How to Implement IaaS Cloud Forensics in NS2

To implement the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cloud within NS2, which includes replicating an IaaS cloud environment in which resources such as virtual machines (VMs), servers, storage, and networking are provisioned on-demand. In IaaS cloud forensics, the key aim is to record, observe, and evaluate the network traffic, virtual machine activities, and other cloud events to identify the security incidents, trace malicious activities, and collect the forensic evidence.

However NS2 is not particularly created for the cloud environments, we can replicate the IaaS-like cloud infrastructure including the virtual nodes are demonstrating VMs, a central node performing as the cloud controller, and other components such as storage and networking resources. We can be executed the cloud forensics by capturing and examine the network and VM activities in this setup.

We show the structural implementation approach for the IaaS cloud forensics within NS2:

Step-by-Step Implementation:

Set Up NS2

Make certain NS2 is installed on the computer. If not, install it using the below command:

sudo apt-get install ns2

Define the Cloud Network Topology

In this stage, we describe the simple network topology, which mimics an IaaS cloud infrastructure with VMs (nodes), a controller (cloud manager), storage, and external users (clients).

Example of an IaaS cloud environment:

set ns [new Simulator]

set tracefile [open iaas_forensics.tr w]

$ns trace-all $tracefile

# Create nodes representing VMs, controller, storage, and external users

set vm1 [$ns node] ;# Virtual Machine 1

set vm2 [$ns node] ;# Virtual Machine 2

set storage [$ns node] ;# Storage node

set cloudController [$ns node] ;# Cloud controller/manager

set client [$ns node] ;# External client

# Create links between nodes

$ns duplex-link $vm1 $cloudController 1Mb 10ms DropTail

$ns duplex-link $vm2 $cloudController 1Mb 10ms DropTail

$ns duplex-link $cloudController $storage 1Mb 10ms DropTail

$ns duplex-link $client $cloudController 1Mb 10ms DropTail

Simulate Virtual Machine Traffic and Client Requests

In an IaaS cloud environment, VMs interchange the traffic, and external clients are communicate with the VMs for tasks like resource provisioning or data storage. Replicate it by configure the usual traffic among the VMs and the cloud controller.

(A) Set Up Normal VM-to-VM Traffic

Configure the UDP traffic among two virtual machines (vm1 and vm2) via the cloud controller (cloudController).

# Set up UDP traffic between vm1 and vm2 via cloudController

set udp_vm1 [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_vm2 [new Agent/UDP]

set null_vm1 [new Agent/Null]

set null_vm2 [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $vm1 $udp_vm1

$ns attach-agent $vm2 $null_vm2

$ns connect $udp_vm1 $null_vm2

# Create a CBR (Constant Bit Rate) traffic generator for VM-to-VM traffic

set cbr_vm1 [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_vm1 set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_vm1 set rate_ 1Mb

$cbr_vm1 attach-agent $udp_vm1

# Start normal VM-to-VM traffic at 1.0 second

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_vm1 start”

(B) Set Up Client Requests to VMs

Mimic a client sending calls to the VMs for data storage, retrieval, or service execution.

# Set up UDP traffic from external client to vm1

set udp_client [new Agent/UDP]

set null_client [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $client $udp_client

$ns attach-agent $vm1 $null_client

$ns connect $udp_client $null_client

# Create CBR traffic for client requests

set cbr_client [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_client set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_client set rate_ 1Mb

$cbr_client attach-agent $udp_client

# Start client-to-vm1 traffic at 2.0 seconds

$ns at 2.0 “$cbr_client start”

Simulate Malicious Activity in IaaS Cloud

Replicate the malicious activities such as VM compromise, unauthorized access, and network attacks in the IaaS environment. It will observe and log for the forensic analysis.

(A) Packet Injection Attack

Mimic a packet injection attack in which a malicious actor (client or compromised VM) inserts the unauthorized packets into the network.

# Set up packet injection from vm2 to storage

set udp_vm2_attack [new Agent/UDP]

set cbr_vm2_attack [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_vm2_attack set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_vm2_attack set rate_ 5Mb ;# High rate to simulate an attack

$cbr_vm2_attack attach-agent $udp_vm2_attack

# Connect vm2 to storage for the attack

$ns attach-agent $vm2 $udp_vm2_attack

$ns connect $udp_vm2_attack $null_vm1

# Start packet injection attack at 3.0 seconds

$ns at 3.0 “$cbr_vm2_attack start”

(B) Unauthorized VM Access

Replicate an unauthorized access to one of the VMs (e.g., vm1). It would denote a brute force login or exploitation attempt.

# Simulate unauthorized access attempt to vm1

proc unauthorized_access {source_vm dest_vm time} {

puts “Unauthorized access attempt detected from $source_vm to $dest_vm at $time”

}

# Log unauthorized access attempt

$ns at 3.5 “unauthorized_access vm2 vm1 3.5”

Implement Cloud Forensics for IaaS

In IaaS forensics, we require to observe the network traffic, VM activities, and storage interactions. The key aim is to identify and log any malicious activities and collect the evidence for forensic analysis.

