To simulate Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) projects in NS2 have includes configuring a network topology that identify and mitigate malicious activities in real-time environment. Unlike Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), that only identifies and warns, IPS can take proactive actions like dropping packets or bottleneck the attackers.
Here, we provide the detailed guide on how to simulate IPS projects in NS2.
Steps to Simulate Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) in NS2
- Install NS2:
- Make sure that we have NS2 installed. NS2 is usually available for Linux; however we can also install it on Windows using Cygwin or utilize a virtual machine processing Linux.
- Define the Network Topology:
- Implement a simple or complex network topology that contain legitimate users, an attacker, the IPS node (responsible for prevention), and a server or network segment that requires protection.
Example Topology:
set ns [new Simulator]
set n0 [$ns node] ;# Legitimate Client
set n1 [$ns node] ;# Attacker Node
set n2 [$ns node] ;# IPS Node
set n3 [$ns node] ;# Server Node
# Create links between nodes
$ns duplex-link $n0 $n2 10Mb 10ms DropTail
$ns duplex-link $n1 $n2 10Mb 10ms DropTail
$ns duplex-link $n2 $n3 100Mb 10ms DropTail
- Implement the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS):
- The IPS node (n2) will monitor incoming traffic and proactively drop malicious packets or bottleneck the attacker’s IP address. We can replicate these features by set up packet filters or validating traffic patterns at the IPS node.
Example of Filtering Packets at IPS:
# Queue configuration for monitoring traffic at IPS
set q [new Queue/DropTail]
$ns queue-limit $n2 $n3 50 ;# Limit queue size at IPS node to 50 packets
# Monitoring and filtering packets based on source IP or content
proc check_traffic { src dst } {
# Check if source is the attacker (n1), if true, drop packet
if {$src == “n1”} {
drop_packet
} else {
forward_packet
}
}
# Example action for dropping packets from attacker (n1)
proc drop_packet {} {
puts “Malicious packet detected and dropped by IPS”
}
# Example action for forwarding legitimate packets
proc forward_packet {} {
puts “Legitimate packet forwarded by IPS”
}
- Simulate an Attack:
- We require simulating the attacker’s behaviour to validate the IPS. This can contain flooding attacks, malicious packet injections, or any other form of network attack.
Example: Simulating an Attacker Sending Malicious Traffic
set udp [new Agent/UDP]
set null [new Agent/Null]
$ns attach-agent $n1 $udp
$ns attach-agent $n3 $null
$ns connect $udp $null
# Attacker starts sending packets at 1 second
$ns at 1.0 “$udp send 1000”
- Configure IPS Actions (Packet Dropping, Blocking IPs):
- Once the attack is identified by the IPS, it should weather drop the packet or bottleneck the attacker’s prospect traffic by filtering out packets from the attacker’s IP address.
Example: Blocking Attacker IP
proc block_attacker {} {
# Block further packets from the attacker node (n1)
$ns detach-agent $n1 $udp
puts “Attacker blocked by IPS”
}
# Block attacker after detecting malicious activity
$ns at 2.0 “block_attacker”
- Monitoring and Trace File Generation:
- NS2 enable you to create trace files in which the log network events like packet drops or blocked connections that can be utilized for measurements and evaluation of the IPS.
Example: Logging Events to a Trace File
set tracefile [open ips_simulation.tr w]
$ns trace-all $tracefile
This trace file will log details about that packets were dropped or forwarded, facilitating you measure the performance of the IPS.
- Run the Simulation:
- Execute the simulation to see how the IPS reacts to the attack.
$ns run
- Analyse Results:
- After the simulation is done, evaluate the trace file or output logs to assess how effectively the IPS mitigates the attack. Look at parameters like the amount of dropped packets, latency, throughput, and packet loss.
We can utilize tools such as awk and xgraph to process the trace files and envision the outcomes:
awk -f process_trace.awk ips_simulation.tr > results.txt
xgraph results.txt
Advanced Scenarios
- Rate-Limiting Mechanism: Execute rate-limiting at the IPS to mitigate DDoS attacks by restraining the amount of requests a node can transmit in a given time window.
- Content-Based Filtering: Replicate packet inspection according to payload content, dropping packets that include certain malicious payloads such as SQL injection or buffer overflow attempts.
- Behaviour-Based IPS: Construct more advanced IPS mechanisms that understand and adjust to attackers’ behaviour by keeping statistics or using machine learning techniques for detection.
Example Projects
- IPS for DDoS Mitigation: Implement a large-scale DDoS attack and execute rate-limiting approaches at the IPS to manage massive amounts of traffic.
- Content-Based Intrusion Prevention: Mimic a network in which IPS examine traffic payloads and bottlenecks the packets according to malicious patterns such as malware signatures.
- Behavior-Based IPS: Utilize a heuristic or rule-based system to identify abnormal traffic patterns and drop traffic from sources demonstrating malicious behaviour.
Evaluation Metrics
When simulating IPS systems, key performance indicators to measure that involve:
- Detection Rate: Percentage of attack packets classified by the IPS.
- False Positives/Negatives: Rate of legitimate traffic inappropriately flagged as malicious and vice versa.
- Throughput: Number of legitimate data processed by the IPS.
- Latency: Latency established by the IPS in forwarding packets.
- Packet Drop Rate: Amount of attack packets dropped by the IPS.
Through this procedure, we had successfully delivered the Intrusion Prevention Systems Projects with the help of ns2 tool. An Intrusion Prevention System project using NS2 offers a variety of strategies to detect, warn and block challenges in a network. We can also offer additional information of this project over another simulation manual. You can always count on us for the best help with Intrusion Prevention Projects. At phdprime.com, we offer personalized support to fit your unique requirements.
