Visualizing Vulnerabilities with Network Mapping for Cybersecurity

The complexity of the business network in today's digital era has increased significantly so knowing exactly what is operating on your network at all times is highly crucial. Network mapping, therefore, is now an essential part of cybersecurity. Why? Because attackers are constantly looking for new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in networks, and without a network map, organizations are more likely to miss critical vulnerabilities, leaving them open to attack.

Let’s dive into network mapping and how it is used to visualize vulnerabilities!

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What is Network Mapping?

Network mapping visualizes networks and offers in-depth visibility into the company’s IT infrastructure by generating a network map including flowcharts, device inventories, network diagrams, and topology detection. While incident response plan helps to detect, respond to, and recover from network security incidents, network mapping helps to identify and manage network devices, their relationships, and potential vulnerabilities before incidents happen.

There are 5 key components of network mapping, such as:

1.  Network Topology: physical and logical arrangement of network devices and their interconnections represented using different models such as a star, mesh, or ring.

2.  IP Addressing and Naming Conventions: IP addressing helps to identify devices on the network, and naming conventions make it easier to identify and manage different network components.

3.  Switches and Routers: critical components of any network that help to connect different devices and segments of the network.

4.  Wireless Access Points (WAPs): networking devices that enable wireless-capable devices to connect to a wired network.

5.  Firewalls and Security Devices: these devices protect the network from unauthorized access and security threats.

3 Network Mapping Techniques to Visualize Vulnerabilities

Network mapping techniques are essential for understanding and visualizing the structure of computer networks. Here are 3 common network mapping techniques:

1.  Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

SNMP is a common TCP/IP protocol used to monitor and map network availability, performance, and error rates. SNMP allows administrators to remotely monitor thousands of systems on a network by displaying the data collected on a dashboard.

How does SNMP work?

SNMP works through a set of procedural steps for managing and monitoring network devices. Here's an overview of how SNMP works:

• Messages are sent between a network device and the system running the SNMP agent.
• The agent then translates them into a readable format for the host’s computer software.
• The agent then sends these translated messages to the SNMP manager.
• The information is then processed and displayed on a dashboard for users to check.
• The manager then generates reports for administrators.

2.  Active Probing

Active probing is a technique used to learn more about a network by actively sending packets or requests and analyzing the responses. This technique is used to discover live hosts, open ports, and gather information about the network.

How does active probing work?

Active probing involves sending specially crafted packets or requests to network devices to gather information about them. Here's an overview of how active probing works:

• Specify the range of IP addresses or network segments.
• Send ping to IP addresses to see which hosts are live.
• Collect and analyze the ping responses from the hosts.
• Then, port scanning to identify open ports and the running services.
• Send connection requests to the live hosts.
• Analyze the responses to determine the state of each port.

3.  Route Analytics

Route analytics is a type of network analysis focused on understanding the routing paths and decisions in a network. It provides insights into how traffic flows through the network, the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) routes, and potential issues affecting routing.

How does route analytics work?

Route analytics helps to optimize routing, troubleshoot issues, and enhance network performance and security. Here's an overview of how route analytics works:

• Collect the data related to network routing.
• Gather BGP routing updates and withdrawals using route analytics tools.
• Analyze the collected data to build the network's topology map.
• Examine BGP routes to understand the data traffic.
• Create visual representations of routing paths and detect anomalies.
• Generate alerts to inform the anomalies to network administrators.

To sum up, network mapping is crucial as it provides a comprehensive understanding of the network infrastructure. Through network mapping, organizations can identify potential vulnerabilities and security weaknesses, enabling them to proactively implement protective measures.

References

Ashtari, H. (2022). Network Mapping Process, importance, best practices for 2022. Spiceworks. https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/networking/articles/what-is-network-mapping/

Digital, S. (2023). Network Mapping: How it Works and Best Practices. STL Digital. https://www.stldigital.tech/blog/network-mapping-how-it-works-and-best-practices/

ManageEngine, communications@manageengine.com. (n.d.). Network Monitoring Software by ManageEngine OPManager. ManageEngine OpManager. https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/what-is-network-map.html