Knowledge Base

Are you Prepared to Defend your Critical Assets?

At Network Perception, we have combined our vast expertise of critical asset protection with next-gen technology to guide our customers on a path to cyber resiliency.

• The journey starts with establishing a clear baseline and verifying that internal risk mitigation controls are followed.
• The next step consists of gaining an accurate visibility of network architecture and cybersecurity posture.
• Finally, developing a continuous monitoring approach to gain velocity and adapt quickly to disruptions.

Compliance Verification

Verify configurations and network segmentation

1. Policy Review

• Easily review firewall access policies and object groups
• Identify configuration risks automatically
• Establish configuration change review process

2. Audit Assistance

• Verify compliance with cybersecurity regulations and best practices
• Seamlessly store evidence for compliance review
• Easily prepare compliance reports

Cybersecurity Visibility

Visualize vulnerability and risk exposure

3. Architecture Review

• Visualize an accurate topology of the network architecture
• Identify and label critical cyber assets and critical network zones
• Easily review which devices are protecting which network zones

4. Network Risk Assessment

• Assess accuracy of network segmentation
• Identify risky network connectivity paths
• Understand exposure of vulnerable assets

Operational Velocity

Accelerate risk mitigation and recover faster

5. Continuous Configuration Monitoring

• Transition from point-in-time to 24/7 risk assessment with automated notification
• Automate change review process using ticketing system integration and sandboxing
• Leverage a time machine to navigate through the network evolution

6. Incident Response Preparation

• Align network architecture understanding and break silos through a single pane of glass
• Train first responders and harden defense via realistic attack scenario simulation
• Prioritize vulnerability mitigation faster

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NP-View is designed to run on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 with a recommended configuration of a 10th Gen Quad Core Processor and 16GB of RAM.  This configuration should be sufficient for processing large data files up to 500,000 lines.  Simultaneously loading and analyzing multiple devices with larger configuration files will maximize the use of available system resources and additional RAM may be required.

Installation Process

• Sign up on the Portal website to download the latest version of NP-View Desktop and to download a license key.  A SHA256 checksum is supplied with each download.  You can calculate the checksum on the files you download to verify the integrity of the files:
  • Windows Powershell: Get-FileHash /the/full/path/to/your/filename.exe | Format-List
  • Linux: sha256sum /the/full/path/to/your/filename.Appimage
  • macOS 11: shasum -a 256 /full/path/to/your/filename.app
• Windows 10/11:
  • Launch the Windows installer with a double click.
    • User may need to adjust UAC (User Access Controls) depending on security settings.
  • The only dependency required on Windows is .NET framework 4
  • Once installed, NP-View will automatically launch.
  • Allow ports for private/public network if prompted.

NP-View has been designed to run offline, which means that the network connections attempted towards a public NTP server, the local DNS server, and the Network Perception update server are optional and do not affect the system if the internet is unavailable. More information on configuring NP-View can be found here.

System Performance

NP-View Desktop is a resource intensive application.  For best performance, please ensure your system’s Power plan is set to High performance.

If you have administrator access, you can enable Ultimate Performance by opening the command prompt as administrator and copy paste: powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 and press enter.

Windows control panel:

First Login

• Upon first login, NP-View Desktop will require you to create an administrator account. Fill in the required information and click the “Create the NP-View administrator account” button. The password can be as simple or as complex as the user desires but needs to be at least 8 characters.
  • Local authentication is for users who wish to add an additional layer of protection. With this, the user can use whatever e-mail address and password they choose. If the user logs out of the system, the user id and password will be required upon subsequent application launches.  Otherwise, the session remains open and authentication is not required.

• Read and accept the user agreement.
• Next, you will need to enter your license key.  Once input, click the “Add license key” button.
• Select your preferences for checking for automatic updates (requires internet access) and participation in our voluntary improvement program. Both selections use a slider that is default to off. To opt in, click the button and it will slide to the right. Click the save preferences button to complete.
• Next click the get started button

User Menu

Access to the Help Center, License Manager, Update Manager and other administrative functions can be found on the User Menu located in the top-right corner of the Workspaces page.

Getting Started

On the Workspaces Page,  NP-View provides a demo workspace as well as the ability to start creating your own workspaces.  Click here to learn more about using workspaces.

Software Version

If you contact technical support, they will ask you for the software edition and version you are running. It can be found on the bottom left corner of the home screen.

Software Uninstall

To uninstall NP-View Desktop,

• Windows 10/11: use the add or remove programs feature to remove the software
  • Use the add or remove programs feature to remove the software
  • Delete folder: ~AppData/Roaming/NP-View
  • Delete folder: ~AppData/Local/Programs/NP-View
  • Delete folder: ~AppData/Local/np-view-updater

Password Reset

Remove the file at the location listed below and restart the application to input your credentials.

• Windows: Delete the file ~AppData/Roaming/NP-View/db/auth_provider.cfg and then restart NP-View.

License Changes / Upgrades

If you input a new license key from network perception, the user must log out and log back in for the changes to take effect. Note that the license key function is only available from the home screen (not from within a workspace).

Upload File Size Limit

NP-View enforces a maximum file size of 200MB by default. To change it, the config.ini file must be edited and the following row added:  MAX_IMPORT_SIZE=<size in bytes>. For example:  MAX_IMPORT_SIZE=209715200 which corresponds to 200MB.

• Windows: the config.ini file can be found at:  ~AppData/Roaming/NP-View/config.ini

Windows Path/File Name Length Limit

Microsoft Windows has a MAX_PATH limit of 256 characters.  If the path and filename exceed 256 characters, the file import will fail.

For example:  C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\NP-View\db\workspace\<np-view-user>@<workspace>\devices\<filename>

NP-View Server has been designed to be easily installed by a single person who has moderate Linux skills. This article provides step-by-step instructions on the installation process, which includes:

1. Provisioning a server
2. Downloading NP-View server
3. Installing NP-View server
4. Installing a SSL Certificate

NP-View is accessed through a web browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox) running on a modern operating system (Windows 10 or later, macOS 11 Big Sur or later, Ubuntu 20 or later) with a recommended configuration of a 10th Gen Quad Core Processor and 16GB of RAM.

Provisioning a Server

The following table documents the CPU, memory, and disk requirements based on the number of network device configuration files monitored by NP-View server:

Greater than 1,000 devices please contact support to discuss requirements.

Recommended as the minimum for most Professional Server users.

Note: loading and analyzing devices utilizes the majority of the CPU and Memory capacity.  The higher the server capacity and the faster the CPU, the faster devices will load and be analyzed.

Network ports used by NP-View server

The following ports are used by NP-View server.  Please ensure these ports are open on your firewall for proper communication.

