Network Infrastructure Solution Security Tech Brief en
Network Infrastructure Solution Security Tech Brief en
Tech brief
Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 4
Top five security suggestions for hardening the network infrastructure......................... 4
1. Install hardened/secure diversified Alcatel-Lucent Operating Software (AOS) code
in the OmniSwitch............................................................................................................................. 4
2. Change the default password to a strong pass phrase........................................................ 5
3. Update the OmniSwitch and Stellar WLAN software regularly........................................ 5
4. Avoid insecure protocols................................................................................................................. 5
5. Review the latest US-CERT recommendations and security best practices................ 5
Security best practices and recommendations: Common practices for the
OmniSwitch and OmniAccess Stellar wireless access points.................................................. 5
1. Install hardened/secure diversified code in the OmniSwitch........................................... 6
Software diversification................................................................................................................. 6
2. Secure the Switch/Access Point.................................................................................................... 6
Control physical access................................................................................................................... 6
Train personnel.................................................................................................................................. 7
Set the correct date and time...................................................................................................... 7
Keep local passwords secure....................................................................................................... 7
OmniVista to enable Users and User Groups management.............................................. 8
All user accounts (other than admin, should use remote authentication).................. 9
Maintain and review activity logs.......................................................................................... 10
OmniSwitch CLI Command Logging........................................................................................ 10
Cryptographic Support (FCS_CKM, FCS_COP)....................................................................... 11
3. Enabling Network Protocols and Services (NTP, SNMP, LLDP, MACsec, among others)..
...........................................................................................................................................................................11
Enable Network Time Protocol in the Switch..................................................................... 11
Turn off insecure protocols........................................................................................................ 12
Block network protocols from user ports............................................................................ 12
Hide device uniqueness using session control................................................................... 13
Enable Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP).................................................................... 13
Enable Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) filtering triggers.................................... 13
Enable DCHP security features................................................................................................ 14
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Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 2
Spanning Tree security................................................................................................................ 15
OSPF Router Interface Authentication................................................................................... 15
IPSec for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch® 6860 and Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch® ..........
6860E................................................................................................................................................ 16
MACsec............................................................................................................................................... 16
4. Authorized Network Access Control (including: ACL, NAC, IoT, UNP) ........................ 19
Purpose and Usage of Access Control Lists......................................................................... 19
Port Mapping, Mirroring, and Monitoring............................................................................ 19
Application Fingerprinting......................................................................................................... 20
Applications Visibility.................................................................................................................. 20
Enabling Learned Port Security............................................................................................... 21
User Network Profile (UNP)....................................................................................................... 21
Augmented intelligence and device fingerprinting enabled networks..................... 22
5. Reporting a suspected Security Vulnerability..................................................................... 22
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................... 23
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Introduction
This document provides Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) specifications for recommended security
configurations for the Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch® and Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess® Stellar WLAN
equipment in campus networks.
This document provides suggestions and best practices for adding and maintaining security
of an OmniSwitch and Stellar WLAN network with secure configurations. Detailed security
options with CLI syntax and examples are provided in the following OmniSwitch User Guides:
Switch Management, CLI, Network Configuration Guides, as well as through the Alcatel-
Lucent OmniVista® on-line user guide. The OmniVista user guide is a context-sensitive on-line
configuration guide within the management application screens. The on-line user guide can be
assessed while configuring OmniVista features by simply clicking on the help “?” (see Figure 1,
below) in the upper right corner of the OmniVista browser window.
Figure 1
OmniVista provisioning, configuration and monitoring is 100% recommended for Stellar WLAN
enterprise deployments. For OmniSwitch equipment configuration and provisioning: OmniVista,
Webview, or CLI configuration is supported. However, OmniVista is highly recommended to
provision an end-to-end networking solution, through one ‘pane-of-glass’ to support both
OmniSwitch and Stellar WLAN equipment.
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Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 4
2. Change the default password to a strong pass phrase
Many breaches are due to network-based devices where the default password has not been
changed or simply changed to 1234567. Default passwords are easy to obtain through hacker
sites (for example http://www.phenoelit- us.org/dpl/dpl.html). Once an intruder has access to the
administrator account they can change the password, locking out the owner and taking control of
the device. Further recommendations on securing passwords appear later in this document.
