We devised two different scenarios: We started testing by placing the NIP system into a controlled lab network with known characteristics. Once we operated the system and learned how to use it, we placed a second system in one-arm mode on our production network with live traffic.
On the clean test bed, we tested both signature detection and performance. Security testing involved grabbing public script-kiddie tools associated with network-based vulnerabilities in the SANS Top 20 (current vulnerabilities found in recent months). We modified some of the attacks so that they were still successful, but not stock.
We used Nessus and nmap for reconnaissance and ran the exploits across a router, ensuring that the NIP systems properly detected and alerted. Next, we used fragroute to split packets into tiny fragments and reorder packets in an attempt to evade detection. We then ran traffic through the NIP devices and reran all the tests to see if the attacks would still be detected. They were.
To test performance, we measured performance up to the rated capacity--or until we exhausted our rated capacity. We used Spirent WebAvalanche as a Web client and a Spirent WebReflector to mimic a set of Web servers. Each user requested a page consisting of a main page 8 KB in size and 10 subelements at 6 KB each, for a total HTTP payload size of
68 KB. We initially used HTTP/1.1 with keep-alive and ramped up the connections per second. Both devices under test passed all traffic with additional latency. We then switched to HTTP/1.1 without keep-alive so that each GET required a network TCP connection. Again, both products passed traffic with the same result.
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