Required ports:

• TCP/22: SSH server to provide secure console access to the NP-Live server
• TCP/443: access to NP-View Web UI through HTTPS
• TCP/8443: access to NP-View connectors Web UI through HTTPS

Optional ports:

• TCP/80: access to NP-View Web UI through HTTP
• TCP/389: access to Active Directory / LDAP for LDAPv3 TLS
• TCP/445: access to NP-View SMB Connector
• TCP/636: access to Active Directory / LDAPS for TLS/SSL
• TCP/8080: access to NP-View connectors Web UI through HTTP

Firewall Rules

The source IP should be the client workstation that will access NP-View and the destination IP should be the NP-View Linux server.

Downloading NP-View Server

Sign up on the Portal website to download the latest version of NP-View server and the license key.  A SHA256 checksum is supplied with each download by clicking on the “show checksum” link.  You can calculate the checksum on the files you download to verify their integrity:

• Windows 10/11 using Powershell: Get-FileHash /the/full/path/to/your/file/name/extension | Format-List
• Linux: sha256sum /the/full/path/to/your/file/name/extension
• MACOS: shasum -a 256 /full/path/to/your/file/name/extension

Installing NP-View Server

NP-View server is a Linux application. It can be installed on a virtual machine or physical hardware. There are 2 package formats available:

• NP-View Virtual appliance (~2GB OVF) that works on all major hypervisor with support for the .vmdk disk format (e.g., VMWare ESXi).
• NP-View Linux installer (~600MB) that works on all major Linux distributions on which Docker can be installed

The NP-View OVF uses Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS or later. Root access is provided (see the text file provided with the .OVF) so the operating system can be periodically updated. This option should be used for new installations. The NP-View Linux installer is used to update NP-View on an existing system or for a new install on a Linux server.

Note: Network Perception does not recommend running NP-View in a double virtualized environment (Linux VM encapsulated within a Windows VM) as the operation of connectors, notifications and external interfaces can be unpredictable.

Option 1: Using the NP-View Linux Installer

Once downloaded from the portal, follow the steps below to complete the install:

1. Move installer to server – This may require ssh or other user account permissions
   
   1. Place the file in a location you can access from the terminal
   2. /tmp – this is a temp folder available at the root directory
   3. /opt/np-live – this is the default NP View server root directory
2. You can use the “ls” command to see what is in your current directory
3. Log into the terminal or use SSH (Putty, PowerShell, etc.) into the Linux server
4. Set root level permission with the command (this will allow you type commands without adding “sudo” to each command)
   • sudo -I
5. Navigate to the directory in which the NP-View Server Linux installer was placed
   
   • Use the ls command to verify file is in this directory
6. Run the installer with the command (Docker must be installed before this step)
   
   • Example: sh NP-View_Full_Filename.sh (example: NP-View_Server_Linux_4.0.5-add6)
7. The installer will begin by checking for a running instance of Docker and internet connection
   
   • If Docker is not installed and running the installer will stop and you will have to manually install the latest version of Docker before continuing
   • If an internet connection is available and Docker isn’t installed, the installer will automatically download and install the latest version of Docker
   • If an internet connection isn’t available but Docker is installed, the installer will continue offline (Most Common Scenario)
   • If you are installing NP-View Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, use the following commands to install docker:
     
     • yum update
     • dnf config-manager –add-repo=https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
     • dnf install –nobest docker-ce
     • systemctl disable firewalld
     • systemctl enable –now docker
8. Follow the prompts during installation
   
   • Prompt to continue with offline installation
   • Prompt for default directory (/opt/np-live) We recommend keeping the default directory but it can be changed if preferred
     • Note: If the default directory is changed, then it will need to be edited for each new release during the installation
9. There will be a message once the installation is complete
10. Launch a browser to navigate to the NP-View User InterfaceExample of transfer with WinSCP:
    • Load WinSCP – It should default to this screen:
      

1. • Default “File Protocol:” to SFTP
   • Fill in Host name, User name, and Password.
     • Host name would be the same as your NP-View Server IP Address
     • User name and Password are the same as the sudo credentials you use to log into the NP-View Server terminal.
   • Find the NP-View Linux Server Installer file in the left window. Then in the right window from the “root” select the “tmp” folder. Once you have completed both steps then click “Upload”.
     

1. • Click Ok to complete the transfer.

Option 2: Using the NP-View Virtual Appliance

Once the Virtual Appliance OVF file has been downloaded from the portal, follow the steps below to complete set up:

1. Extract the .zip archive (right click on folder and choose extract all)
2. Import OVF into hypervisor
3. Update CPU/Memory/Disk Space to meet requirements stated in KB in the hypervisor settings
4. Open README.txt from extracted folder for credentials
5. Launch the appliance and log into terminal using credentials in README.txt
6. NP-View Server shell script will guide you through updating the NP-Live password, the root password, and to reset encryption keys
7. Once complete the NP menu will appear indicating the server is ready to use.
8. Launch a browser to navigate to the NP-View User Interface

Note: A static IP may need to be configured before utilizing the user interface.

Installing a SSL Certificate

NP-View listens on both port TCP/80 (HTTP) and TCP/443 (HTTPS). For HTTPS, it uses a self-signed SSL certificate by default. Users can also provide their own SSL certificate by simply copying a valid .pem file into the NP-View db folder.  If using HTTPS, the best practice is to disable HTTP or forward HTTP to HTTPS.

The following command can be used to generate a valid .pem file:

openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes -out cert.pem -keyout cert.pem

To learn more about generating your own SSL certificate, please visit python documentation.

Please note that .pem file should include both the private key and the full certificate. If you received the private key and the certificate as two or more separate files, you can concatenate them into a single .pem file.

Setting the Virtual Appliance Time Zone

By default, the Virtual Appliance install creates the file `/opt/np-live/local-settings.yml`, set to America/Chicago.  This file needs to be updated to reflect your local time zone.  To change to a different time zone, log into the server using SSH and become root with the command sudo -i. You can then perform the following updates.

Update TZ= to a value from timedatectl list-timezones

version: '3.4'

x-environment-tz: &timezone    

     TZ=America/Chicago

services:  

      manager:    

           environment:        

                 - *timezone  

      report:      

           environment:        

                 - *timezone  

     webserver:      

           environment:        

                 - *timezone  

      redis:      

            environment:        

                 - *timezone  

     monitor:      

           environment:        

                 - *timezone

Once you have set the new time zone, you can restart NP-Live with the command /opt/np-live/stop_NP-Live.sh  and then /opt/np-live/start_NP-Live.sh

Additional Installation Information

Improving NP-View Server Performance

Please reference minimum requirements, the higher the resources the better the performance.

Troubleshooting Disk Space

If a server upgrade or restart fails due to lack of disk space, please perform the following clean-up procedure:

1. sudo rm -f /opt/np-live/db/log/system/nplive.log.*
2. sudo docker system prune –volumes
3. sudo rm /opt/np-live/docker-compose.yml.backup

NP-View does not automatically delete log files, the Linux system admin may wish to schedule the above commands in a periodic CRON job to maintain optimal performance.