Regularly check for ALE security advisories through its dedicated public page at ALE Security
Advisories support site or you can also sign up to automatically receive security advisories for
both OmniSwitch and Stellar wireless.
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Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 5
The following sections address:
OmniSwitch products can also be delivered that are, TAA Country of Origin USA compliant with
AOS software loaded from USA-based servers onto the OmniSwitch in a USA factory.
Secure diversified code employs multiple techniques to identify vulnerabilities, such as software
architecture reviews, source code analysis (using both manual techniques and automated tools),
vulnerability scanning tools and techniques, as well as analysis of known vulnerabilities in third-
party code.
Software diversification
Software diversification rearranges the memory map of the executable program so that
various instances of the same software, while functionally identical, are arranged differently
in memory. In AOS 8.6R01, ALE has adopted address system layout randomization (ASLR) as a
standard feature. ASLR results in a unique memory layout of the running software each time
the OmniSwitch reboots, to impede or prevent software exploitation. ASLR is depicted below,
showing how two system boots result in two different memory layouts for code segments, data
segments, dynamic libraries, among others.
ALE secure diversified code technology hardens the OmniSwitch software through a combination
of:
The above three-layer approach not only ensures security, but chain of software custody control
as well.
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Train personnel
Organizations work hard to select honest employees, however, without information security
awareness training the employees may inadvertently leave network elements vulnerable to
misuse. ALE offers training classes to enhance the skills of network personnel.
If an NTP server is unavailable it is recommended that the system date and time be regularly
updated manually on the switch.
The Stellar WLAN equipment will synchronize with the OmniVista or an external NTP server,
when available.
user admin password changes the admin accounts password. This is essential as a default
password is a common vulnerability exploited by malicious actors..
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user password-expiration forces users to change their password after the expiration number of
days. Changing the password often reduces the risk of accidental disclosure.
user password-min-age is used to prevent a user from cycling through passwords to get back to
their original password within a single session. This applies to all accounts including admin.
user lockout-window, user lockout-threshold and user lockout-duration are used to stop
malicious actors and automated systems from trying to guess the password using a brute-force
attack. The normal login process has built-in delays on user-password authentication failure
which discourages guessing. The literature suggests that a longer lock-out period should be used
after extending failures to allow an administrator to identify the breach. The period should be
sufficiently long enough for an administrator to be notified and take appropriate action. The
values recommended are a balance between blocking programmatic password crackers and
potential denial of authorized access. Account lock-up does not apply to the admin account.
user password-size, user password-history, and user password-policy commands are used to
require complex passwords be set by users; values are taken from T1.276-2003. Passwords
using these criteria are complex enough to provide a minimum level of security. However,
organizations may require stronger passwords. Once commands for enforcing password strength
are entered, be sure to update existing passwords.
Once a password expires the next login will prompt the user to change the password.
The password aging and lock-out commands only apply to local accounts. See the RADIUS
manufacturer’s guide to apply these to remote accounts.
Assigning management access for the Stellar Wireless Access Points in ‘Enterprise Mode’ is done
through OmniVista 2500 (OV-2500) or OmniVista Cirrus (OV-CIRRUS). For tighter security, and for
flexibility and scalability provisioning, OV-2500 and OV-CIRRUS management are recommended
for Stellar WLAN.
Figure 2
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User Groups, Users, and User Roles are configured using the following screens:
• Role Management: Used to configure User Roles to restrict user access/rights to specific
devices and OmniVista applications
• Group Management: Used to configure User Groups to define access to OmniVista, network
devices. A User Role is associated with a User Group to specify read/write access to specific
devices and OmniVista applications.
• User Management: Used to configure Users and assign the User to a User Group
• Authentication Server: Used to specify the OmniVista Login Server
Note: A User Role is an option that enables you to provide user access/rights to specific
applications and network devices. For the most part, configuring Users and User Groups is
sufficient.
All user accounts (other than admin, should use remote authentication)
T1.276-2003 and other standards recommend using a remote RADIUS server for account
control. This allows network wide control of accounts reducing the risk of inadvertently leaving
an account unsecured. The admin account should be the only local account to be used for
emergency reconfiguration.
aaa radius-server radius_server host ip_address configures access to the RADIUS server.
aaa authentication default radius_server local specifies that all authentication of access to the
switch and Stellar Wireless APs should first be checked using the radius server and then using
the local database.
