Tag Archives: enterprise firewall

DoS technique lets a single laptop take down an enterprise firewall

ICMP Type 3 Code 3 packets can overload firewalls, researchers warn.

DoS technique, enterprise firewall

Credit: Gerd Altmann / Pixabay

At a time when the size of distributed denial-of-service attacks has reached unprecedented levels, researchers have found a new attack technique in the wild. That allows a single laptop to take down high-bandwidth enterprise firewalls.

The attack, dubbed BlackNurse, involves sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets of a particular type and code. ICMP is commonly used for the ping network diagnostic utility. And attacks that try to overload a system with ping messages, known as ping floods. Use ICMP Type 8 Code 0 packets.