If server upgrade or restart issues continue to occur, please reach out to the Tech Support team.

Default Disk Encryption

As the NP-View OVF is typically installed within a secure environment, the disk is not encrypted by default for data at rest.  The Linux Admin can encrypt the system drive for increased security knowing that system performance will be slightly degraded to accommodate the data decryption and encryption.

Personalize the Login Page

To add a custom message to the login page, a NP-View administrator can edit the file /opt/np-live/docker-compose.yml with the following entry in the webserver environment section: “- banner=Welcome to NP-view”

For NP-View, the file ~/Documents/np-live/config.ini can be edited to add: “banner=Welcome to NP-View”

Upload File Size Limit

When users upload a file through the Web user interface, NP-View will enforce a maximum file size which is 200MB by default. To change it, a NP-View Linux administrator can edit the file /opt/np-live/docker-compose.yml with the following entry in the webserver environment section: “- MAX_IMPORT_SIZE=209715200”.  The value is in bytes, so 209715200 corresponds to 200MB.

Backing up the NP-View Server Database

1. Stop the NP-View Server (you can use the script /opt/np-live/stop_nplive.sh)
2. From the NP-View Server folder (by default: /opt/np-live/, run the command: tar -zcf db_backup_$(date '+%Y_%m_%d').tgz db (this command may take few minutes to complete)
3. Run the new release installer, which will update the containers and then launch NP-View Server

Complete Removal of NP-View

If you wish to completely remove NP-View from you server to start with a fresh install, perform the following steps:

• Stop NP-View using the script /opt/np-live/stop_NP-Live.sh
• Remove Docker containers using the command docker system prune -a as root (WARNING: this will completely reset Docker, so if non NP-View containers have been added they will be deleted as well)
• Remove the NP-View folder with the command rm -rf /opt/np-live as root (WARNING: the NP-View database will be permanently deleted)

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Network mapping provides the Networking Team (Network Engineer, Network Security) with capabilities that allow users to:

• Visualize an accurate topology of the network architecture
• Identify and label critical cyber assets and critical network zones
• Easily review which devices are protecting which network zones

Visualize Topology

NP-View can be used to discover your network topology and the underlying control plane, including layer-2 and layer-3 configurations. Without leaving the topology map, you can review many aspects of the network’s design including Firewalls, Routers, Switches, Gateways, Networks, VPNs, Hosts and more.

Critical Assets and Zones

Each asset can be tagged with categories and criticalities as well as grouped into zones making it easy to review which devices are protecting which network zones.

Details On-demand

Selecting a node in the topology map will interactively display an information panel with detailed data about that node.

Firewall ruleset review provides Network Engineers, Network Security, and Compliance Analysts with functionality for:

• Easy review of firewall access rules and object groups using the Access Rules and Object Groups reports.
• Automatic identification of configuration risks using the Risks and Warnings report.
• Validating recent policy modifications as part of a configuration change review process using the Change Tracking report.

How to Review Access Rules

An independent review of firewall policies has to be periodically conducted to ensure that network access rules are correctly implemented and documented. It is important because lack of access rule review leads to unexpected network access vulnerabilities.

• Frequency: each time firewall policies are changed, and at least once a quarter
• How to do it:
  • Step 1: given a workspace populated with network device configurations, open the Access Rule table from the main menu (top left)
  • Step 2: leverage the “Column Search” feature or the “Compare” feature to show the rules in scope of your verification
    • For instance, filter the “Device” column to only show rules for a specific device, or filter the “Binding (ACL)” column to only show rules bound to a specific interface, or use the “Compare” feature to only show rules added or removed recently
  • Step 3: review values for the source, destination, service, binding, risk, and description of each rule in scope
    • The “Description” column captures comment, description, or justification from the device configuration
    • The “Risk” and “Risk Criticality” columns are populated by NP-View during the automated risk analysis
  • Step 4: to identify rules that are not justified, sort the table by “Description”. Empty values will be shown at the bottom.
  • Step 5: to document your review process, double click on the “Comment” or “Comment Status” cells to add your own comment. The comment status can be either “Verified” or “To Review” or “To Revise”
  • Step 6: to save an evidence of your review process, export the table to Excel using the export options in the top right corner of the table

Access Rules Table

The Access Rules report provides the users with complete details on each Access Rule with the ability to add justifications and actions.

Object Groups

The Object Groups report provides the users with complete details on each Object Group with the ability to add justifications and actions.

Risks and Warnings

As modifications are made to the network, the Network Perception default Policies and Requirements identify potential risks.  The Risks and Warnings report provides the users with a summary of the potential risks and their criticality with the ability to add actions and comments.

Change Tracking

As modifications are made to the network and the updated configuration files are imported, the changes are logged in the Change Tracking table.

Segmentation verification provides the Networking Team and Audit Team with capabilities that allows users to:

• Assess correctness of network segmentation
• Identify risky network connectivity paths
• Understand exposure of vulnerable assets

Network Segmentation Accuracy

NP-View be used to verify the accuracy of your network segmentation.

The connectivity matrix which is available from the device info panel can be used to verify open ports between devices.

Inbound and outbound connections can be verified for each network using the highlight paths function.

Identifying Risky Connectivity Paths

Using industry best practices, Network Perception automatically identifies potential risks related to network configurations. Using the Network Perception  Connectivity Path analysis, the user can review each of the highlighted risks and make a judgment on action.

Exposure of Vulnerable Assets – Vulnerability Analytics

NP-View provides your security team with a single pane of glass for reviewing network vulnerability exposure. With the addition of scanner data or data from a vulnerability data service, vulnerabilities can be tracked across your network.

Topology Display of Vulnerabilities

When scanned data has been added to a workspace, and a topology view is built that also includes that scan data, nodes on the topology of that view will be marked with a shield indicating the presence of vulnerabilities.

These shields can be toggled on and off using the topology settings menu.

Device Panel Display of Vulnerabilities

Firewalls, Gateways, and Hosts may contain vulnerability and service information imported from scans. Clicking on any of these nodes in a View that contains vulnerability information, will display it in the info panel that opens over the main menu.

Clicking on the Vulnerabilities link will present a pop out with the vulnerability details.

