How to Implement Network Cybersecurity Auditing in NS2

To implement the Network Cybersecurity Auditing in NS2, we need to imitate the processes of monitoring, recording and evaluating network events to make certain that each security features, traffic and incidents are correctly stored. The intent is to identify, react to, and prevent capable cybersecurity challenges by possessing an audit trail of all network actions. This trail can be used for compliance with standards like NIST, ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, or HIPAA, where upholding records and tracking network events is vital.

Follow the guide to know about how to implement Network Cybersecurity Auditing in NS2:

Step-by-Step Implementation:

1. Set Up NS2

Make certain that NS2 is installed on your system. You can install it using the given command:

sudo apt-get install ns2

2. Define the Network Topology

First, we have to configure a network contains user nodes, a server and security elements like firewalls, IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Prevention System) and an auditing node that observes and stores all behaviors in the network.

set ns [new Simulator]

set tracefile [open cybersecurity_auditing.tr w]

$ns trace-all $tracefile

# Create network nodes

set user [$ns node]         ;# User node

set attacker [$ns node]      ;# Attacker node

set server [$ns node]        ;# Server node

set firewall [$ns node]      ;# Firewall node

set ids_node [$ns node]      ;# IDS node

set audit_node [$ns node]    ;# Auditing system node

# Create links between nodes

$ns duplex-link $user $firewall 1Mb 10ms DropTail  ;# User to firewall

$ns duplex-link $attacker $firewall 1Mb 10ms DropTail  ;# Attacker to firewall

$ns duplex-link $firewall $ids_node 1Mb 10ms DropTail  ;# Firewall to IDS

$ns duplex-link $ids_node $audit_node 1Mb 10ms DropTail  ;# IDS to auditing system

$ns duplex-link $ids_node $server 1Mb 10ms DropTail  ;# IDS to server

3. Implement Traffic Filtering and Intrusion Detection

The firewall and IDS will be accountable for filtering traffic and identifying any anomalies, which will then be logged by the auditing system.

(A) Firewall for Traffic Filtering

The firewall observes traffic and blocks packets that don’t comply with specified security rules like packet size or source IP.

# Function to simulate firewall filtering based on packet size and IP address

proc firewall_filter {packet_size threshold src_ip allowed_ips} {

if { $packet_size > $threshold || [lsearch -exact $allowed_ips $src_ip] == -1 } {

puts “Firewall: Blocking traffic from $src_ip with packet size $packet_size”

return 1  ;# Traffic blocked

} else {

puts “Firewall: Allowing traffic from $src_ip with packet size $packet_size”

return 0  ;# Traffic allowed

}

}

# Set allowed IPs and packet size threshold for the firewall

set allowed_ips {user_ip}

set threshold 512

# Simulate firewall filtering

$ns at 1.5 “firewall_filter 512 $threshold user_ip $allowed_ips”   ;# Normal traffic (allowed)

$ns at 2.5 “firewall_filter 1024 $threshold attacker_ip $allowed_ips”  ;# Malicious traffic (blocked)

(B) IDS for Intrusion Detection

The IDS see the traffic for signs of malicious activity like illegal access or abnormal traffic patterns, and raises alerts when suspicious actions is identified.

# Function to simulate IDS detection based on traffic patterns

proc ids_detect {packet_size threshold} {

if { $packet_size > $threshold } {

puts “IDS: Intrusion detected! Packet size $packet_size exceeds threshold”

return 1  ;# Intrusion detected

} else {

puts “IDS: Normal traffic”

return 0  ;# No intrusion

}

}

# Simulate IDS inspecting traffic

$ns at 3.0 “ids_detect 1024 $threshold”  ;# Malicious traffic detected by IDS

4. Implement Cybersecurity Auditing

The auditing system will log all network events as well as traffic filtering, intrusion detection, and any abnormal activity that activates security mechanisms. The logs will serve as an audit trail for future analysis.

(A) Logging Events

Each time the firewall or IDS takes action, the event is recorded by the auditing system.

# Function to simulate logging of security events for auditing

proc audit_log {time event description} {

puts “$time: Auditing – $event – $description”

}

# Log firewall events

$ns at 1.5 “audit_log 1.5 ‘Firewall’ ‘Allowed normal traffic from user'”

$ns at 2.5 “audit_log 2.5 ‘Firewall’ ‘Blocked non-compliant traffic from attacker'”

# Log IDS events

$ns at 3.0 “audit_log 3.0 ‘IDS’ ‘Detected intrusion due to oversized packet'”

$ns at 3.1 “audit_log 3.1 ‘IDS’ ‘Incident response triggered'”

(B) Simulate Periodic Auditing

The auditing system should do regular checks and create reports on network activity, making sure that all security controls are performing properly.

# Function to simulate periodic auditing report generation

proc generate_audit_report {time} {

puts “$time: Generating audit report for network activities.”

}

# Generate audit reports periodically

$ns at 4.0 “generate_audit_report 4.0”

$ns at 8.0 “generate_audit_report 8.0”

5. Simulate Network Traffic

We will replicate both normal and malicious traffic in the network. The auditing system will log all events based to this traffic.

(A) Simulate Normal Traffic

This simulates authorized user traffic being deliver to the server.

# Set up UDP agents for normal traffic (user to server)

set udp_user [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_server [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $user $udp_user

$ns attach-agent $server $udp_server

$ns connect $udp_user $udp_server

# Create a traffic generator to simulate normal traffic

set cbr_user [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_user set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_user set rate_ 1Mb

$cbr_user attach-agent $udp_user

# Start normal traffic at 1.0 seconds

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_user start”

(B) Simulate Malicious Traffic

This mimics traffic from an attacker attempting to send large packets to bypass security features.

# Set up UDP agents for malicious traffic (attacker to server)

set udp_attacker [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_malicious [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $attacker $udp_attacker

$ns attach-agent $server $udp_malicious

$ns connect $udp_attacker $udp_malicious

# Create a traffic generator to simulate malicious traffic

set cbr_attacker [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_attacker set packetSize_ 1024  ;# Larger packet size simulating an attack

$cbr_attacker set rate_ 512Kb

$cbr_attacker attach-agent $udp_attacker

# Start malicious traffic at 2.0 seconds

$ns at 2.0 “$cbr_attacker start”

6. Run the Simulation

Once the script is ready, execute the simulation using NS2:

ns your_script.tcl

7. Analyze the Results

After the simulation is done, certify the trace file (cybersecurity_auditing.tr) and the console output to validate:

• Normal traffic was permitted through the firewall.
• Malicious traffic was congested by the firewall and identified by the IDS.
• All significant network events were recorded for auditing purposes.
• Periodic audit reports were produced to find network activity and security enforcement.

Use NAM (Network Animator) to visualize the traffic flow and monitor how the auditing system replies to network events.

8. Extend the Simulation

You can extend this simulation by:

• Adding more auditing features: Add timestamping, user activity tracking, or deeper packet inspection in the logs.
• Incorporating compliance auditing: Change the auditing to allied with particular compliance standards like GDPR, HIPAA, or ISO/IEC 27001.
• Simulating more attacks: Replicate Man-in-the-Middle (MITM), DDoS, or Phishing attacks and log the belonging security responses.
• Implementing secure audit logs: Mimic encryption of audit logs to make sure the integrity and privacy of the audit trail.

We have delivered the detailed structures of implementation process including examples on how to set up the network topology and how to accomplish the Cybersecurity Auditing inside the network by applying some of their security measures to log all the activities of the networks using ns2. Maintain communication with our development team to receive optimal implementation guidance.