How to Start Firewall Attack Projects using OMNeT++

To stimulate a Firewall Attack Simulation Project in OMNeT++ has includes the designing a network in which a firewall is organized to protect the legitimate traffic, and an attacker efforts to the bypass or overcome the firewall. This project can support to examine the efficiency for the firewall, discover the attack vectors, and estimate the mitigation strategies.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to starting a Firewall Attack Simulation using OMNeT++:

Steps to Start Firewall Attack Projects using OMNeT++

  1. Understand Firewall Attacks
  • Types of Firewall Attacks:
    1. Bypassing Firewalls:
      • Exploiting misconfigurations or faults in rules to pass the malicious congestion.
      • Using the fragmented or encode the packets are prevent the detection.
    2. Overloading Firewalls:
      • Transmitting a high volume for congestion we exhaust the firewall’s resources.
      • DDoS attacks targeting the firewall are running the capacity.
    3. Evasion Techniques:
      • Using the protocol obfuscation or packet injection we complicate the firewall.
    4. Internal Attacks:
      • Manipulate the Conceded for internal devices to attack the network after the firewall.
  • Simulation Goals:
    • Validate the resilience of firewalls below several attack environment.
    • Calculate the efficiency of defense mechanisms.
  1. Set Up OMNeT++ and INET Framework
  • Install OMNeT++: Download and setting the OMNeT++ from the official website.
  • Install INET Framework:
    • INET offers the networking protocols and replication designs, involves the TCP/IP and routing.
  1. Define the Project Scope

Step 3.1: Goals

  • Several kinds of replication attacks on a firewall.
  • Examine the firewall’s behavior in terms of:
    • Packet filtering involves the accuracy.
    • Resource consumption during an attack.
    • Congestion performances are legitimate.

Step 3.2: Metrics

  • Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR): Percentage for legitimate packets successfully delivered in the PDR.
  • Attack Detection Rate: Rate of malicious packets blocked through the firewall for attack detection.
  • Firewall Resource Utilization: Calculate the CPU, memory, or buffer consumption below the attack.
  1. Design Network Topology

Generate a network topology by legitimate nodes, a firewall, an attacker, and a target server.

Example .ned File:

network FirewallAttackNetwork {

submodules:

firewall: StandardHost;       // Firewall protecting the server

attacker: StandardHost;       // Attacker node

client: StandardHost;         // Legitimate client

server: StandardHost;         // Target server behind the firewall

router: Router;               // Router connecting all nodes

connections allowunconnected:

client.ethg++ <–> EthernetLink <–> router.ethg++;

attacker.ethg++ <–> EthernetLink <–> router.ethg++;

router.ethg++ <–> firewall.ethg++;

firewall.ethg++ <–> EthernetLink <–> server.ethg++;

}

  1. Implement Firewall Behavior

Replicate a general firewall which filters the packets according to the rules like as IP addresses, ports, or protocols.

Example Firewall Module:

#include <omnetpp.h>

#include “inet/common/packet/Packet.h”

using namespace omnetpp;

using namespace inet;

class Firewall : public cSimpleModule {

private:

std::vector<std::string> blockedIPs; // List of blocked IP addresses

protected:

virtual void initialize() override;

virtual void handleMessage(cMessage *msg) override;

};

Define_Module(Firewall);

void Firewall::initialize() {

// Add IPs or ports to block (example: block attacker)

blockedIPs.push_back(“192.168.1.100”); // Attacker’s IP

}

void Firewall::handleMessage(cMessage *msg) {

Packet *pkt = check_and_cast<Packet *>(msg);

// Check source IP (example: assume IP is part of the packet’s name for simplicity)

std::string srcIP = pkt->getName(); // Replace with actual IP extraction from packet

if (std::find(blockedIPs.begin(), blockedIPs.end(), srcIP) != blockedIPs.end()) {

EV << “Blocked packet from: ” << srcIP << “\n”;

delete pkt; // Drop malicious packet

} else {

EV << “Forwarding packet from: ” << srcIP << “\n”;

send(pkt, “out”);

}

}

  1. Implement the Attacker

Example Attacker Module

The attacker has creates a high volume of malicious congestion or attempts to bypass firewall rules.

class FirewallAttacker : public cSimpleModule {

protected:

virtual void initialize() override;

virtual void handleMessage(cMessage *msg) override;

void sendMaliciousPacket();

};

Define_Module(FirewallAttacker);

void FirewallAttacker::initialize() {

// Schedule the first attack packet

scheduleAt(simTime() + uniform(0.1, 0.2), new cMessage(“startAttack”));

}

void FirewallAttacker::handleMessage(cMessage *msg) {

if (strcmp(msg->getName(), “startAttack”) == 0) {

sendMaliciousPacket();

scheduleAt(simTime() + 0.01, msg); // High-frequency attack

}

}

void FirewallAttacker::sendMaliciousPacket() {

auto pkt = new Packet(“192.168.1.100”); // Source IP of attacker

send(pkt, “out”);

EV << “Sent malicious packet\n”;

}

  1. Configure the Simulation

Example .ini File:

[Config FirewallAttackSimulation]

network = FirewallAttackNetwork

# Legitimate client configuration

**.client.numApps = 1

**.client.app[0].typename = “UdpBasicApp”

**.client.app[0].destAddress = “server”

**.client.app[0].startTime = uniform(1s, 2s)

**.client.app[0].sendInterval = uniform(2s, 4s)

# Target server configuration

**.server.numApps = 1

**.server.app[0].typename = “UdpSink”

# Firewall configuration

**.firewall.numApps = 1

**.firewall.app[0].typename = “Firewall”

# Attacker configuration

**.attacker.numApps = 1

**.attacker.app[0].typename = “FirewallAttacker”

# Simulation time

sim-time-limit = 100s

  1. Run and Visualize the Simulation
  • Run the Simulation: replication for introduce the OMNeT++.
  • Monitor Behavior:
    • Packets are blocked through the firewall.
    • Legitimate traffic is sending to the server.
    • Congestion is increased form the attacker.
  1. Analyze Results

Metrics to Evaluate:

  1. Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR):
    • Rate of legitimate packets are successfully delivered to the server in a PDR.
  2. Blocked Traffic:
    • Number of malicious packets is blocked through the firewall.
  3. Firewall Resource Usage:
    • Estimate the firewall’s performance below congestion is increased.
  4. Latency:
    • Calculate the delays caused through check for the packet.

Visualization:

  • Use OMNeT++’s built-in tools to visualize traffic flows and dropped packets.
  1. Enhance the Project

Step 10.1: Advanced Firewall Rules

  • Encompass the firewall to:
    • Block packets according to the port or protocol.
    • Maintain the fragmented or encode packets.
    • Apply the stateful inspection for the firewall.

Step 10.2: Simulate Evasion Techniques

  • Execute the attacker behaviors such as:
    • Transmitting the fragmented packets.
    • Spoofing the legitimate for IPs address.
    • Using the random ports for the attacker.

Step 10.3: Implement Countermeasures

  • Add features to the firewall, such as:
    • It includes the Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS).
    • The limiting for percentage or throttling.
    • Anomaly detection based on the machine learning.

In this script demonstrate the Firewall attack is offers the packets are prevent the detection and execute the simulation process and enhance the techniques for avoid the attack using the OMNeT++ tool. If you specific queries we will recognize for another script.