(A) Monitor VM-to-VM Traffic

Observe and record the VM traffic within the cloud environment. It contains capturing packet details (source, destination, size, and timestamps) for forensic analysis.

# Function to log VM traffic for forensic purposes

proc log_vm_traffic {packet_id source_vm dest_vm size time} {

puts “Forensics: Packet $packet_id from $source_vm to $dest_vm, Size=$size, Time=$time”

}

# Monitor VM-to-VM traffic and log events

$ns at 1.5 “log_vm_traffic 1 vm1 vm2 512 1.5”

$ns at 3.0 “log_vm_traffic 2 vm2 storage 512 3.0” ;# Log attack traffic

(B) Monitor Unauthorized Access Attempts

Log any suspicious activities connected to unauthorized access attempts, like repeated login attempts or unexpected interactions among the VMs and the storage.

# Function to log unauthorized access attempts

proc log_unauthorized_access {source_vm dest_vm time} {

puts “Forensics: Unauthorized access attempt from $source_vm to $dest_vm at $time”

}

# Log an unauthorized access event

$ns at 3.5 “log_unauthorized_access vm2 vm1 3.5”

(C) Capture and Store Logs for Forensic Analysis

Capture the records and store them in a file for more offline forensic analysis. It contains observing the network traffic, unauthorized access attempts, and potential attacks.

# Open a file to store forensic logs

set forensic_log [open iaas_forensics_log.txt w]

# Function to write logs to file

proc write_to_log {packet_id source_vm dest_vm size time event} {

global forensic_log

puts $forensic_log “Packet $packet_id: $event from $source_vm to $dest_vm, Size=$size, Time=$time”

}

# Log events to file

$ns at 1.5 “write_to_log 1 vm1 vm2 512 1.5 ‘Normal VM-to-VM traffic'”

$ns at 3.0 “write_to_log 2 vm2 storage 512 3.0 ‘Packet Injection Attack'”

$ns at 3.5 “write_to_log 3 vm2 vm1 0 3.5 ‘Unauthorized Access Attempt'”

Analyze Forensic Logs and Respond

In forensic analysis, the records are reviewed to detect anomalies, attacks, or policy violations. According to the findings, mitigation measures can be executed.

(A) Analyze Forensic Logs

After the simulation, we estimate the captured forensic logs to detect the suspicious activities, traffic anomalies, or unauthorized access attempts.

# Function to analyze forensic logs

proc analyze_forensic_logs {file} {

puts “Analyzing forensic logs from $file…”

set log [open $file r]

while {[gets $log line] >= 0} {

if {[regexp “Attack” $line]} {

puts “Suspicious activity detected: $line”

}

close $log

}

# Analyze the forensic logs after the simulation

$ns at 5.0 “analyze_forensic_logs iaas_forensics_log.txt”

(B) Mitigation Response

Once an attack or unauthorized access is identified then the cloud controller can take action, like blocking the malicious VM or isolating the affected resource.

# Function to block a malicious VM (e.g., block traffic from vm2)

proc block_malicious_vm {vm} {

puts “Blocking $vm due to detected malicious activity”

# In a real cloud, this would involve terminating the VM or blocking its traffic

}

# Block vm2 after detecting an attack

$ns at 3.6 “block_malicious_vm vm2”

Run the Simulation

When the script is ready then run the simulation using NS2:

ns your_script.tcl

Analyze Results

After running the simulation then check the forensic logs (iaas_forensics_log.txt) to identify the malicious activities. Key features to analyse include:

Traffic anomalies: Large traffic volumes, packet injection, or unusual source-destination pairs.
Unauthorized access: Repeated or unexpected access attempts among the VMs or clients.
Attack detection: Evidence of attacks, like packet injection or DDoS.

Also we can be used the NAM (Network Animator) to envision the IaaS network and monitor how the attacks impacted the system.

Extend the Simulation

We can extend this execution by:

Adding more attack scenarios: Encompass the DDoS, malware injection, or data exfiltration attacks.
Simulating more complex cloud infrastructure: Append more VMs, networking layers, and storage systems to replicate actual cloud environments.
Automated mitigation techniques: Execute the automated responses like VM isolation, traffic throttling, or revoking access credentials.
Multi-tenant environments: Replicate a multi-tenant IaaS cloud with various clients sharing resources and competing for bandwidth.

In this outline, IaaS Cloud Forensics was addressed via an orderly approaches, implemented and assessed with the help of the simulation tool ns2. Check out ns2project.com for some awesome IaaS Cloud Forensics project ideas tailored to your research area. We help you monitor and analyze network traffic, virtual machine actions, and other cloud happenings to spot security issues, track down malicious activities, and gather forensic evidence for your projects, all while providing timely implementation support.