, USA: ACM, Art. no. 89, pp. 1–9 (2023), doi: 10.1145/3590837.3590926.
[10] M. Dandotiya and R. R. S. Makwana, “Secured DDoS attack detection in SDN using TS-RBDM with MDPP-Streebog based user authentication,” Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies, vol. 36, Art. no. e70052 (2025), doi: 10.1002/ett.70052.
[11] M. A. Ribeiro, M. S. P. Fonseca, and J. de Santi, “Detecting and mitigating DDoS attacks with moving target defense approach based on automated flow classification in SDN networks,” Computers & Security, vol. 124, Art. no. 102974 (2023), doi: 10.1016/j.cose.2022.102974.
[12] B. Venkatesh and J. Anuradha, “A review of feature selection and its methods,” Cybernetics and Information Technologies, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 3–26 (2019), doi: 10.2478/cait-2019-0001.
[13] R. F. Fouladi, O. Ermiş, and E. Anarim, “A DDoS attack detection and defense scheme using time-series analysis for SDN,” Journal of Information Security and Applications, vol. 50, Art. no. 102402 (2020), doi: 10.1016/j.jisa.2019.102402.
[14] K. Karthick, G. Kiruthiga, P. Ms Saraswathi, B. Dhiyanesh, and R. Radha, “Subset scaling recursive feature collection based DDoS detection using behavioural based ideal neural network for cloud security,” Int. J. Cloud Applications and Computing, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1–16 (2022).
[15] H. Alubaidan, R. Alzaher, M. AlQhatani, and R. Mohammed, “DDoS detection in software-defined network using machine learning,” International Journal of Cybernetics and Informatics, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 23–36 (2023).
[16] S. S. Samaan and H. A. Jeiad, “Feature-based real-time DDoS detection in SDN using machine learning and Spark,” Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 1089–1098 (2023), doi: 10.11591/eei.v12i2.4531.
[17] H. Zhou, Y. Zheng, X. Jia, and J. Shu, “Collaborative prediction and detection of DDoS attacks in edge computing using distributed SDN,” Computer Networks, vol. 227, Art. no. 109708 (2023), doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2023.109708.
[18] T. A. Tang, L. Mhamdi, D. McLernon, S. A. R. Zaidi, and M. Ghogho, “Intrusion detection in SDN-based networks using deep recurrent neural networks,” in Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications, M. Alazab and M. Tang, Eds., Springer, pp. 175–195 (2019), doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00024-5_9.
[19] T. Khempetch and P. Wuttidittachotti, “DDoS attack detection using deep learning,” IAES International Journal of Artificial Intelligence, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 358–367 (2021), doi: 10.11591/ijai.v10.i2.pp358-367.
[20] M. Al-Jarah, M. Al-Shurman, and B. Al-Duwairi, “Attention-based deep learning approach for detecting IoT botnet-based DDoS attacks,” Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 1785–1815 (2024), doi: 10.47974/JDMSC-1729.
[21] T. Peng, C. Leckie, and K. Ramamohanarao, “Proactively detecting distributed denial of service attacks using source IP address monitoring,” in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3224, Springer, pp. 177–189 (2004), doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-24693-0_63.
[22] G. Mittal, S. Kumar, S. Kumar, S. Narayan, and Y. K. Gupta, “Secure public key encryption and key encapsulation mechanism based on group ring learning with errors problem,” Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 2797–2810 (2025), doi:10.47974/JDMSC-2131.
[23] M. Dandotiya, A. S. Dandotiya, N. Dandotiya, and A. Sahu, “A secure detection framework for ARP, DHCP, and DoS attacks on Kali Linux,” International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 3044–3053 (Jul. 2022), doi:10.22214/ijraset.2022.42176.
[24] S. V. Joshi, N. Wagh, J. R. R. Kumar, D. Dongre, and A. P. Baligar, “Mitigating DDoS attacks using an intrusion detection and prevention system based on two-player Bayesian game theory,” Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, vol. 27, no. 2-B, pp. 809–820 (2024), doi:10.47974/JDMSC-1957.
[25] O. Wardak, S. Kumar, and D. Sinha, “Encryption and decryption scheme through signed Cayley graph,” Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 2811–2825 (2025), doi: 10.47974/JDMSC-2201.
[26] Z. S. Alsham, E. Bahçekapılı, and A. Ayaz, “Trends in IoT applications in smart campuses: A topic modeling approach,” COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 21–40 (2025), doi: 10.47974/CJSIM-2024-017.
[27] G. Mustafa and M. T. Afzal, “Formulating rules to identify key researchers in computer science: A quantitative approach,” COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 91–122 (2025), doi: 10.47974/CJSIM-2024-11007.
[28] S. Gautam, S. S. Gaur, and S. Masood, “A comparative study of certificate and certificate-less cryptographic algorithms and their energy consumption analysis in wireless sensor networks,” TARU Journal of Computer Dynamics & Technological Advances, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 85–100 (2019), doi: 10.47974/2019.TJCDTA.004.
[29] B. Farzana, R. Rafiya, A. Rahman, I. Siddiq, and Sameena, “Frontiers in fintech risk management: A collaborative research platform for a secure future,” Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 2423–2433 (2025), doi: 10.47974/JIOS-2057.
[30] K. Sharma, S. Bhatt, and M. Khari, “Empirical study on network exploitation tools and vulnerability detection tools,” Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 1439–1458 (2025), doi: 10.47974/JIOS-1508.

Views: 246Downloads: 130Citations: 0