In addition to the recommended Radius usage for administrator authentication, ALE best
practices recommend enabling Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS is a cryptographic protocol
that provides end-to-end communications security over networks.
Note: Refer to the Switch Configuration guide for the AOS cli syntax, the syntax provided above
is an example for reference purposes, please refer to the Switch Management Guide for the
complete set of CLI commands and configuration options. For example, when configuring ‘tsl’ the
following syntax is recommended:
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aaa radius-server server_name host {hostname | ip_address | ipv6_address} [hostname2| ip_
address2 | ipv6_address2] {key secret | hash-key hash_secret | prompt-key}[salt | hash-salt hash_
salt] [retransmit retries] [timeout seconds] [auth-port auth_port] [acct- port acct_port] [vrf-name
name] [ssl | no ssl]
swlog output {tty {enable | disable} | console | flash | socket {ip_address | ipv6Address | domain_
name} [tls] [remote command-log] [vrf-name name]}
It is recommended that the OmniVista 2500 NMS be deployed to manage the OmniSwitch and
Stellar WLAN. Multiple logs can be accessed through the Audit Log View Home. There are options
to display the logs by function, for example; Network, Configuration, Unified Access, System, Log
Central, UPAM and User Activity Report, see Figure 3 for a screen capture of the available logs:
Figure 3
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Telnet, Secure Shell, and console sessions. In addition to a list of commands entered, the results
of each command entry are recorded. Results include information such as whether a command
was successfully executed, or whether a syntax or configuration error occurred.
For detailed information related to command logging commands, refer to the OmniSwitch AOS
Release 8 CLI Reference Guide.
The OmniSwitch product family implements TLS/SSL to provide a secure channel for interaction
with server communications. The TLS/SSL cipher suite (selection of cryptographic algorithms)
allowed for use by the switch is determined in the SSL handshake sequence by the SSL server,
selected from the set of cipher suites supported by the client. Dependent on the negotiated
cipher suite, the TLS/SSL protocol uses the asymmetric key pairs on the server and client to
authenticate and exchange information used in the key agreement protocol. The symmetric
session key set is derived by each side of the TLS/SSL protocol, used for encryption and message
integrity cryptographic functions, and destroyed when the session is closed. The TOE destroys
symmetric session keys used by TLS/SSL by clearing and de-allocating the key’s volatile and non-
volatile memory. If the keys are not destroyed then the key destruction process is repeated.
The OmniSwitch provides self-signed certificates in the default configuration; the certificate
may be replaced with a well-known TLS/SSL-certificate or a certificate generated using the tools
described in Authentication using X.509 Certificates (Extended – FIA_X509_EXT).
The OmniSwitch implements SSHv2 and SFTP, providing shell or FTP commands over a secure
channel protected by symmetric cryptography, with keys derived using a key agreement scheme.
A DSA key pair is generated if no key pair is found, including first time usage of the OmniSwitch.
This key pair (/network/ssh_host_dsa_key and /network/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub) may also be
replaced by using key generation tools described in Authentication using X.509 Certificates
(Extended – FIA_X509_EXT).
3. Enabling Network Protocols and Services (NTP, SNMP, LLDP, MACsec, among others)
If authentication is enabled on an NTP switch, any NTP message sent to the switch must contain
the correct key ID in the message packet, to use in decryption. Likewise, any message sent from
the authentication enabled switch will not be readable unless the receiving NTP entity possesses
the correct key ID.
The key file is a text (.txt) file that contains a list of keys that are used to authenticate NTP
servers. Key files are created by a system administrator independent of the NTP protocol, and
placed in the switch memory when the switch boots.
The NTP software is disabled on the switch by default. To activate the switch as an NTP client,
enter the ntp client command as shown:
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-> ntp client admin-status enable
This sets the switch to act as an NTP client in the passive mode, meaning the client will receive
updates from a designated NTP server.
To disable the NTP software, enter the ntp client command as shown:
Regarding the Stellar WLAN Access Points in Enterprise mode, all security parameters (including
NTP, Radius, and Unified Access AAA parameters) will be provisioned through OmniVista unified
management.
