In order to address the continued escalation in the diversity, sophistication and quantity of malicious activity in the Internet, new methods for systematic testing and evaluation of next generation security systems and techniques are required. The objective of this research is to investigate and develop meta-environments for Emulab-based testbeds. A meta-environment is a set of testbed configurations, tools and processes developed for a specific security domain that enables experiments to be conducted in a simplified, realistic and consistent fashion. The first component of this research program is focused on investigating tools such as traffic generators that can be used across all metaenvironments. Next, five specific meta-environments will be investigated and developed for the following areas: 1) network intrusion detection, 2) firewalls, 3) honeynets, 4) denial of service defense, and 5) security perimeter design. Finally, mechanisms for federation between the Wisconsin Advanced Internet Lab, DETER and other Emulabbased testbeds that will enable large-scale experiments and transparent access to resources will be investigated. The broader impacts of this project are that it will simplify and accelerate the use of testbeds for security research, and enable consistent comparisons between new security systems and tools. The expected results of this work include tools, configurations, and documentation for the five meta-environments and testbed federation capability. The project also includes education and outreach activities that will develop network security lab exercise materials. These web-based materials will be openly available to the community, and will emphasize a hands-on approach intended to provide students with practical, relevant experiences.
CT-M: Meta-Environments for Experiments on Diverse Topics in Network Security