QSM: a quick shuffling method for defending against low-rate denial of service attacks in microservice systems

Microservice architecture, renowned for its flexible scalability and loose coupling, has seen widespread adoption. However, this architecture has also become a prime target for network attackers, with low-rate denial of service (LDoS) attacks posing significant threats to microservice systems. Due to their covert nature, traditional passive defense methods often fall short in countering LDoS attacks. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a microservice-oriented quick shuffling method (QSM), based on the moving target defense (MTD) principle. The QSM framework leverages the dynamic and flexible properties of microservices to implement a rapid shuffling mechanism, ensuring the protection of innocent clients. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of QSM in robustly defending microservice systems against LDoS attacks.