A new test laboratory at Iowa State University will allow researchers to study how computer networks respond to massive Internet attacks and could lead to breakthroughs in computer defenses and forensics, said a researcher behind the project.
The new test network, ISEAGE (Internet Simulation Event and Attack Generation Environment), was funded by a $500,000 grant from the Department of Justice. ISEAGE is the first research lab to be able to re-create any cyber-attack on any part of the Internet infrastructure, said Doug Jacobson, director of information assurance at ISU, in Ames.
Jacobson is also the chief technology officer of Palisade Systems Inc., a security technology vendor, also in Ames.
ISEAGE uses a 64-processor cluster connected via high-speed switching gear at ISU's Research Park. The cluster is linked to a central disk storage system running Free BSD Unix. Each processor can re-create 50 routing points, giving researchers tremendous flexibility to reproduce network attacks.
The guts of the new test lab are software tools, developed by Jacobson, that let researchers change traffic patterns, replay attacks in endless configurations and collect attack data, Jacobson said. "We can make an attack that looks like it came from 1,000 computers, but we don't need 1,000 computers to do it," he said.
The testbed can just as easily simulate attacks from 100,000 Internet-connected machines—or from every Internet address in existence, Jacobson said.
Read this full article at EWeek
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