LINX Protect - Remote Trigger Black Hole (RTBH)

Overview 

LINX Protect is our free dedicated DDoS mitigation service, designed to help keep member networks secure and running smoothly. 

Available to all members peering via LINX route servers, by using Remotely Triggered Black Hole filtering, the member diverts harmful traffic away from their infrastructure, minimising disruption, maintaining service availability, and safeguarding their network. 

Remote Triggered Black Hole (RTBH), often called RTBH filtering, is a network defence technique used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and large networks to mitigate DDoS attacks by intentionally dropping traffic destined for a targeted IP address. 

Instead of letting an attack overwhelm routers, firewalls, or servers, the network “blackholes” the traffic, so that it is discarded before it reaches the victim. 

RTBH is widely used by ISPs, large enterprises, and backbone networks because it is fast, scalable, and router-based, requiring no specialized hardware. 

RTBH is usually considered a “last resort” emergency control when an attack is overwhelming the network. 

How LINX Protect - Remote Trigger Black Hole (RTBH) works? 

• If a member who peers with the route-servers is suffering from a DDOS attack on his network 

• The member would need to announce the affected prefix to the route-server.  

• This affected prefix will be picked up by the route-servers, and the next-hop is rewritten to that of a Blackhole next-hop.  

• The prefix with the new rewritten next-hop is then announced to all other members so the DDOS is then forwarded to the Blackhole next-hop instead of the victim member.  

• The member is then able to announce the less specifics of their network without been affected. 

Why Choose LINX Protect - Remote Trigger Black Hole (RTBH)? 

• Free for all LINX members using route servers 

• Helps maintain uptime and service reliability 

• Reduces the impact of malicious traffic on your network 

• No additional hardware required 

• Enhances overall network resilience and security 

 Key Features 

Available across the following LINX Fabrics: 

• London LON1 

• London LON2 

• LINX Manchester 

• LINX NoVA 

• LINX Nairobi 

• LINX Mombasa 

• LINX Scotland  

• LINX Wales 

• LINX Accra 

Summary 

• Remote Triggered Black Hole is a BGP-based method to quickly drop traffic to a targeted IP during a DDoS attack, protecting the network by discarding attack traffic. 

• For more information on the technical details, please click here.