Securing Cisco Networks with Open Source Snort

This course is designed for technical professionals who need to know how to deploy an open source intrusion detection system (IDS) based on Snort.

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• Describe Snort technology and identify the resources available for maintaining a Snort deployment 
• Install and configure a Snort deployment 
• Configure the command-line options for starting a Snort as a sniffer, a logger, and an intrusion detector, and create a script to start Snort automatically 
• Identify and configure available Snort intrusion detection outputs 
• Describe rule sources, updates, and utilities for managing rules and updates 
• Detail the components of the snort.lua file and determine how to configure it for your deployment 
• Configure Snort for inline operation using the inline-only features 
• Configure rules for Snort using basic rule syntax 
• Describe how traffic flows through Snort and how to optimize rules for better performance 
• Configure advanced-rule options for Snort rules 
• Configure OpenAppID features and functionality 
• Tune Snort for efficient operation and profile system performance 
  

Snort Technology Introduction

• Snort Basics
• Snort Resources

Snort Installation

• Installation Prerequisites
• Performing the Snort Installation

Snort Operation Introduction

• Running Snort from the Command Line
• Configuring Snort to Start Automatically

Snort Intrusion Detection Output

• Configuring Snort Intrusion Detection Output

Rule Management

• Snort Rulesets
• PulledPork Installation and Configuration

Snort Configuration

• Examining the snort.lua File
• Inspector Configuration

Inline Operation and Configuration

• Configuring Inline Operation
• Configuring Inline-Specific Features

Snort Rule Syntax and Usage

• Basic Rule Syntax
• Common Rule Options

Snort Rule Traffic Processing Flow

• Examining Snort Traffic Flow

Advanced Rule Options

• PCRE Rule Options
• Hash Rules
• Byte Rule Options
• Implementing Flowbits
• File Detention

OpenAppID Detection Configuration

• Exploring the Open AppID Preprocessor
• Examining AppID Events and Statistics
• Detector Basics

Snort Tuning

• Viewing Performance Statistics
• Configuring Snort Rule Filters
• Implementing BPFs in Snort
• Performance Profiling

Labs

• Discovery Lab 1: Connecting to the Lab Environment
• Discovery Lab 2: Snort Installation
• Discovery Lab 3: Snort Operation
• Discovery Lab 4: Snort Intrusion Detection Output
• Discovery Lab 5: PulledPork Installation
• Discovery Lab 6: Configuring Variables
• Discovery Lab 7: Reviewing Inspector Configurations
• Discovery Lab 8: Inline Operation
• Discovery Lab 9: Basic Rule Syntax and Usage
• Discovery Lab 10: Advanced Rule Options
• Discovery Lab 11: OpenAppID Configuration
• Discovery Lab 12: Tuning Snort

Attendees should meet the following prerequisites:

• Technical understanding of TCP/IP networking and network architecture
• Proficiency with Linux and UNIX text editing tools (vi editor is suggested but not required)

Recommended as preparation for exams:

• There are no exams currently aligned to this course