Network Security Through Data Analysis: Building Situational Awareness - Softcover

Collins, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1449357903 ISBN 13: 9781449357900

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2014

Synopsis

Traditional intrusion detection and logfile analysis are no longer enough to protect today’s complex networks. In this practical guide, security researcher Michael Collins shows you several techniques and tools for collecting and analyzing network traffic datasets. You’ll understand how your network is used, and what actions are necessary to protect and improve it.

Divided into three sections, this book examines the process of collecting and organizing data, various tools for analysis, and several different analytic scenarios and techniques. It’s ideal for network administrators and operational security analysts familiar with scripting.

• Explore network, host, and service sensors for capturing security data
• Store data traffic with relational databases, graph databases, Redis, and Hadoop
• Use SiLK, the R language, and other tools for analysis and visualization
• Detect unusual phenomena through Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)
• Identify significant structures in networks with graph analysis
• Determine the traffic that’s crossing service ports in a network
• Examine traffic volume and behavior to spot DDoS and database raids
• Get a step-by-step process for network mapping and inventory

About this title

Review

Network Security Through Data Analysis: Building Situational Awareness

Falco columbarius

What's the animal featured on the cover?

The animal on the cover of Network Security Through Data Analysis is a European Merlin (Falco columbarius). There is some debate as to whether the North American and the European/Asian varieties of Merlin are actually different species. Carl Linnaeus was the first to classify the bird in 1758 using a specimen from America, then in 1771 the ornithologist Marmaduke Tunstall assigned a separate taxon to the Eurasian Merlin, calling it Falco aesalon in his work Ornithologica Britannica. Recently, it has been found that there are significant genetic variations between North American and European species of Merlin, supporting the idea that they should be officially classified as distinct species. It is believed that the separation between the two types happened more than a million years ago, and since then the birds have existed completely independently of each other.

The Merlin is more heavily built than most other small falcons and can weigh almost a pound, depending on the time of year. Females are generally larger than males, which is common among raptors. This allows the male and female to hunt different types of prey animals and means that less territory is required to support a mating pair. Merlins normally inhabit open country, such as scrubland, forests, parks, grasslands, and moorland. They prefer areas with low and medium-height vegetation because it allows them to hunt easily and find the abandoned nests that they take on as their own. During the winter, European Merlins are known to roost communally with Hen Harriers, another bird of prey. Breeding occurs in May and June, and pairs are monogamous for the season. The Merlins will often use the empty nests of crows or magpies, but it is also common, especially in the UK, to find Merlins nesting in crevices in cliffs or buildings. Females lay three to six eggs, which hatch after an incubation period of 28 to 32 days. The chicks will be dependent on their parents for up to 4 weeks before starting out on their own. In medieval times, chicks were taken from the nest and hand-reared to be used for hunting. The Book of St. Albans, a handbook of gentleman's pursuits, included Merlins in the "Hawking" section, calling the species, "the falcon for a lady. " Today, they are still trained by falconers for hunting smaller birds, but this practice is declining because of conservation efforts. The most serious threat to Merlins is habitat destruction, especially in their breeding areas. However, since the birds are highly adaptable and have been successful at living in settled areas, their population remains stable around the world.

Book Description

Building Situational Awareness

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1449357903
• ISBN 13: 9781449357900
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 348