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Performing a regular review of your compliance metrics is important for your organization.  Performing the review manually is time consuming and tedious. Audit assistance provides the Compliance Team (Auditor, Compliance Officer, Compliance Analyst, and Consultants) with capabilities that allow users to:

• Verify compliance with cybersecurity regulations and best practices through Policy Review.
• Seamlessly store evidence for compliance review with Change Tracking.
• Easily prepare compliance reports using the Audit Assistants listed below:

Workspace Report (Standard)

The Workspace Report assistant is available within each workspace and will generate a report for a specific view that includes detailed information about configuration files that were imported and parsed including:

• Configuration assessment report including risk alerts
• Ports and Interfaces
• Access rules
• Object groups
• Path analysis

Industry Best Practice (Premium)

The Best Practice assistant requires a license to activate. This report is available within each workspace to generate a report for a specific view that includes the following topics:

• Parser Warnings and potential misconfigurations
• Unused Object Groups
• Access Rules missing a justification
• Unnamed nodes
• NP Best Practice Policies on access rules and CiS Benchmarks that have identified potential risks
• ACL’s with no explicit deny by default rule

NERC CIP Compliance (Premium)

The NERC CIP assistant requires a license to activate this function and guides the user through the steps required to create a report covering CIP-005 requirements. The NERC CIP audit assistant is only available within a NERC-CIP workspace and allows audit teams to classify BES cyber assets as High, Medium, and Low based on the standards. We have added a category for untrusted (Internet, Corp, etc.) to tag non BES assets. NP-View allows compliance teams to collect and report evidence related to the following requirements:

• CIP-002 – BES Cyber System Categorization; impact rating and 15-month review
• CIP-003 – Security Management Control; cyber security policy
• CIP-005 – Electronic Security Perimeter; remote access management
• CIP-007 – System Security Management; ports and services
• CIP-010 – Change Management and Vulnerability; configuration change management, configuration monitoring, vulnerability assessment

A demo workspace for the NERC CIP audit assistant is included with the software.  To see the audit assistant in action, follow these steps:

1. Click on the demo workspace to build the topology.
2. Create a custom view by selecting all of the firewalls, right click, Create View from Selection and give it a name.
3. Once the view is generated, select Manage Zones from the left manu and click on the Auto Generate Zones button.
   • Red zones represent your high criticality assets.
   • Orange zones represent your medium criticality assets.
   • Yellow zones represent your low criticality assets.
   • Gray zones represent your untrusted assets.
4. On the left menu, select Summary Reports and the NERC-CIP Compliance Report
5. Click through the wizard, the defaults will represent the selections suggested by the auto group function.
6. Click Generate Report to view the report in a new tab.

NP-View uses reports to present network information related to the open workspace.  These reports are available to all users and can be accessed from the main menu. All of the reports are continuous scroll and can be searched by table or column. Searches can be combined between the table and columns.

Viewing Note:  The reports are displayed with alternate rows shaded in a light gray.  Also, in some columns (e.g., Risks) we also use a light gray text.  We have noticed that some custom calibrations will turn these colors to white.  If the gradient rows or text colors are not displaying on your screen try calibrating your monitor to the default settings to make them visible.

Access rules

This report provides a summary of all device rules loaded into the workspace and can be accessed from the main menu (left image) or from the device info panel (right image).

If accessed from the main menu, rules for all devices in the workspace will be displayed. If accessed from the info panel, only the rules for the selected device will be displayed.

Fields with more data than can be shown within the columns with display a + icon which will show the additional data when clicked.  The source, destination and service columns will show related object groups and object data within the + popup.

Columns can be displayed or hidden using the Kebab menu in the upper right corner of the report. Changes to the menu are automatically saved. Additionally, the table can be exported as displayed, with comment history or with object groups. Only visible columns will be displayed.

Columns can be sorted, rearranged or resized and changes will be automatically saved.  Column filters can be displayed.  Filters applied to the table or column will automatically be saved. Filters can be reset from the kebab menu. The default sort order for the table is ‘Device’ then ‘Line #’.  To reset to the default sort order, open the Kebab menu and click “Clear all filters”.

Note that when filters are applied, a filters active indicator will be displayed.

When switching devices or views, the filters remain until cleared which may provide the user with unexpected results until the filters are changed or cleared.

Access rule commenting

Comments can be added to a row by double-clicking on the cell in the column “Comment”.  Comment text and status can be added and then saved with the save button.

Once the comment is saved, the author and time stamp are automatically added.

Additional comments can be added and the history of comments can be displayed. Comments can only be added to the history, editing and deleting is not supported.

The history of comment changes can be viewed by clicking the clock icon in the left most column. If there is no comment history the clock icon will be disabled.

Additional Features

• The Compare button invokes a time series comparison function for the report.   Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Comments can be imported from an Excel file.  Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Default Table Highlights are applied to this table report.  Additional details on this function can be found here.

Asset Inventory

This report provides a summary of all assets loaded into the workspace including: Firewalls, Routers, Switches, Gateways and Hosts.

If an IP address is displayed as 0.0.0.0 this device has an IP address assigned by DHCP and while the device was detected, an IP address could not be extracted.

Unmapped hosts have enough information for inferring but not for mapping purposes on the topology. For some devices there may be a large number of hosts defined in Asset Inventory but less are showing on the topology map.  These ‘invisible’ hosts are located behind mapped gateways and can be seen in the gateway’s peer list.

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Object Groups

This report provides a summary of network ACL object groups including:  Host IP addresses, network address of group members, and nested object groups. Object Groups classify users, devices, or protocols into “groups” and apply those groups to Access Control Lists (ACLs) to create access control policies for those groups.  This report can be accessed from the main menu (left image) of from the device info panel (right image).

If accessed from the main menu, objects for all devices in the workspace including globals will be displayed. If accessed from the info panel, only the objects for the selected device will be displayed. When data is loaded from a firewall vs Network Management system, the listing of object groups for addresses may vary.

• When viewing data from a network management system, globally defined groups may be available.
• When the data is loaded from the firewall, the global addresses may be presented as local addresses.

Objects consist of several types including Address, Service, Binding, Interface, and Zone.

Fields with more data than can be shown within the columns with display a + icon which will show the additional data when clicked.  The name column will show related object data details within the + popup.

Columns can be displayed or hidden using the Kebab menu in the upper right corner of the report. Changes to the menu are automatically saved. Additionally, the table can be exported as displayed, with comment history or with object groups. Only visible columns will be displayed.

Columns can be sorted, rearranged or resized and changes will be automatically saved.  Column filters can be displayed.  Filters applied to the table or column will automatically be saved. Filters can be reset from the Kebab menu. The default sort order for the table is ‘Origin’.  To reset to the default sort order, open the Kebab menu and click “Clear all filters”.

Note that when filters are applied, a filters active indicator will be displayed.

When switching devices or views, the filters remain until cleared which may provide the user with unexpected results until the filters are changed or cleared.

Object group commenting

Comments can be added to a row by double-clicking on the cell in the column “Comment”.  Comment text and status can be added and then saved with the save button.

Once the comment is saved, the author and time stamp are automatically added.

Additional comments can be added and the history of comments can be displayed. Comments can only be added to the history, editing and deleting is not supported.

The history of comment changes can be viewed by clicking the clock icon in the left most column. If there is no comment history the clock icon will be disabled.

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Additional Features

• The Compare button invokes a time series comparison function for the report.   Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Comments can be imported from an Excel file.  Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Table highlighting can be applied to this table report.  There are no default highlights for Object Groups. Additional details on this function can be found here.

