Tools Used for Analysis
Two network tools are selected for the analysis of the performance and the vulnerability of the network and the tools are nmap and metasploit. An investigation is made with the tool and for the analysis of the risk acting on the network. The nmap is used for scanning the network and gathering information about the IP address of the hosts connected in the network. The exploitation of the network using the security tools helps in securing the network from the external users and remove the errors in the configuration of the network. The metasploit is used for finding holes in the network and determining the impact of the vulnerabilities and fix the exposure using some patch or reconfiguring the systems. The metasploit acts a weapon for the penetration tester for simulating the real time attacks and provide training to the team to secure the network.
The namp is pre-installed in kali Linux and it is used for testing the available device or hosts connected in the network for finding a target and exploit the system to test the vulnerability of the network. The IP address, operating system and the open ports of the targeted machine can be gathered using the nmap network analysis tool that helps the penetration tester to analyse the vulnerability. Nmpa is a powerful network analysis tool and it provides different features for the users for the exploitation of the network.
The metasploit is used for gathering the network information and sharing the information with the network administrator for implementation of successful and efficient penetration testing. It is used for the simulation of the complex types of attacks and protecting the network from the security risks acting on the network. For creating a defence against the attacks many complicated steps should be followed and other network security tools can be used for making the network protected from the security threats.
The different types of attacks are needed to be defended by the network for increasing the security of the network solution. There are different types of threats such as distributed denial service attacks, SSL attacks, DNS attacks, Backdoor attacks, brute force attacks, etc. The risk acting on the network should be prioritized according to their types and thee different types of attacks like man in the middle attack and the session hijacking attacks can be eliminated with the application of the security techniques in the network. The hijacker gains the access of the network using different open ports that are identified using the nmap and the data are collected using metasploit for finding loop holes in the network. The distributed denial of service attacks can be performed using the third party network and focus is given on the type of service provided by the network for taking important action and removing the exception used for accessing the resources of the network. The implementation of the antivirus software in the targets machine can help in identifying the malware and the virus that can affect the performance of the network. A certain level of skill should be available for the user and social engineering tool should be used for the identification of the nwtwork vulnerability and secure the network from different types of attacks.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
Two security tools are selected for the analysis of the network such as nmap and Metasplot for the analysis of the current performance of the network.
Free and open source software is used for the exploitation of the network and Nmap is an open source tool that is used for auditing the network and it is used for the identification of the problems in the network and dealing large number of inventory problems. The raw IP data packets can be captured from the network and monitoring the hosts connected in the network and determination of the service offered in the network. Different platforms are supported by nMap such as Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS, etc. The GUI and the commands can be used for scanning the network and analysis of the response.
Metaspoilt is also a free tool that is used for analysing the vulnerabilities acting on the system and it is applied for performing different types of test. It has different advanced options that is used for the exploitation of the network using different codes and it analyses the payloads of the network. It is a well-known model and can be integrated with different penetrating testing tool for getting an appropriate result of exploitation of the network. It uses an encoding technique for the creation of an intrusion prevention system and reduces the effort of the payload writers, exploiters and the attackers to exploit the network.
The following risk mitigation strategy are given in the report for securing the network from different types of threats acting in the network such as:
- Network segmentation – The network should be divided into multiple vlan using multiple subnet such that the intruder does not have the access of the hosts connected with the different network and the network is secured.
- Deployment of a firewall – The firewall is used for blocking the unknown sources in the network and protects the assets in the network by limiting the access of the core resources connected in the network. The firewall can govern the network traffic and used for having an administrative control over the network.
- Application of Patch – The vulnerabilities that are identified from the network should be analysed for identifying the source of the vulnerability. The application or the software installed in the host causing the vulnerability should be managed with the application patches or updating the software such that it does not causes a risk for the network.
- Encryption of the network channel – The network channel used for communication can be encrypted such that if the hacker gains the access of the network the data packet cannot be retrieved and used for gathering information about the network.
- Creation of VPN channel – it is used for connecting the private network with the public network using secure communication channel for ensuring that the data is passed through secure channel. Different authentication mechanism such as tokens, passwords and other unique identification methods are used securing the server and the connection.
Conclusion
The report is prepared for the comparison of two network analysis tool and comparing the results obtained from each of the tool for the identification of the threats and the risks acting on the network. The threats acting on the network is identified and a proper mitigation strategy is given in the report for securing the network from external agents. The screenshot of the usage of the network monitoring tool is attached with the report for the demonstration of the exploitation of the network. A mitigation strategy for the removal of then risk acting on the network is created and discussed in the report for the development of the report. The hacker can exploit the network after gathering information from the different sources of the network and provide a risk mitigation strategy for securing the ports and the entry point in the network. The information about the firewall can be gathered using the nmap and it can be bypassed by the hacker to gain the access of a targeted host and intrude into the network.
Armstrong, M.E., Jones, K.S., Namin, A.S. and Newton, D.C. What Vulnerability Assessment and Management Cybersecurity Professionals Think Their Future Colleagues Need to Know. In Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education(pp. 1082-1082). ACM., 2018, February.
Atwater, E., Bocovich, C., Hengartner, U. and Goldberg, I. Live Lesson: Netsim: Network simulation and hacking for high schoolers. In 2017 {USENIX} Workshop on Advances in Security Education ({ASE} 17). USENIX} Association}., 2017 August.
Cuppens, F. WirelessHART NetSIM: A WirelessHART SCADA-Based Wireless Sensor Networks Simulator. In Security of Industrial Control Systems and Cyber Physical Systems: First Workshop, CyberICS 2015 and First Workshop, WOS-CPS 2015 Vienna, Austria, September 21–22, 2015 Revised Selected Papers(Vol. 9588, p. 63). Springer., 2016, June.
Holik, F., Horalek, J., Marik, O., Neradova, S. and Zitta, S. Effective penetration testing with Metasploit framework and methodologies. In Computational Intelligence and Informatics (CINTI), 2014 IEEE 15th International Symposium on(pp. 237-242). IEEE., 2014, November.
Johansen, G., Allen, L., Heriyanto, T. and Ali, S. Kali Linux 2–Assuring Security by Penetration Testing. Packt Publishing Ltd., 2016.
Nayak, P. and Sinha, P. Analysis of Random Way Point and Random Walk Mobility Model for Reactive Routing Protocols for MANET Using NetSim Simulator. In Artificial Intelligence, Modelling and Simulation (AIMS), 2015 3rd International Conference on(pp. 427-432). IEEE., 2015 December.
Peng, J., Li, H., Wang, Y. and Chen, J. A web tool for measuring gene semantic similarities by combining Gene Ontology and gene co-function networks. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Informatics(pp. 678-679). ACM., 2015 September.
Saifuddin, K.M., Ahmed, A.S., Reza, K.F., Alam, S.S. and Rahman, S. Performance analysis of cognitive radio: Netsim viewpoint. In Electrical Information and Communication Technology (EICT), 2017 3rd International Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE., 2017 December.