Network Defense methods - Dleifnesor/NET-150 GitHub Wiki
Considerations
How is the system connected to the network
How is the system connected to the network? o Not connected to any network (stand-alone)? • The best network defense o On a private network (not the Internet)? • Highly secure environments (military, utility grid...) may run separate networks o On the Internet?
Network based defenses
Routers- devices that “route” traffic between different networks
o Can create routing rule to control which networks can communicate.
o Can create Access Control Lists (ACLs) to drop certain types of traffic
• Spoofed addresses
• Certain protocols
• certain incoming traffic from specific IPs
Network Address Translation: (NAT) o Using private IP addresses internally and translating to “public” IP’s when communicating on Internet • Private IP Addresses o 10.0.0.0 o 192.168.0.0 o 172.16.0.0 • Organizations use private addresses on the local network • Router translates private to public IP’s and keeps track of translation in a table.
Firewalls
Layer 4 Firewalls
• Rules based on Layer 3:
o IP Addresses of both internal and external computers
• e.g. allow all external systems to 129.170.20.101
• Allow 153.104.15.6 to 129.170.118.112
• Allow 153.104.15.0/24 to 129.170.18.0/24
• Deny Any to 129.170.15.0/24
• And Layer 4 “Port Numbers”
o Such as Port 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), 3389 (RDP)
• e.g. allow all external systems to 129.170.20.101 on port 80
• Allow 153.104.15.6:3389 to 129.170.118.112:3389
• Allow 153.104.15.0/24 to 129.170.18.0/24 on port 443
• Deny Any to 129.170.15.0/24 on port 3389
Advanced Firewalls (Application Firewalls)
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Newer
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Can inspect the entire packet, including the data
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Can set rules on layers 3 and 4 Plus Info in the data (like URLs)
Particular applications, regardless of ports
• Examples:
o Allow port 80 (HTTP) but block Facebook
o Allow port 80 (HTTP) to 129.170.20.101 but block if URL contains “/admin.php”
intrusion Detection and Intrusion Prevention
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS):
o Monitor network traffic for patterns that look like cyber attacks
o Generate alerts to notify network and system administrators
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS):
o Same as IDS but can block/drop traffic identified as attacks
Reputation-based IPS
Maintains a list of malicious IP addresses and domains
Lists are updated frequently
Can block traffic from bad IPs and domains
Anomaly based IPS
Inspects traffic flows
creates a comparison against "normal" traffic flow
Inspects Data about transmissions between hosts
• IP addresses, ports, number of packet, bytes
o Can detect “anomalous” (abnormal) activity and can block hosts if they are misbehaving
o Can detect:
• Sudden and excessive e-mail (spam engine)
• Scans of network
• Port scans of individual hosts
• Denial-of-Service attacks
Stealthwatch Anomaly IPS
Stealth Watch
• Anomaly-based Intrusion Prevention System on network border
• Blocks worms, bots, spam engines
• Defends against denial-of-service attacks
Palo Alto Layer 7 Firewall - IPS
• As a firewall
• Provides access control based on IP addresses and ports as well as application, user, packet content
• But also IPS
• Inspecting packets as well
• Offers additional protection because it combine sessions (anomaly) and traffic inspection (signature)
Other Network Based Defenses
VPN
• Encrypted remote access prevents network traffic sniffing
Secure Wireless
• Authenticated and encrypted wireless network prevents eavesdropping
CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
Confidentiality
Can be breached by eavesdropping/sniffing network transmission
Can be protected by:
• Securing physical access to network links
• Encryption, encryption, encryption!!!
Encrypting application data (like with HTTPS)
Encrypting wireless transmission (like WPA2)
Encrypting packet when application doesn’t support it (IPSEC)
DDOS
Common DoS Methods:
• Resource Exhaustion: Make so many requests that the service can’t keep up
o E.g. Have thousands of systems repeatedly download a large file from a web server
o Flood a switch with fake source MAC addresses
o Send 100’s of complex queries to a database server
• Bandwidth Exhaustion:
o Only so many 1’s and 0’s can cross a network connection. If an attacker is able to generate enough traffic, the bandwidth will be used up
A DOS attack using DNS amplification