Risks & Warnings

When a potential risk or warning is identified, it is logged in the “Risks and Warnings” table with a time and date stamp.  Each potential risk is assigned a “type” (Risk or Warning) and a Criticality (High, Medium, Low) based on the active policies in the Policy manager. Additionally, the device name and a description of the infraction is listed with the status (New, Confirmed, Resolved, False Positive, Will Not Fix or Fixed).

Risk & Warning Status and Life Cycle

For new risks or warnings, the expectation is that the user will review each item, determine if the issue needs to be addressed and they can manually change the action status accordingly.

• new
• confirmed: new risks or warnings that are acknowledged by the user as a valid problem to address
• resolved: risks or warnings that are closed because the problem has been addressed
• false positive: risks or warnings that are closed because they are not a valid problem to address
• will not fix: risks or warnings that are closed because it was decided to not address them

Upon subsequent network updates, the system will adjust the status if required. For example:

• If the user marks a risk as Resolved and upon the next network update the risk is still identified, the status will automatically be changed to Confirmed.
• If upon the next network update the risk is no longer identified, the status will be changed to Fixed. Fixed items are removed from the list after a period of 7 days.

Note that if no risks or warnings are displaying in the Risks and Warnings report, please check the Policy Manager and verify that at least one policy and requirement is enabled and that at least one device is selected to run the risks report.

Comparison Report – Show History

Access Rules and Object Groups have a Compare function to show historical differences in data that has been added or removed. The function can be engaged by clicking the “Compare” button located at the top of the page. This function is used to display changes over a period of days.

The user can select a time frame (7, 30, 90 or 356 days or a custom date range). The user can select one or more devices to include in the report and then show the history over the range. Once the parameters are selected, the “Show Comparison” button should be selected.

The comparison function will display all changes (Rule Adds, Rule Removal and Unchanged Rules) for the selected days. The data will be displayed using the column format of the selected table. The user can filter on added, removed or unchanged rules by clicking the jelly bean. Added rules will be highlighted in green, removed rules will be highlighted in red and unchanged rules will be highlighted in light blue.

Clicking the “Compare” button will revert to the normal table but will not clear the selections.

Clicking the “Reset” button will clear the selections and reset the table.

Table Highlighting

NP-View reports use highlighting to help the user quickly identify important information.  The highlighting is controlled by the Table Highlight tab under the Policy manager function.

To learn more about Table Highlighting and the Policy Manager refer to the Policy Manager article.

Column Sorting

Individual columns can be sorted ascending or descending as well as hidden from the table by using the Kebab menu on each column.

The report can also be personalized by adding or removing columns. By clicking the Kebab menu in the upper right, a list of columns will be displayed. The user can enable and disable specific columns for viewing.  Selections are automatically saved.

Displayed columns can also be personalized.  The user can change the column size (drag between columns) and order of the columns (drag from header).

The updated configuration will apply to all reports of the same type across workspaces. Each user can personalize the reports to meet their needs.

Note:  Select reports have data export and import capabilities.  Details on these features can be found here.

Change Tracking

As modifications are made to the network and the updated configuration files are imported, the NP-View automatically detects the changes and logs them in the Change Tracking table. For each change, the timestamp, action, device, and description are recorded.

The actions recorded are as follows:

File import – for each file uploaded, of the following statuses will be displayed

• “successful import” – file imported successfully
• “ignored file: <filename> – unknown file type, ignored
• “failed import” – file failed to import, review help center for reason

Topology map – for each file uploaded, of the following statuses will be displayed for the topology map

• “device path information” – triggered if the connectivity matrix changes
  • Path can be added or removed
  • Assets refers to destination IP addresses
  • Services refers to the unique ports (or any) associated with the imported device
  • Details on the above can be viewed in the Connectivity paths
• “topology updated” – indicates the topology map has been successfully updated
• “topology failure” – indicates the topology map has failed, review help center for reason

Connectivity Paths – for each file uploaded, of the following statuses will be displayed for the workspace

• “workspace analysis updated” – all other tables have been successfully updated

Changes are displayed by calendar day. At the top of the table is a drop down that allows the user to select which day to review. The default is the current day.

The change tracking table can be searched, sorted by any column, switched to a list view, exported, and configured with alternate columns if required. These functions are available in the upper right corner of the table.

Connectivity Paths

This report provides a summary of network paths and their analysis results. By clicking on a specific rule sequence, the associated access rule can be displayed for review and comment. This report is only available from within a view.

See additional details here.

Compare Path History

This interactive report provides a network path comparison between two points in time. When a configuration file is added to the system and is different from the previously imported file, a new “Version” is created.  The user can select two versions to compare.  The resulting table will display the changes between the two files. Removals in the left column and adds in the right column.

See additional details here.

Zone Matrix

This interactive report is available from the main menu when two or more zones have been created.  This report can be used  to verify open ports between zones. This report is only available from within a view.

See additional details here.

Interfaces

This interactive report is available from the main menu and from the device info panel to show all interfaces identified on the device.  If opened from the main menu, all devices and interfaces will be displayed.   If opened from a single device, only devices and interfaces from the selected devices will be displayed.  

See additional details here.

Routes / NAT’s

These interactive reports are available from device info panel to show all Routes or NAT’s  

See additional details here.

Connectivity Matrix

This interactive report is available from the device info panel and can be used to verify open ports between devices. This report is only available from within a view.

See additional details here.

System Logs

The system logs features shows a detailed sequence of tasks attempted and completed.  This log is primarily used for system debugging and contains information, errors and warnings derived during system operation.  The system log feature has three views, Workspace, User, and System.  The System view is accessible only by the Administrator and shows the overall operation of system across users and workspaces.  The workspace and user views are available to the Administrator and Workspace Admin.  The user view shows the actions taken by the current user on the open workspace.   The Workspace view shows system actions for the open workspace.  The views can be filtered to show only information, errors, warnings or all.  Errors are generated when a system operation fails to complete.  Warnings are generated during data parsing and when policy / requirement infractions are identified.

Background Tasks

The background task functions shows the status of each task spawned by a data import, merge, analysis or running policy. A parsing task indicates the imported file is being normalized and hosts inferred.  Merge tasks combine the blueprints into the topology map. Analysis defines all of the paths and open ports.  Policies review the active requirements to identify potential risks for review or to provide cell / text highlighting for reports.

The report displays the task name, its progress, the workspace the task is running, the user who owns the task and the time it started or ended.  The check box allows the user to filter on the tasks pertinent to the current workspace.  The X allows the user to cancel a task that may be running too long or be stuck for some reason.

The user can also cancel all tasks within a workspace using the “Cancel All for this Workspace” button.

Tip: Click on the active spinner on the topology map to invoke the Background Task report.

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Segmentation Analysis via the Zone Matrix

When was it introduced?

• Beginning with NP-View Version 5.0 (release notes) users will now have access to a new feature called The Zone Matrix.

What does it do?

