The author proposes an architecture based on the Dynamic Actor Layer and the Game Manager in Delta3D to create a Networked Virtual Environment which could be used to train Navy Officers in tactics, allowing team training and doctrine rehearsal. The developed architecture is based on Object Oriented and Modular Design principles, while it explores the flexibility and strength of the Game Manager features in Delta3D game engine. The implementation of the proposed architecture is planned to be done in standard personal computers running's WindowsTM OS, but as Delta3D is a multiplatform tool, the generated code can be easily ported to Linux or even MacTM platforms. The designed architecture includes also a proposal for fast scenario creation and modification based on XML technology.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The NPS Tactical Horizon Extension Project objective is to define and demonstrate a concept by which task force-level commanders and below can obtain a persistent, over-the-horizon surveillance capability for the purpose of target development and other missions without tasking national or theater-level assets. Our goal is to increase the ISR capacity of units who normally would not rate the priority to task a Predator, Global Hawk, or U-2. There are two guiding tenets in developing this concept. First, the equipment and its control should be organic to the SOF unit or task force. Second, utilizing this capability should not require the soldier to carry any additional equipment into the field. Initial research led us to the idea of using networked unmanned aerial systems (UAS's) to generate an over-the-horizon surveillance capability for SOF. We demonstrated the concept by forming a network comprised of a forward ground team, an inexpensive, test-bed UAS equipped with an off-the-shelf video camera, a manned aircraft, and a tactical operations center (TOC). We attained connectivity through an ITT Mesh structure at 2.4 GHz, amplified to 1W. Researchers were from the Defense Analysis, Mechanical and Astronautical Engineering, and Information Sciences Departments. We conducted successful experiments through the USSOCOM-NPS Cooperative Field Experimentation Program. / Outstanding Thesis

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / BGP Blackhole routing is a mechanism used to protect networks from DDoS attacks. During the last several years, a number of variations of BGP Blackhole routing have been proposed. However, even though these methods have been used by many organizations and ISPs for some years, the academic community has provided only a limited evaluation of BGP Blackhole routing, using mainly network simulations. The objective of this research was to evaluate the basic methods of BGP Blackhole routing in a real test-bed network in various environments. By using the response time, the CPU load, and the link load as performance metrics, we first evaluated the performance of those methods in networks where the routers CPU load was the limiting factor. Then we examined the effect of the high link load and the effect of routers preconfiguration on the BGP Blackhole routing's performance. The results showed that the BGP Blackhole routing may not be effective under stressful situations, that is, a high link load, because its dependence on TCP and the underlying routing protocols. Of the three basic Blackhole routing methods, the best method is the destination-based, followed closely by the source-based. The third method, customer-triggered Blackhole routing, in all cases had very degraded performance.

With the advent of easily accessible, deployable, and usable 802.11 technology, users can connect and network with practically any infrastructure that exists today. Due to that simplicity and ease of use, it only seems logical that the military and tactical users should also employ these technologies. The questions regarding 802.11 network performances in a hostile and signal-unfriendly environment (i.e., high temperature and high humidity) have yet to be answered. The goal of this thesis is to quantify 802.11 network capabilities, in terms of throughput, while it is employed in those areas. Ultimately, the objective is to produce statistical models able to represent any variations in the 802.11 signals and network due to those environmental factors.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis done in cooperation with the MOVES Institute / The Information Age empowers individuals, and affords small groups an opportunity to attack states' interests with an increasing variety of tactics and great anonymity. Current strategies to prevail against these emerging threats are inherently defensive, relying on potential adversaries to commit mistakes and engage in detectable behavior. While defensive strategies are a critical component of a complete solution set, they cede initiative to the adversary. Moreover, reactive measures are not suited to quickly suppress adversary networks through force. To address this shortfall in strategic planning, the science of networks is rapidly making clear that natural systems built over time with preferential attachment form scale-free networks. These networks are naturally resilient to failure and random attack, but carry inherent vulnerabilities in their highly connected hubs. Taking the offensive against networks is therefore an exercise in discovering and attacking such hubs. To find these hub vulnerabilities in network adversaries, this thesis proposes a strategy called Stimulus Based Discovery, which leads to rapid network mapping and then systematically improves the accuracy and validity of this map while simultaneously degrading an adversary's network cohesion. Additionally, this thesis provides a model for experimenting with Stimulus Based Discovery in a Multi-Agent System. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / Policy based network management has an increasing importance depending on the increasing importance of distributed large networks and the growing number of services that run on them. Policy languages, which enable users define policies in a formal language, are one of the main tools of policy management. Even though there are policy languages like PFDL or RPSL, none of them has the capability of a robust conflict detection and resolution focused on policy. A new Policy Language, Path-based Policy Language (PPL), has been developed recently. It encompasses as many of the features addressed in the other policy languages as possible, as well as providing means for testing policies for consistency and defining both static and dynamic policies. The most important, PPL provides the ability to detect and resolve conflicts between by translating policy rules into formal logic statement and checking them with a Prolog program. Even though in theory PPL seems to be a very high performance policy language, its current compiler has a performance bottleneck. In some cases the PPL compiler can not finish compilation and runs forever without returning any conflict results. This thesis focuses on the PPL compiler's performance bottleneck and introduces solutions speeding up the PPL compiler. The new PPL compiler achieves a reasonable compilation time for any configuration file for a network with 100 nodes while maintaining its ability to detect and resolve policy conflicts. / Lieutenant Junior Grade, Turkish Navy

