performing-bandwidth-throttling-attack-simulation

name	performing-bandwidth-throttling-attack-simulation
description	Simulate bandwidth throttling and network degradation attacks using tc, iperf3, and Scapy in authorized lab environments to test QoS controls, application resilience, and monitoring detection of traffic manipulation. Use when validating how VoIP, video, or other real-time applications and network monitoring tools respond to degraded bandwidth or slowloris-style throttling attacks.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	network-security
tags	["network-security","bandwidth-throttling","qos","traffic-shaping","network-resilience"]
version	1.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0
nist_csf	["PR.IR-01","DE.CM-01","ID.AM-03","PR.DS-02"]
mitre_attack	["T1046","T1040","T1557","T1071"]

Performing Bandwidth Throttling Attack Simulation

When to Use

• Testing application resilience to degraded network conditions during authorized security assessments
• Validating QoS policies detect and mitigate unauthorized traffic shaping on the network
• Simulating network slowloris-style attacks that degrade bandwidth rather than causing complete outages
• Assessing the impact of bandwidth-based attacks on VoIP, video conferencing, and real-time applications
• Testing network monitoring tools' ability to detect abnormal bandwidth utilization patterns

Do not use on production networks without authorization and a maintenance window, for causing denial-of-service conditions, or against critical infrastructure without safety controls.

Prerequisites

• Written authorization for bandwidth manipulation testing
• Linux system with tc (traffic control), netem, and iptables
• iperf3 installed on both tester and target systems for bandwidth measurement
• MITM position established (ARP spoofing) for traffic interception scenarios
• Network monitoring tools deployed for detecting the simulation
• Baseline bandwidth measurements before testing

Legal Notice: This skill is for authorized security testing and educational purposes only. Unauthorized use against systems you do not own or have written permission to test is illegal and may violate computer fraud laws.

Workflow

Step 1: Establish Baseline Bandwidth Measurements

# Start iperf3 server on the target
iperf3 -s -p 5201

# Measure baseline bandwidth from the tester
iperf3 -c 10.10.20.10 -t 30 -P 4 -p 5201
# Record: bandwidth, jitter, packet loss

# Measure baseline latency
ping -c 100 10.10.20.10 | tail -1
# Record: min/avg/max/mdev

# Measure baseline jitter with UDP test
iperf3 -c 10.10.20.10 -u -b 100M -t 10 -p 5201
# Record: jitter and packet loss percentage

# Document baseline values
echo "Baseline: BW=$(iperf3 -c 10.10.20.10 -t 10 -f m | tail -1 | awk '{print $7}') Mbps" > baseline.txt
echo "Latency: $(ping -c 50 10.10.20.10 | tail -1)" >> baseline.txt