• The Zone Matrix leverages the visual zones that users create on the topology map to create a matrix that illustrates access between these visual zones. This allows users to analyze and confirm segmentation and access.

Where is it located?

• The Zone Matrix is accessible from both the Main Menu and the Manage Zones panel
• On every view that contains Zones
• Except for the Home View (there is no path analysis on the Home View)

Saving the Matrix

Two paths to save and document The Zone Matrix for your organization to use as an artifact:

• Copy and Paste directly into Excel or Sheets
• Step 1

• •      
• Step 2

• Or
• Take a screenshot

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The following table is a comprehensive list of supported devices. The instructions provided in the table can be used to manually extract data from the device for import. While we do our best to support the below devices, it is impossible for us to test the parsers with every possible device configuration combination. If errors occur during device import, Network Perception is committed to working with our customers to resolve their specific parsing issues.

Note that Network Perceptions device support policy follows that of the manufacturer.  When a manufacturer ends support for a product, so does Network Perception.  End of support devices are not removed from NP-View but will not be upgraded if issues arise.

Supported Devices with Vendor Partnership

The devices in this list are actively tested in our lab to support the most current versions of the manufacturer software. Network Perception has an active partnership with these vendors for software and support.

Supported Devices with no Vendor Partnership

The devices in this list are actively tested in our lab to support the most current versions of the manufacturer software.

Historical Devices

The devices in this list were developed based on customer provided configuration files.  We are no longer actively developing these parsers but they are supported for break/fix and require customers sanitized config files to assist with the debug of issues.

Additional Instructions

Palo Alto Panorama & NGFW

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Panorama

If Panorama is used to centrally manage policies, the access rules and object groups can be retrieved from these devices in XML format (we do not support the import of unstructured text files). If using the Panorama connector, the required files will automatically be downloaded:through 6.2 ended September 2023. Please note that no upgrades to these parsers will be made.

The Panorama file will only contain centrally managed access rules and object groups.

Locally defined access rules and object groups cannot be retrieved from Panorama and must be retrieved from each NGFW. Please follow the instructions below to export directly from the Next Gen FireWall using API.

Palo Alto Firewalls will ALWAYS have a V-sys even if one has not been configured it will default to vsys1.

The “mapping_config” file is required which can only be retrieved through the API using the “show devices connected” command.  The name of the file is “named_mapping_config.xml” where the named prefix needs to match the device name as shown in the UI when the running_config.xml is imported alone. All files should be imported at the same time. Please see instructions below:

The below links are to the Panorama documentation for the required commands with examples. The links provide you with commands to run directly in the Panorama CLI. The images we provided are for using Postman or web browser use.

Get API Key

Get Panorama and device bundle Configuration

Get device mapping config

Once both the “<panorama_server>_running_config.xml” and <panorama_server >_mapping_config.xml” are gathered, please import them together in NP-View.

Next Gen Firewall (NGFW)

If using the PanOS connector is used to download files, the required files will automatically be downloaded:

The configuration information from the NGFW may be contained in several .xml files, <device-name>_merged_config.xml and <device-name>.vsys(n)_pushed_policy.xml.  There can be one vsys file per virtual interface. The naming of these files is important for the parser to merge them during import.  All files from a single firewall must be imported at the same time and in .xml format (we do not support the import of unstructured text files).  If any of the files are missing, improperly named or formatted, an error message will state that ‘File parsed but ruleset and topology were empty, aborting’ meaning they could not be linked to the other associated files.

An example of properly named files is below:

• Chicago-IL-100-FW1_merged_config.xml
• Chicago-IL-100-FW1.vsys1_pushed_policy.xml
• Chicago-IL-100-FW1.vsys2_pushed_policy.xml

NOTE: If the NGFW is an unmanaged/standalone Palo Alto device it will not have a pushed_policy file. In this situation, the configuration .xml file can be downloaded directly from the firewall and loaded into NP-View.  The file name need not be changed when loading the file from a standalone firewall.

To manually export configuration files from an unmanaged firewall:

If the NGFW is managed by a Panorama, the API will be required to secure the necessary files:

Get API Key

Get PANos Firewall full configuration

Get Managed Firewall configuration

Virtual Routers (vrf) – Experimental Support

Virtual router (vrf) is a software-based routing framework in Palo Alto NGFW that allows the host machine to perform as a typical hardware router over a local area network. NP-View has added the experimental capability to detect Virtual Routers from Palo Alto devices (NGFW or Panorama) and present them in the Connector or Manual Import device selection screens. Virtual Routers will be treated the same as physical routers and will require a device license.

This feature is disabled by default and must be enabled prior to importing configurations containing virtual routers.

To enable the feature the NP-View Server admin will need to make a change to a system variable.

• Stop the NP-View Server application.
• in the docker-compose.yml file, change the enableVirtualRouters=False to enableVirtualRouters=True in three places within the file.
• start the NP-View Server application.

For Desktop

• Close the NP-View application.
• In the file C:\Users\<username >\AppData\Roaming\NP-View\config.ini add enableVirtualRouters=True
• Restart the NP-View application

Once enabled, the user will be presented with the option to select virtual routers from the connector in the device selection or upon manual import.

SonicWall

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We support .exp files as the default SonicWall file format for v5.9 and v6.X of the SonicOS.

The main UI allows for export of the encoded .exp file as such:

To extract the file via command line, then the command to export is

export current-config sonicos ftp ftp://[USERNAME]:[PASSWORD]@[FTP IP/URL]/sonicwall.exp

Where the username/password/FTP IP or URL must be changed. The file “sonicwall.exp” will then be saved at the FTP location. As this file is encoded, there’s no way to echo or cat the data.

Requesting Support for New Devices

The above list of supported hardware has been lab and field tested.  Newer versions generally work unless their is a major platform or API upgrade.  Please contact support@network-perception.com if you wish to get more information on parsers, request support for a particular device or are interested on co-developing a solution.

NP-View includes a utility to automatically retrieve network device configuration files on a schedule. The connector types supported in NP-View Server are below:

Configuration Managers

For retrieving config files from network management systems. For each connector, the user can select the devices to be uploaded for monitoring.

Direct Device Connection

For retrieving config files directly from the network device.

Volume Shares

For retrieving config files that are uploaded to a common collection repository.

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Additional Connector Information‍

Checkpoint

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For the connector to work CheckPoint devices, the API setting need to be enabled in the SmartConsole.  See the image below for settings and commands to restart the API.

Samba

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Network Perception suggests the following when setting up the SMB connection.

1. Create a read-only user in Active Directory or on the SMB server.
2. Determine the available share (Get-SMBShare” in Windows PowerShell) or create a new one.
3. Share the SMB folder containing the Configuration files with the read-only user. For example:

Configuration:

Lets assume that the server is at \\192.168.140.14\

• the shared folder is named 'share'
• and the files are in a sub folder of share called \test\NERC-CIP-EMS
• a UNC would look like this: \\192.168.140.14\share\test\NERC-CIP-EMS
• Per the above, the device name was set to LAB-SMB

When configuring the SMB connector, the screen would look like this:

If during the connector test, access is denied, the following settings should be verified and may need to be changed for the SMB to work as expected.