• no ip service all, ip service ssh, ip service snmp, ip service http disables all IP services except
secure protocols
• ssh enable, ssh pubkey-auth enable require SSH to work with public key certificates. The user
key must be loaded on the switch in /flash/network/pub.
• snmp security privacy all requires SNMP accesses to use v3
• policy port group UserPorts slot/port slot/port identifies which ports or port ranges are user
ports. User ports are currently limited to 126 ports.
• qos user-port shutdown causes the port to shut down or block when a packet of the protocols
specified is received. This prevents users from inadvertently providing network services; refer
to the OmniSwitch Switch Management Guide and Network Configuration Guide for detail
syntax and examples to configure these secured parameters.
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Hide device uniqueness using session control
Part of network security is not allowing a malicious actor to have knowledge of a device’s
identity or type. It is recommended that any pre-banner be the same for all devices on the
network whether servers or network equipment. This prevents providing a malicious actor with
information about the possible weakness of a device. It is recommended that a warning banner
be used either pre- or post-login, that warns users about the ownership of the network and
consequences of misuse. This can deter casual misuse and in many geographic regions, is a legal
requirement.
The user is provided with an option to configure the Chassis ID subtype that can be used in
validating the Chassis ID type in the incoming LLDP PDU. If the Chassis ID is not configured, by
default, the first LLDP remote agent is learned with the received Chassis ID. When more than one
LLDP agent is learned on a port, the port is moved to a violation state.
The OmniSwitch LLDP Agent Security mechanism provides a solution for secure access to the
network by detecting rogue devices and preventing them from accessing the internal network.
LLDP agent security can be achieved by allowing only one trusted LLDP remote agent on a
network port.
• ICMP Ping of Death: Ping packets that exceed the largest IP datagram size (65535 bytes) are
sent to a host and crash the system.
• SYN Attack: Floods a system with a series of TCP SYN packets, resulting in the host issuing
SYN-ACK responses. The half open TCP connections can exhaust TCP resources, such that no
other TCP connections are accepted.
• Land Attack: Spoofed packets are sent with the SYN flag set to a host on any open port that is
listening. The machine can crash or reboot to respond.
• Pepsi Attack: The most common form of UDP flooding directed at harming networks. A pepsi
attack is an attack consisting of many spoofed UDP packets aimed at diagnostic ports on
network devices. A pepsi attack can cause network devices to use up a large amount of CPU
time responding to these packets.
• ARP Flood Attack: Floods a switch with many ARP requests, resulting in the switch using a
large amount of the CPU time to respond to these requests. If the number of ARP requests
exceeds the preset value of 500 per second, an attack is detected.
• Invalid IP Attack: Packets with invalid source or destination IP addresses are received by the
switch.
• When such an Invalid-IP attack is detected, the packets are dropped and SNMP traps are
generated.
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• Multicast IP and MAC Address Mismatch: This attack is detected when:
¬ The source MAC address of a packet received by a switch is a Multicast MAC address.
¬ The destination IP and MAC addresses of a packet received by a switch is same as the
Multicast IP and MAC addresses, but the Multicast IP and the Multicast MAC addresses do
not match.
Note: In both the conditions described above in “Multicast IP and MAC Address Mismatch”,
packets are dropped and SNMP traps are generated.
¬ The destination IP is a unicast IP and the destination MAC address is either a Broadcast or
Multicast address. In such a condition, an event is recorded in the DoS statistics. No SNMP
traps are generated as valid packets can also fall under this category.
• Ping overload: Floods a switch with many ICMP packets, resulting in the switch using a large
amount of CPU time to respond to these packets. If the number of ICMP packets exceeds 100
per second, a DoS attack is detected. By default, the detection of attack is disabled.
• Packets with loopback source IP address: Packets with an invalid source address of
127.0.0.0/8 (loopback network) are received by the switch. When such packets are detected,
they are dropped, and SNMP traps are generated.
The switch can be set to detect various types of port scans by monitoring for TCP or UDP packets
sent to open or closed ports. Monitoring is done in the following manner:
• Packet penalty values set. TCP and UDP packets destined for open or closed ports are assigned
a penalty value. Each time a packet of this type is received, is assigned penalty value is added
to a running total. This total is cumulative and includes all TCP and UDP packets destined for
open or closed ports.
