The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing iSCSI target
stealth operation. In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, a
method for prohibiting iSCSI discovery sessions may include the following
steps: (a) receiving an iSCSI login request; (b) determining whether the
iSCSI login request payload contains a "SessionType=Discovery" key/value
pair; and (c) when discovery sessions are disabled and the iSCSI login
request contains the "SessionType=Discovery" key/value pair, rejecting
the iSCSI login request with a iSCSI status-class of "Target Error" and
status-detail of "Session Type not Supported." The present stealth mode
may include the foregoing-described method for restricting the discovery
operation and a method for managing discovery and ancillary protocols
which may lead to denial of service attacks.