Running PowerShell as administrator

Input command Get-SmbServerConfiguration

Verify that EncryptData is set to false

If set to true, run command “Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EncryptData 0”

Verify SmbServerHardeningLevel is set to 0

If not set to 0, run command “Set-SmbServerConfiguration -SmbServerNameHardeningLevel 0”

Microsoft recommended default is off (0). More information about these settings can be found on the Microsoft website.

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If you have a system for which you need a connector or if you encounter a technical issue, please contact support@network-perception.com.

This document relates to NP-View Desktop and Server version 6.0 and later.

Connectors automate the secure retrieval of configuration files from firewalls, routers, switches, and network device configuration managers. NP-View Desktop and Server can host one or more connectors that securely retrieves configuration files manually (desktop and server) or at the specified frequency (server only).

To access the connector function, use the system menu in the upper right corner of NP-View and select 'Manage connectors'

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The connector function consists of several key features.

• Password manager to reuse and manage passwords across multiple connectors.
• Workflow for creating groups and connectors.
• Automated data collection and download.
• Flexible scheduling (Server only).
• Runtime and scheduling status (Server Only).

The connector function supports the files devices listed on the connectors page.

Add Credentials

To get started, the user must first create one or more credentials. Credentials are used to access the devices and can be used for one or more devices. This provides for the ability to manage multiple devices with one set of credentials. Click the 'Add New Credential button to display the input section. Credentials are segregated by device type. Select the device type and input the required fields.

Once filled in, select the save button and the credential will be saved and displayed in the 'Credentials' box. Clicking on the credential will allow the user to edit the credential.

At this time, Deleting a credential is not supported.

Create Groups

Once credentials have been created, the user can proceed to creating a Connector Group.

Select the '+' in the 'Groups' section to display the add groups function. Fill in the group name, notes and select a schedule (server only). For desktop, only the 'On Demand' function will be displayed.

Once saved, the user can click on the connector group name in the 'Groups' panel to enter edit mode or select the three dots to the right of the name for individual group options.

Pull to run all associated connectors and delete to remove the group. Note that only empty group can be deleted.

Scheduling Groups

Groups can retrieve data on a schedule, when setting up or editing a connector group, the user can set a schedule.

The user has multiple options for scheduling the connector; monthly, weekly, and daily with flexible day of week and time options. We recommend that connectors be run at night to provide maximum resources for processing the data. When a connector group is scheduled, the next run status will be presented in the 'Groups' panel

and on the 'Processes' tab

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Add Connectors

Once a group has been created, the user can add connectors to the group. In the connectors section, select the '+' to present the add connector function.

Proceed to select the connector type and fill in the required fields.

Next fill in the optional fields.

Filling in the name of a context will only fetch the data for that one context, leaving blank will fetch all contexts.

Selecting one ore more worspaces to deliver the fetched data. If left blank, the data will be retrieved for manual download.

The user can then test the connector to verify the credentials and/or save the connector.

Once saved, the user can click on the connector name in the 'Connectors' panel to invoke edit mode. Clicking on the tree dots next to the connector name provides individual connector options.

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Manual Data Pull

Data from individual connectors can be retrieved manually by selecting the 'pull' option from the menu above. When selecting pull, the connector status will proceed to 'in progress'

and the processes tab will also display the progress status.

Once data has been pulled, the user can selectively download the most current data set from the connector panel.

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Deleting Workspaces

If a connector is designated to deliver data to workspace and a user deletes the workspace, the connector will automatically be updated to reflect the workspace deletion.

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In version 6.0, a new connector function was introduced. for new connector users, it is recommended to use the new connector function. The connector access has been moved from the +Import function to the system menu.

Connectors automate the secure retrieval of configuration files from firewalls, routers, switches, and network device configuration managers. NP-View Server can host one or more connectors that securely retrieves configuration files at the specified frequency. By default, connectors are accessible through HTTPS on port TCP/8443 of the NP-View server and is isolated for security purposes.

The first time an administrator accesses the connectors, they are required to define a Connector group name and a secure passphrase. The Connector group name will be used to create the encrypted connector file store. Connector information is encrypted at rest and in transit using a passphrase protected PGP key. Only the connector owners know the passphrase and the passphrase is never stored. Once initiated, connectors run in the background collecting network information.  If the NP-View server is restarted, the connector owner is required to re-authenticate and restart the connectors. Connector owners can create multiple connector groups and each will require their own login. Once created, the user can select from the list of available connectors when logging in.

The connector page contains five main options.

The buttons from left to right are:

• + Add New Connector
• bulk start all connectors (see bulk start parameters below)
• bulk stop all connectors
• delete the connector (user must be logged into the connector group to delete)
• exit the connector group.

Add Connector

To add a new connector, select “+Add New Connector”  button and a list of available connectors is presented. Connector options are: Cloud Providers, Configuration Managers,  Direct Devices and Volume Shares

Upon selecting the Connector type to add, the user is requested to fill in connection information. Connector information varies by vendor.  The connector configuration for a Palo Alto device is as follows:

The user must enter a Connector name (no spaces), host name, and credentials.  The user can then verify the credentials are correct with the “Test credentials” button.  The user can setup the polling cycle and provide the workspaces to deliver the resultant information.

Polling Cycles are:

• On demand
• Daily
• Weekly
• Bi-Weekly
• Monthly

Configuration Management Systems

For Configuration Management Systems and file Shares, additional information may be required.  The user can retrieve a list of files from the device and filter the results.  To include specific files, put them in the include list field.  To exclude files, put them in the exclude list field.  If both lists are used, include list filter will be applied first and the exclude list filter to the results of the include list filter. If the share is PGP encrypted, a PGP Public key will be required.

Workspaces must be added to the connector for data to be transferred and displayed in the workspace.  If workspaces are added after a connector is setup, data will not be sent to the workspace until the next scheduled import and a configuration change is identified.  Creating workspaces before connectors facilitates faster visualization of data.

Connector Tile

Once the connector is added, a tile is added to the connectors home page.

Connector tiles are sorted by the characters in their names using standard Linux conventions:

1. whitespace
2. integer
3. special char
4. uppercase [A-Z]
5. underscore (possibly other special chars)
6. lowercase [a-z]

From the tile, the user can:

• manually activate the connector for a one time data pull
• run / pause the connector
• edit the connector
• copy the connector
• delete the connector.

The tile banner will show in three colors:

• red – connector failed
• blue – connector scheduled to run
• gray – connector paused

Click the start / pause button to restart a failed or paused connector, note that a connector may take several minutes to change the banner color.