• Port scan penalty value threshold. The switch is given a port scan penalty value threshold.
This number is the maximum value the running penalty total can achieve before triggering an
SNMP trap.
• Decay value. A decay value is set. The running penalty total is divided by the decay value
every minute.
• Trap generation. If the total penalty value exceeds the set port scan penalty value threshold, a
trap is generated to alert the administrator that a port scan can be in progress.
Although DHCP Option-82 is a subcomponent of DHCP Snooping, these two features are mutually
exclusive. If the DHCP Option-82 feature is enabled for the switch, then DHCP Snooping is not
available.
The reverse is also true. If DHCP Snooping is enabled, then DHCP Option-82 is not available. In
addition, the following differences exist between these two features:
• DHCP Snooping does require and use the Option-82 data insertion capability, but does not
implement any other behaviors defined in RFC 3046.
• DHCP Snooping is configurable at the switch level and on a per-VLAN basis, but DHCP
Option-82 is only configurable at the switch level.
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The following section provides additional information about each DHCP security feature and how
to configure feature parameters using the Command Line Interface (CLI).
This implementation of the DHCP relay agent information option (Option-82) feature is based on
the functionality defined in RFC 3046. By default, DHCP Option-82 functionality is disabled. The
ip helper agent-information command is used to enable this feature at the switch level.
When this feature is enabled, communications between a DHCP client and a DHCP server are
authenticated by the relay agent. To accomplish this task, the agent adds Option-82 data to the
end of the options field in DHCP packets sent from a client to a DHCP server. Option-82 consists
of two sub options: Circuit ID and Remote ID. The agent fills in the following information for each
of these sub options:
• Circuit ID—the VLAN ID and slot/port from where the DHCP packet originated
• Remote ID—the MAC address of the router interface associated with the VLAN ID specified in
the Circuit ID sub option
The ip helper dhcp-snooping option-82 format command is used to configure the type of data
(base MAC address, system name, interface alias, or user-defined) that is inserted into the above
Option-82 sub-options. The system name and user-defined text are reported in ASCII text format,
but the MAC address is still reported in hex-based format.
When root guard is enabled for a port, it cannot become the root port, even if it is the most
likely candidate for becoming the root port. However, this same port is designated as the
alternate port when the root port is selected.
Enabling the restricted role status is used by network administrators to prevent bridges external
to the core region of the network from influencing the Spanning Tree topology. However, note
that enabling the restricted role status for a port may impact connectivity within the network.
There are two types of authentication: Simple and MD5. Simple authentication requires only a
text string as a password, while MD5 is a form of encrypted authentication that requires a key
and a password. Both types of authentication require the use of more than one command.
Simple authentication
To enable simple authentication on an interface, enter the ip ospf interface auth-type command
with the interface name. Once simple authentication is enabled, the password must be set with
the ip ospf interface auth-key command.
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MD5 encryption
To configure the same interface as above with MD5 encryption, enter the ip ospf interface auth-
type as shown below:
Once MD5 authentication is set, a key identification and key string must be set with the ip ospf
interface md5 key command. Refer to the AOS CLI Guide for the complete syntax to configure the
above functions.
• Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) to provide confidentiality, data origin authentication and
connectionless integrity
• Authentication Header (AH) to provide connectionless integrity and data origin authentication
for IPv6 datagrams and to provide optional protection against replay attacks. Unlike ESP, AH
does not provide confidentiality.
IPsec on an OmniSwitch operates in Transport mode. In transport mode only the payload of the
IPv6 packet is encapsulated and an IPsec header (AH or ESP) is inserted between the original
IPv6 header and the upper-layer protocol header.
MACsec
For added security on the uplinks and some user ports, most OmniSwitch models and the Multi-
Gig Stellar access point, support the IEEE 802.1AE-2006 MACsec (MAC Security) standard. The
purpose of MACsec is that it provides point-to-point or also known as, hop-to-hop security on
Ethernet links between directly connected nodes. MACsec prevents DDoS/M-in-M/playback
attacks, intrusion, wire-tapping, masquerading, among others. MACsec can be used to secure
most of the traffic on Ethernet links - LLDP frames, LACP frames, DHCP/ARP packets, and more.