M.Com. (Informatics) / This dissertation examines the field of network management in a banking environment. Special attention is given to business aspects that might influence network management. Technical aspects of network management are only discussed briefly. The study is broadly divided into two sections, the theoretical background and the formulation of a network model in the banking environment. Banks require that their services must always be of the highest standard. Special attention is given to services that banks provide on a daily basis. Network management can become very technical and complex. Large networks can become a nightmare to manage without proper business management principles. The dissertation offers an introduction to business principles and concentrates on different environments that might influence banks and their networks. The study indicates the importance of the open system environment for banks. The success of open systems largely depends on the acceptance of standards set by standard organizations like ISO (International Standards Organization). Banks in general are mainly dependent on IBM products and they rely on IBM to provide for their open needs. The dissertation covers the problems that IBM faces in opening up their systems. Network management protocols are very important. Today there are two main contenders in this area, namely SNMP and CMIP. In the future both protocols might play a role in managing networks. Identification of banks' needs and requirements is important for the definition of the model. Special consideration is given to external factors influencing banks and their networks. To isolate these influences three environments can be identified namely the macro, market and micro environments. The most important requirement of banks is to provide a reliable and continuous service of high standing quality to their clients. Banks provide a variety of financial services to their customers and the competition between different banks makes the development of new, and the improvement of existing services ...

M.Sc. (Computer Science) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Network operators must ensure their networks meet intended traversal policies (e.g., host A can talk to host B, or inbound traffic to host C goes through a firewall and then a NAT). Violations of the policies may result in revenue loss, reputation damage, and security breaches. Today checking whether the intended policies are enforced correctly is stymied by two fundamental sources of complexity: the diversity and stateful nature of the behaviors of real networks. First, we need to account for vast diversity in both the control plane (e.g., different routing protocols and their interactions) and the data plane (e.g., routers, firewalls, and proxies) of the network. Second, we need to reason about a very large space of stateful behaviors in both the control plane (e.g., the current state being characterized by the route advertisements the routers have seen so far) and the data plane (e.g., a firewall’s current state with respect to a TCP session). Prior work on checking network policies is limited to a particular state of the network. Any attempt to reason about the behavior of the network across its state space is hindered by two fundamental challenges: (i) capturing the diversity of the control and data planes, and (ii) exploring the state space of the control and data planes in a scalable manner. This thesis argues for the feasibility of checking the correctness of realistic network policies by addressing the above challenges via two key insights. First, to combat the challenge of diversity, we design unifying abstractions that glue together different routing protocols in the control plane and diverse network appliances (e.g., firewalls, proxies) in the data plane. Second, to explore the state space of the network in a scalable manner, we build tractable models of the control and data planes (e.g., by decomposing logically independent tasks) and design domain-specific optimizations (e.g., by narrowing down the scope of search given the intended policies). Taken together, these two ideas enable systematic reasoning about the correctness of stateful data and control planes. We show the utility and performance of these techniques across a range of realistic settings.

This research report is submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science / The title of this research report is a "A Survey of the most recent State of-the-Art Shortest path algorithms" One may ask what is the need and aim of this survey. During the decades of the 1970's and 1980's there has been considerable research and publication in shortest path algorithm. Each new publication is either a new and faster algorithm or survey of recent methods. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017