How to Implement Network Phishing Defense in NS2

To implement Network Phishing Defense in NS2 has includes to mimic the approaches that can identify, mitigate, and respond to phishing attacks inside a network. Phishing attacks usually includes to tricking users into revealing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords by mimicking legitimate entities over the network. In NS2, we can mimic numerous network defences to identify and block like phishing attacks that has traffic filtering, DNS spoofing detection, or signature-based detection.

Here’s a guide to mimic Network Phishing Defense in NS2:

Step-by-Step Implementation:

  1. Set Up NS2

Make sure that NS2 is installed on system. If it’s not installed, we can install it using:

sudo apt-get install ns2

  1. Define the Network Topology

We will describe a network topology in which a phishing attack is attempted by a malicious node, and the defense mechanism such as detection and blocking is implemented at an intermediate node, like a firewall or intrusion detection/prevention system (IDS/IPS).

set ns [new Simulator]

set tracefile [open phishing_defense.tr w]

$ns trace-all $tracefile

# Create nodes in the network: sender (user), attacker, legitimate server, and IDS (defense)

set sender [$ns node]     ;# User node

set attacker [$ns node]    ;# Malicious node simulating phishing

set legit_server [$ns node] ;# Legitimate server

set ids_node [$ns node]    ;# IDS/IPS to block phishing attempts

# Create links between the nodes

$ns duplex-link $sender $ids_node 1Mb 10ms DropTail

$ns duplex-link $attacker $ids_node 1Mb 10ms DropTail

$ns duplex-link $ids_node $legit_server 1Mb 10ms DropTail

  1. Simulate Normal Traffic

Initially, mimic legitimate traffic among the user (sender) and the legitimate server. This will denotes normal, non-malicious traffic flow in the network.

# Set up UDP agents for legitimate communication between the sender and legitimate server

set udp_sender [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_legit_receiver [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $sender $udp_sender

$ns attach-agent $legit_server $udp_legit_receiver

$ns connect $udp_sender $udp_legit_receiver

# Create a traffic generator to simulate normal traffic

set cbr_sender [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_sender set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_sender set rate_ 1Mb

$cbr_sender attach-agent $udp_sender

# Start normal traffic at 1.0 second

$ns at 1.0 “$cbr_sender start”

  1. Simulate Phishing Traffic

Now, mimic the phishing attempt by the attacker. The attacker will transfer traffic pretending to be the legitimate server, attempts to trick the sender into illuminating sensitive data.

# Set up UDP agents for phishing traffic between attacker and sender

set udp_attacker [new Agent/UDP]

set udp_phish_receiver [new Agent/Null]

$ns attach-agent $attacker $udp_attacker

$ns attach-agent $sender $udp_phish_receiver

$ns connect $udp_attacker $udp_phish_receiver

# Create a traffic generator to simulate phishing traffic

set cbr_attacker [new Application/Traffic/CBR]

$cbr_attacker set packetSize_ 512

$cbr_attacker set rate_ 512Kb

$cbr_attacker attach-agent $udp_attacker

# Start phishing traffic at 2.0 seconds

$ns at 2.0 “$cbr_attacker start”

  1. Implement Phishing Detection and Defense Mechanism

At the IDS/IPS node, execute a phishing defence mechanism that identified and blocks phishing traffic. This could contain identified phishing patterns, like suspicious URLs, abnormal traffic rates, or known malicious IP addresses.

(A) Detect Phishing Traffic

The IDS will examines the traffic passing via it and identify phishing attempts according to some predefined rules like abnormal source IP, phishing signatures.

# Function to simulate phishing detection at the IDS node

proc detect_phishing {source_ip dest_ip} {

# Simulate detecting phishing traffic based on the source IP (attacker)

if { $source_ip == “attacker_ip” } {

puts “IDS: Phishing traffic detected from $source_ip”

return 1  ;# Phishing detected

} else {

puts “IDS: Normal traffic from $source_ip”

return 0  ;# No phishing detected

}

}

# Simulate phishing detection at the IDS node

set attacker_ip “attacker_ip”

set normal_ip “sender_ip”

$ns at 2.5 “detect_phishing $attacker_ip legit_server”

$ns at 3.0 “detect_phishing $normal_ip legit_server”

(B) Block Phishing Traffic

Once phishing traffic is identified, the IDS/IPS blocks the malicious traffic to avoid it from reaching the legitimate user or server.

# Function to block phishing traffic at the IDS node

proc block_phishing {source_ip} {

puts “IDS: Blocking traffic from $source_ip”

}

# Block phishing traffic once detected

$ns at 2.6 “block_phishing $attacker_ip”

  1. Log Phishing Detection and Blocking Events

Log the phishing detection and blocking events to observe the functioning of the phishing defence mechanism.

# Log events for phishing detection and blocking

proc log_event {event description} {

puts “$event: $description”

}

# Log phishing detection and blocking events

$ns at 2.5 “log_event ‘Phishing Detection’ ‘Phishing traffic detected at IDS from attacker_ip'”

$ns at 2.6 “log_event ‘Traffic Blocked’ ‘Phishing traffic blocked at IDS from attacker_ip'”

  1. Run the Simulation

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

ns your_script.tcl

  1. Analyse the Results

After executing the simulation, validate the trace file (phishing_defense.tr) and the console output to validate:

  • Legitimate traffic was successfully routed from the user to the legitimate server.
  • Phishing traffic was identified and blocked by the IDS, avoiding the phishing attack from reaching the user.

We can also use NAM (Network Animator) to envision the traffic flow and how the phishing defense mechanism blocks malicious traffic in the network.

  1. Extend the Simulation

We can expand this simulation by:

  • Introducing more advanced phishing detection techniques: Execute machine learning techniques or signature-based systems that evaluate traffic for more sophisticated phishing attacks.
  • Simulating multiple attack types: Establish different kinds of phishing attacks, like spear phishing or email phishing, and design different defence methods.
  • Adding false-positive/false-negative scenarios: Mimic cases in which legitimate traffic is inaccurately flagged as phishing (false positives) or phishing traffic goes unidentified (false negatives) and enhance the detection rules.
  • Simulating DNS-based phishing attacks: Replicate phishing attacks that contain DNS spoofing, in which users are redirected to fake websites, and establish defenses to classify DNS spoofing.

We obviously implicit the basic implementation procedures for Network Phishing Defense that were securely implemented using the ns2 tool. We also outline additional information about how the Network Phishing Defense performs in diverse simulation tool.

Our efforts focus on emulating various network defenses to detect and mitigate phishing attacks pertinent to your project. For innovative Network Phishing Defense project concepts utilizing the ns2 tool, please visit ns2project.com. By providing us with your specific requirements, our team can conduct a complete network comparison  analysis tailored to your research needs.