ALE recommends enabling MACsec in backbone switches to secure traffic transported through
those uplinks. Other excellent applications for this technology exist today; for example, Data
Center Interconnect (DCI) applications where all transported traffic can be encrypted at wire rate.
MACsec-enabled links work by securing through matching security keys. Data integrity checks
are done by appending an 8-byte or 16-byte header and a 16-byte tail to all Ethernet frames
traversing the secured link.
On the wire, a MACsec packet starts with an Ethernet header with etherType 0x88E5, followed
by an 8-byte or 16-byte SecTag header containing information about the decryption key, a
packet number and Secure Channel Identifier. The SecTag header is followed by the payload
(which may be optionally encrypted) and the Integrity Check Value (ICV) generated by GCM-AES
of size 16 bytes.
Each node in a MACsec-protected network has at least one transmit secure channel associated
with a Secure Channel Identifier (SCI). Configuration parameters such as enable encryption or
perform replay protection are stored in the context of the transmit secure channel. A single
secure channel is unidirectional, that is, it can be applied to either inbound or outbound traffic.
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Figure 4
The following OmniSwitch and OmniAccess Stellar wireless hardware supports MACsec through
some of its PHYs. The table below lists the product model in the first column; the second column
denotes which PHYs are MACsec enabled; the third column lists the software features which
enable the enforcement of the MACsec functionality.
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Wireless Intrusion Protection System (WIPS)
Protecting the wireless network: Since an 802.11 network is open and borderless, it makes it
vulnerable to attacks (for example; rogue APs, unauthorized clients, DDoS attacks). The Stellar
WLAN security best practices are enabled through the Wireless Intrusion Protection System
(WIPS) application which monitors the wireless radio spectrum for the presence of unsafe access
points and clients, and can take countermeasures to mitigate the impact of foreign intrusions.
Figure 4, the WIPS screen) provides an overview of wireless network threats/intrusions for
Stellar APs, and enables users to set up policies to detect threats and take countermeasures.
Figure 5
The WIPS Home Page provides links to an overview of network threats and intrusions for Stellar
APs, including Rogue APs and Blacklisted Clients, as well as network attacks over a 24- hour, or
one-week period.
A rogue AP is not the only threat to the wireless network. Other wireless attacks can be
detected and mitigated for both APs and Clients. To create Wireless Attack Policies, you must
enable Wireless Detection. When configuring a policy, each detection policy can be set to one
of the following levels. When a level is selected, all detection policies included in that level are
displayed and selected.
• High: Enables all applicable detection mechanisms, including all the options of low and
medium level settings
• Medium: Enables important detection mechanisms including all the options of the low-level
settings
• Low (Default): Enables only the most critical detection mechanisms
• Custom: Enables only the selected detection mechanisms. When this level is selected, all
detection mechanisms are displayed. Select the ones you want to include in the policy.
An AP ‘Attack Detection Policy’ detects multiple attacks originating from foreign APs. Refer to the
OmniVista 2500 or OmniVista Cirrus online user guide for a list of AP attack detection policies
that can be configured and enabled to protect the wireless network from malicious actors.
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4. Authorized Network Access Control (including: ACL, NAC, IoT, UNP)
ACLs are distinguished by the kind of traffic they filter. In a QoS policy rule, the type of traffic is
specified in the policy condition. The policy action determines whether the traffic is allowed or
denied.
For detailed descriptions about configuring policy rules, see QoS Policy Overview and Creating
Policies in the Network Configuration Guide.
• Layer 2 ACLs: For filtering traffic at the MAC layer. Usually uses MAC addresses or MAC groups
for filtering
• Layer 3/4 ACLs: For filtering traffic at the network layer. Typically uses IP addresses or IP
ports for filtering; note that IPX filtering is not supported.
• Multicast ACLs: For filtering IGMP traffic
• Security ACLs: For improving network security. These ACLs utilize specific security features,
such as user ports groups to prevent source IP address spoofing, ICMP drop rules and TCP
connection rules.
Ingress, egress, or bidirectional traffic can be mirrored. The mirrored traffic from the source
port is tagged onto the RPMIR VLAN through the mirror to port (MTP) in the source switch, and
then forwarded over the intermediate switch ports that are carrying the RPMIR VLAN to the
destination switch.
