How to Begin Implement an Intrusion Detection System in NS3

To execute an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) using NS3 that has encompasses to replicate a network and enhancing the approaches for observing, identifying and potentially moderating the activities. IDS can be classified into signature-based, anomaly-based, or hybrid systems and their executions need cautious deliberation of packet analysis, traffic analysis, and detection mechanisms.

We will instruct you on how to start implementing IDS in NS3:

Steps to Begin Implement IDS in NS3

1. Set Up ns3 Environment

1. Install ns3:
   • We can download and set up the latest version of ns3 on the computer.
   • Confirm the installation using a basic simulation script as ./waf –run hello-simulator.
2. Install Required Modules:
   • Make sure that we have contained necessary modules such as internet, wifi, point-to-point, and applications.

2. Define IDS Objectives

Clear up the IDS objectives:

• Detection Goals:
  • Identify the Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, unauthorized access, or abnormal traffic models.
• Monitoring Scope:
  • Observe the congestion through certain nodes or the complete network.
• Response Mechanism:
  • Record identified intrusions, report administrators, or dynamically moderate threats.

3. Set Up the Network Topology

1. Create Nodes:
   • Make a network topology that contains nodes denoting the devices such as clients, servers, and the IDS node.

NodeContainer nodes;

nodes.Create(3); // Example: Client, Server, IDS node

1. Configure Links:
   • Apply PointToPointHelper or WifiHelper to launch the links.

PointToPointHelper p2p;

p2p.SetDeviceAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“100Mbps”));

p2p.SetChannelAttribute(“Delay”, StringValue(“2ms”));

NetDeviceContainer devices = p2p.Install(nodes);

1. Assign IP Addresses:
   • Configure internet stack and allocate an IP addresses to the nodes.

InternetStackHelper internet;

internet.Install(nodes);

Ipv4AddressHelper ipv4;

ipv4.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);

Ipv4InterfaceContainer interfaces = ipv4.Assign(devices);

4. Develop the IDS Mechanism

1. Packet Monitoring:
   • Observe all packets at a node or link using callbacks.

Config::ConnectWithoutContext(“/NodeList/*/DeviceList/*/MacRx”, MakeCallback(&PacketCapture));

void PacketCapture(Ptr<const Packet> packet) {

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Packet Captured: ” << packet->ToString());

// Inspect packet contents

}

1. Traffic Analysis:
   • Examine packet headers or payloads for detecting suspicious models.

void AnalyzeTraffic(Ptr<const Packet> packet) {

// Extract and inspect TCP/UDP headers

PppHeader pppHeader;

packet->PeekHeader(pppHeader);

if (/* suspicious traffic condition */) {

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Intrusion detected!”);

}

}

1. Anomaly Detection:
   • For performance parameters such as packet rate, size, or destination identifying anomalies, we can utilize thresholds.

void MonitorTraffic() {

static int packetCount = 0;

packetCount++;

if (packetCount > THRESHOLD) {

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Potential DoS attack detected!”);

}

}

1. Custom IDS Application:
   • Make an application for capturing the IDS functionality.

class IDSApplication : public Application {

public:

void StartApplication() override {

// Initialize monitoring

Simulator::Schedule(Seconds(1.0), &IDSApplication::AnalyzeTraffic, this);

}

void AnalyzeTraffic() {

// Analyze traffic periodically

Simulator::Schedule(Seconds(1.0), &IDSApplication::AnalyzeTraffic, this);

}

};

5. Simulate Traffic

1. Generate Normal Traffic:
   • Replicate the typical traffic to leverage UdpEchoClientHelper or OnOffHelper.

UdpEchoServerHelper echoServer(9);

ApplicationContainer serverApps = echoServer.Install(nodes.Get(1));

serverApps.Start(Seconds(1.0));

serverApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

UdpEchoClientHelper echoClient(interfaces.GetAddress(1), 9);

echoClient.SetAttribute(“MaxPackets”, UintegerValue(100));

echoClient.SetAttribute(“Interval”, TimeValue(Seconds(0.1))); // Every 100 ms

echoClient.SetAttribute(“PacketSize”, UintegerValue(1024));

ApplicationContainer clientApps = echoClient.Install(nodes.Get(0));

clientApps.Start(Seconds(2.0));

clientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

1. Simulate Malicious Traffic:
   • Launch abnormal models or high traffic volumes to replicate the malicious trafficc.

OnOffHelper attack(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”, InetSocketAddress(interfaces.GetAddress(1), 9));

attack.SetAttribute(“DataRate”, StringValue(“1Gbps”));

attack.SetAttribute(“PacketSize”, UintegerValue(1024));

ApplicationContainer attackApps = attack.Install(nodes.Get(2)); // Attacker Node

attackApps.Start(Seconds(3.0));

attackApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

6. Log and Analyze Results

1. Packet Logs:
   • Record all packets events for offline analysis.

AsciiTraceHelper ascii;

p2p.EnableAsciiAll(ascii.CreateFileStream(“ids-packets.tr”));

1. Flow Monitoring:
   • Make use of FlowMonitor for examining the traffic statistics.

FlowMonitorHelper flowmon;

Ptr<FlowMonitor> monitor = flowmon.InstallAll();

1. Real-Time Alerts:
   • Design alerts to the support if an intrusion is identified.

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Intrusion detected at time: ” << Simulator::Now().GetSeconds());

7. Visualize Results

1. NetAnim:
   • Envision the node communication and packet flows utilising NetAnim tools.

AnimationInterface anim(“ids-simulation.xml”);

1. Graphical Analysis:
   • Transfer records into external tools such as Python or MATLAB for examining the performance parameters of IDS like detection rate, false positives.

8. Extend the IDS

1. Signature-Based Detection:
   • Make a known database attack models to match versus traffic.
2. Anomaly-Based Detection:
   • We will need to apply statistical models or machine learning for abnormal behavior detection.
3. Hybrid IDS:
   • Equate the sign and anomaly-based mechanisms for better exactness.

9. Evaluate IDS Performance

1. Metrics:
   • Detection Rate: Evaluate the rate of attacks that were identified.
   • False Positives: Typical traffic which are highlighted by malicious.
   • Response Time: Estimate the duration for identifying and replying to an intrusion.
2. Scalability:
   • Experiment the IDS including additional nodes and various traffic models within larger networks.

Example Use Cases

• Corporate Network Monitoring: Identify insider threats and external attacks for network monitoring.
• IoT Security: Observe and defend the IoT devices from intrusions.
• Attack Simulation: Focus on the effect of attack simulation like DDoS, MitM, or other attacks.

By applying NS3 tool, we conducted an extensive implementation process of the Intrusion Detection System, which were executed, analyzed and visualized in this manual. If needed, we can explore this topic further and offer complete information.