Connectors + Samba (SMB) Access Error

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This error can be caused by two communication scenarios between Linux and Window. Either SMB encryption is enabled on the Server or SPN target name validation level is enabled (or both). To check which of these features is causing the issue, Run PowerShell on the Windows Server as administrator and run the following command:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration

If EncryptData = True, it can be disabled using:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EncryptData 0

If SmbServerNameHardeningLevel is set to any value other than the default of 0 run:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -SmbServerNameHardeningLevel 0

to restore the default.

NP-View releases are divided into two groups:

• Release Candidates introduce new features and go through the full QA process once a quarter.  The rollout of release candidates is staged to ensure product quality.
• General Releases are release candidates that have gone through field testing and any critical issues resolved before releasing to the general population. General releases typically lag release candidates by a month or more.

Release candidates generally following the below schedule: January, April, July and October

General releases do not follow a fixed schedule since they are driven by field testing and support requests.

Below is the list of releases and the features / fixes in each release. Only the most current release available to a customer will be posted on the portal.  

If you have any question, please contact us at support@network-perception.com.

The release notes are also available from within the NP-View application. By clicking the version number in the lower left hand corner of the workspace screen,

the release notes can be viewed.

NP-View Desktop and Server – 2024

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NP-View Desktop and Server – 2023

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NP-View Desktop and Server – 2022

For customers who have installed the Ubuntu version of the NP-View OVF, this package is designed to update Docker and Ubuntu to the following versions:

- Docker version 27.1.2, build d01f264

- Kernel version 5.15.0-118-generic

- Ubuntu version Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS

To see the complete package details, click here:

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Download the update package, click here

Verify the checksum: 7D510280D6901502B7210EADC284B351F49C0AE6F40D9030A99C5A6A17B6444F

Installation Instructions

Have all users log out of NP-View Server as the update will disrupt their system use.

SSH into the NP-View server

sudo su -

cd /root/

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Make an updates folder at the path of your choice.

mkdir updates

cd updates

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Copy update-packages-08-14-24.zip to the updates folder on the np-view server

unzip update-packages-08-14-24.zip

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Install all packages

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive && dpkg -i *.deb

reboot

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.zip and .deb files can be removed after reboot.

sudo su -

cd /root/

cd updates

rm *.deb *.zip

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When we improve a data or analysis feature or fix an issue, the improvement may not be visible until new data is ingested, or another action is taken.

New Data or Warnings identified during file parsing

When we improve a parser, upon next import, we will apply the new rules and import the new or corrected data. Only the workspace where the new file(s) are imported (manual or connector) will receive the new data. All views, in that workspace, that contain the imported device(s), will be updated with the new data.
No other workspaces will be impacted.

The impact of this is that some workspaces will have the new data, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across workspaces. Additionally, only the devices being imported will contain the new or updated data within a view.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing workspace. Alternatively the user can clone an existing connector to pull data into the workspace (Note: connectors perform a checksum to see if a file has already been imported and ignore it if we have imported it already.)

Data created during Merge / Analyze

When we improve merge (topology generation) or analyze (path creation), upon next import or the creation of a new view, we will apply the new rules. Only the views, in that workspace, that contain the new file(s), will be merged and analyzed.  All other views will not be impacted.

The impact is that some workspaces and views will have new analysis results, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across views and workspaces.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing views or create new views.

Risks and Warnings

When we improve risk alerts, upon next import, we will apply the new policies and requirements. Only the workspace where the new file(s) are imported (manual or connector) will receive updated risks. Upon import and after the views are updated, the risk alerts will be updated. No other workspaces will be impacted.

The impact is that some workspaces will have new risk alerts, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across workspaces.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing views or users can reset the risks for any workspace in the Policy manager which will remove all current risks and rerun the risks for that workspace.

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Overview

This section provides a primer on how to review firewall rulesets from three vendors: Cisco,  Check Point, and Palo Alto.

Cisco Ruleset Overview

An access control list (ACL) is used to filter network traffic. For an ACL to take effect, it must be bound to an interface on the device. Packets are then matched against the ACLs bound to that interface to determine whether to forward or drop a packet. A MAC, IPv4 and IPv6 ACL can be bound to each interface. Multiple ACL of the same protocol cannot be bound to the same interface, they must be combined to accomplish the desired effect.

Object Groups for ACLs lets you classify users, devices, or protocols into groups and apply those groups to access control lists (ACLs) to create access control policies for those groups. This lets you use object groups instead of individual IP addresses, protocols, and ports, which are used in conventional ACLs.

The image below helps depict the interaction between Object Groups, Access Groups, Rules and Interfaces.

The Object Groups, Access Groups, Rules and Interfaces. are combined into a configuration file as shown below:

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

Check Point Ruleset Overview

Check Point segments security management into multiple virtual domains. Security policies can be created and privately maintained per Domain. The image below helps depict the high level interaction between domains and the domain server.

Some security rules can be enforced for all Domains. Global policies can serve as security templates with rules that are applied to many Domains, and their individualized security policies. The Security Gateway is the engine that enforces the organization\’s security policy, is an entry point to the LAN, and is managed by the Security Management Server.

The interaction between domain policies, global policies and the security gateway is depicted below. Note that Global Domain rules can be run before the local Domain rules or after the local Domain rules as cleanup.

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

Palo Alto Ruleset Overview

Device groups enables grouping based on network segmentation, geographic location, organizational function, or any other common aspect of firewalls that require similar policy configurations. Using device groups, the user can configure policy rules and the objects they reference. Devices can be organized hierarchically, with shared rules and objects at the top, and device group-specific rules and objects at subsequent levels. This enables the creation of a hierarchy of rules that enforce how firewalls handle traffic. The image below depicts the high level interaction between device groups, subgroups and firewalls.

This can be further broken down into the virtual system. A virtual system is an independent (virtual) firewall instance that can be separately managed within a physical firewall with its own Security policy, interfaces, and administrators.

Device Groups on Panorama allow you to centrally manage firewall policies. You create policies on Panorama either as Pre Rules or Post Rules; Pre Rules and Post Rules allow you to create a layered approach for implementing policy. You can define Pre rules and Post rules in a shared context, as shared policies for all managed firewalls, or in a device group context, to make the rules specific to a device group. Because you define Pre rules and Post Rules on Panorama and then push them from Panorama to the managed firewalls, you are able to view the rules on the managed firewalls but you can edit the Pre Rules and Post Rules only in Panorama.

• Pre Rules—Rules that are added to the top of the rule order and are evaluated first. You can use pre-rules to enforce the Acceptable Use Policy for an organization.
• Post Rules—Rules that are added at the bottom of the rule order and are evaluated after the pre-rules and rules that are locally defined on the firewall. Post-rules typically include rules to deny access to traffic based on the App-ID™, User-ID™, or Service.
• Default Rules—Rules that specify how the firewall handles traffic that does not match any Pre Rules, Post Rules, or local firewall rules.

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

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