ntopng

Announce

Introducing ntopng for MacOS. Finally.
For a long time out MacOS users asked a native ntopng package. Even though we use MacOS and Linux to develop our tools, we didn’t consider important to revamp the MacOS installer (ntopng 1.x has a native MacOS installer) as there are solutions such as brew.sh that allow you to install packages. However such tools are not for all Mac users who not necessarily like to use the command line. Thus we have created a native package that installs in one click all the required components (e.g. Redis) needed by …
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Extending ntopng by Means of Plugins: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
ntopng v4 has introduced the concept of plugins that are short scripts written in Lua. They allow people to code ntopng extensions for triggering alerts when specific conditions are met, or extend the engine by adding new external data feeds. Possibilities are manyfold. In the next ntopng release we want to simplify the addition of new plugins as well create a public repository for adding them with a matter of clicks. This video tutorial is a step-by-step lesson that shows you how ntopng plugins can be developed. Enjoy! …
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Say Hello To ntopng 4.0: Cybersecurity, Scripting… and a New User Interface
After over one year of work, we’re proud to announce you that ntopng 4.0 is finally out. In this time we have redesigned ntopng for speed and openness, by breaking apart the existing monolithic C++ engine into a Lua-scriptable micro-engine. This is to enable people to contribute to the project without them being scared of coding in C++. The major breakthroughs we have brought with this release are: A plugin engine that allows anyone with some basic Lua coding skills to tap straight into every single flow, host, or other …
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Securing Flow Collection Using Data Encryption
NetFlow/IPFIX specifications have not considered privacy and confidentiality important. Exported flows are sent over unencrypted channels that prevent them to be exchanged on public networks unless techniques such as VPNs are used. Today encryption is no longer an option, and thus we have added encryption support in all our tools when flows are exchanged over ZMQ channels (e.g. when nProbe sends flows to ntopng). In order to use encryption a private/public keypair needs to be generated on the collector side (i.e. ntopng) and configured on all the probe applications sending …
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How We Managed to Turn ntopng Into a Cybersecurity Tool
Last year you have read how we have integrated Suricata support into ntopng. While an IDS is a good source of data, it is just a sensor, how has no knowledge of the big network picture including the network overview, past host/flow history and device type. In essence an IDS is a nice to have but it’s not enough. What it is necessary is the ability to analyse traffic, learn what is wrong, compare current behaviour with the past, and draw some conclusions (i.e. read them as emit alerts) that …
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Towards ntopng v4: New User Interface Featuring Dark Theme
This February we’ll introduce ntopng v4 and we’re starting to write some blog posts to preview the new features. Let’s start with the user interface. Since v1 the UI has always been the same. People however asked us some more flexible layout where it is possible for instance to switch across network interfaces in a breeze. Furthermore the pervasive use of dark themes was also a driving force towards changes. While the UI in 4.2 will integrate new changes we already planned (for instance to switch from realtime to historical …
ntopng

Introducing Automatic Package Update in ntopng
One of the most useful features in applications, is the ability to Update the application with a matter of click with no need to move to the terminal console. Instruct the system to update the application as a new version is available. We have realised that many of our users missed this feature in ntopng for a long time, and so we decided to implement it. Currently it is part of the nightly builds, and it will be included in the next stable release. As this feature depends on the …
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Exploring Physical Network Topologies Using ntopng
ntop tools are known for monitoring network traffic. However this traffic has to flow on physical networks and thus it is important to understand the physical network layout. LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) is a network protocol used to dynamically build network topologies and identify network device neighbours. In the latest ntopng dev build (that will be merged in the next v4 stable) we have enhanced the SNMP monitoring capabilities with LLDP support. if your SNMP devices have LLDP enabled, ntopng now polls this information and build an adjacency graph …
ntopng

Spotting Plaintext Information in Network Protocols
In short: encryption does not always mean that all the information exchanged is really encrypted. Another myth is that many people believe that the equation “encryption = security” holds. Unfortunately this is not true. This slide deck we presented at Sharkfest Europe 19 shows in practical terms what information is sent in clear text in popular protocol as well what information encrypted TLS traffic reports unencrypted. Enjoy! …
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ntopng & Suricata: Unifying Visibility with Security
This week we have presented at Suricon 2019 our work about unifying ntopng with Suricata. https://youtu.be/g7NFjeSQG0c In short: Suricata is a great tool for analysing individual flows but It lacks a GUI It is blind to security threats when they use non-standard ports It is mostly blind to encrypted traffic It does not provide a comprehensive view of the network but it is focusing only on flows. It is able to dissect only about 20 protocols with respect to 250 nDPI supports It is blind with respect to containers ntopng …
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Using RFC8520 (MUD) to Enforce Hosts Traffic Policies in ntopng
RFC8520 (Manufacturer Usage Description) specifies what is the intended (from the manufacturer standpoint) network behaviour of a network device. Being it defined in JSON format by the device manufacturer, it can be used for simple single-task devices such as a printer or an access-point where the device communications are simple and well defined. Typically a device specifies in DHCP requests the URL of a MUD file [image below courtesy of osMUD] that is defined by the manufacturer specifying what IP/ports the device can access. The URL is passed to an …
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Merging Infrastructure and Traffic Monitoring: Integrating ntopng with Icinga
Icinga2 is an open source monitoring system which checks the availability of hosts and services, notifies users of outages and generates performance data for reporting. Thanks to its scalability and extensibility, it has become very popular (as Nagios successor) and suitable to monitor complex environments, even across multiple locations. Although popular, it falls short when it comes to monitor how the network is being used by certain host. There are several plugins for network monitoring available both in the Icinga Template Library and in the Icinga Exchange, however, they only …

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