Port Mapping is a security feature that controls communication between peer users. Each
session is comprised of a session ID, a set of user ports, and/or a set of network ports. The user
ports within a session cannot communicate with each other and can only communicate through
network ports. In a port mapping session with user port set A and network port set B, the ports
in set A can only communicate with the ports in set B. If set B is empty, the ports in set A can
communicate with the rest of the ports in the system.
A port mapping session can be configured in the unidirectional or bidirectional mode. In the
unidirectional mode, the network ports can communicate with each other within the session. In
the bidirectional mode, the network ports cannot communicate with each other. Network ports
of a unidirectional port mapping session can be shared with other unidirectional sessions, but
cannot be shared with any sessions configured in the bidirectional mode.
To create a port mapping session either with the user ports, network ports, or both the user
ports and network ports, use the port-mapping user-port network-port command. For example,
to create a port mapping session 8 with a user port on slot 1 port 2 to port 5 and a network port
on slot 2 port 3, for example, enter:
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One can create a port mapping session with link aggregate network ports. For example, to create
a port mapping session 3 with network ports of link aggregation group 7 to 9, enter:
For other supported port mapping capabilities and its syntax refer to the Network Configuration
or CLI User guides.
Application Fingerprinting
The AOS Application Fingerprinting (AFP) application attempts to detect and identify a remote
application by scanning the payload of its IP packets and matching them against predefined bit
patterns (application signatures). Once the application is identified, AFP collects the source and
destination information and applies QoS or generates an SNMP Trap.
The OmniSwitch sFLOW mechanism is used one port at a time for a given interval, and within the
interval, packets are copied to the switch CPU at a controlled rate:
Using this implementation of AFP, an administrator can obtain more detailed information about
protocols running on a specific device or make sure that certain QoS actions are automatically
applied wherever an application might be running.
Note: Refer to the Specifications Guide for the AOS 8.x version for verified supported AFP
specifications.
Applications Visibility
To enable better security practices when deeper application visibility and network control is
required including deep packet inspection (DPI) in an OmniSwitch 6860E and OmniAccess Stellar
wireless.
APs, a network administrator needs to enable this functionality through OmniVista under the
Network Application Visibility Devices Management application. The Application Visibility
Devices Management Screen displays information about all network switches and Stellar AP
Series Devices (AP Groups) that support application visibility. In addition to the name, IP address,
and operational status of each device, the screen indicates whether an Application Visibility
Profile has been assigned to the device. From that screen, one can display more detailed
information and/or enable/disable automatic Signature File updates. For additional configuration
options, refer to the OmniVista online help from within each of the OmniVista application
screens.
Tech brief
Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 20
Enabling Learned Port Security
Learned Port Security (LPS) provides a mechanism for authorizing source learning of MAC
addresses on Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports. LPS does not support link aggregate and
tagged (trunked) link aggregate ports.
• A configurable source learning time limit that applies to all LPS ports
• A configurable limit on the number of MAC addresses allowed on an LPS port
• Dynamic configuration of a list of authorized source MAC addresses
• Static configuration of a list of authorized source MAC addresses
• Two methods for handling unauthorized traffic: Stopping all traffic on the port, or only
blocking traffic that violates LPS criteria
By default, LPS is disabled on all switch ports. To enable LPS on a port, use the port-security
command.
When LPS is disabled on a port, MAC address entries for that port are retained in the LPS table.
The next time LPS is enabled on the port, the same LPS table entries are again active. If there is
a switch reboot before the switch configuration is saved the dynamic MAC address entries are
discarded from the table.
UNP is not limited to creating profiles for only certain types of devices. However, the following
classification methods implemented through UNP functionality and profile criteria provide the
ability to tailor profiles for specific devices (physical or virtual):
Configuring UNP involves defining profiles and setting UNP global and port-based parameters.
When a UNP (VLAN-based) profile is created, default values are applied for the profile
parameters (for the detailed syntax and configuration examples, refer to the “UNP Profile
Defaults” in the Network Configuration Guide).
Tech brief
Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 21
The UNP functionality at the network access is supported in the OmniSwitch 6860/6860E,
6865, 6560 and 6465 with the current version of AOS 8.5R1 or newer software, as well as,
the OmniAccess Stellar wireless access points. A new UNP functionality is also supported in
the OmniSwitch 6450/6350 with software release AOS 6.7.x or later. The OmniVista 2500 or
OmniVista CIRRUS can be used to easily and dynamically provision UNPs with easy-to-follow
workflows in both UPAM and Unified Access applications.
Note: Refer to the Specifications Guide for the AOS 8.x version for verified supported UNP
specifications for each of the AOS switch platforms. It is recommended to use a single workflow
in OmniVista to configure OmniSwitches and OmniAccess Stellar wireless APs through a single
‘pane-of-glass’.
The OmniVista NMS device fingerprinting/ profiling application tool is an enabler to help
create containers for those unsolicited, unplanned, headless IoT devices to ensure secure
network access through the definition and automatic application of UNPs. With this solution,
all stakeholders must cooperate in keeping the IoT devices software security-patched, and
use strong passwords to help maintain a clean, mobile, and secure network infrastructure. For
configuration options and application of this feature, refer to the “Augmented Intelligence and
Device Fingerprinting Enabled Network” application note.
Individuals or organizations that are experiencing technical security issue with an ALE product
or solution are strongly encouraged to contact the ALE PSIRT by following these steps:
1. Obtain the ALE PSIRT PGP public key, this will ensure the confidentiality of the
communication. Confidentiality is a key point at this step to protect the security of our
customers in regards with our responsible disclosure policy.
2. Complete the vulnerability summary report (VSR)
3. Send the completed report to the email address: [email protected]
4. Consider sending the report email with the reporting organization’s public PGP key and by
encrypting the message with the ALE PSIRT PGP public key (scroll to bottom of page of key
retrieval).
ALE PSIRT works with third-party coordination centers such as CERT-IST, NVD, US-CERT to
manage vulnerabilities notices reported on third-party software embedded or used in ALE
products and solutions. The reports are referred to with a unique CVE number (Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures After). Each issued CVE is analyzed by ALE teams to provide an
adjusted risk score that reflect s the effective impact on our products.
Tech brief
Network infrastructure solutions: Security best practices 22
Conclusion
Security awareness training is a requirement for all employees which inadvertently can leave
the network administration open to misuse. ALE offers training classes to enhance the network
personnel’s skills.
In addition, ALE provides a number of user manuals including; the OmniSwitch User Guides for
detailed CLI syntax and other security configuration options. Following is a listing of the user
guides referenced throughout this document:
1) AOS Switch Management Guide: This guide will help users understand the switch’s directory
structure, the command line interface (CLI), configuration files, basic security features, and
basic administrative functions. The features and procedures in this guide will help form a
foundation that will allow you to configure more advanced switching features later in the
network provisioning process.
2) AOS Network Configuration Guide: Read this guide when your switch is up and running and
you are ready to familiarize yourself with the software functions. When you are ready to
connect your switch to the network, you will need to learn how the OmniSwitch implements
fundamental software features, such as 802.1Q, VLANs, Spanning Tree, and network routing
protocols. The OmniSwitch AOS Network Configuration Guide contains overview information,
procedures, and examples on how standard networking technologies are configured on the
OmniSwitch.
3) AOS CLI Guide: Details the CLI syntax and usage including examples.
4) Advanced Routing Guide: This configuration guide includes information about configuring the
following Layer 3 features
¬ Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol
¬ Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
¬ Multicast routing boundaries
¬ Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP)
¬ Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM)—Sparse Mode, Dense Mode, and Source-Specific
Multicast
5) AOS Specification Guide: This guide lists all verified features and tested specification tables
for the specified AOS release version.
6) OmniVista Online User Guide: OmniVista help user guide can be found in the context-
sensitive on-line help within the network management applications. The on-line help user
guide can be assessed while configuring OmniVista features by simply clicking on the help
“?” on the upper right-hand corner of the OmniVista browser window.
The network administrator will reference a combination of those user guides to configure the
OmniSwitch features through CLI or Stellar WLAN via OmniVista. Each guide serves its purpose
as summarized above. Other user guides for the hardware, fiber optic transceivers, and Data
Center specific features are also available to support those functions.
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without notice. Neither ALE Holding nor any of its affiliates assumes any responsibility for
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reserved in all countries. DID21032301(April 2021)