The design of VisFlowConnect-IP: a link analysis system for IP security situational awareness

Abstract

Visualization of IP-based traffic dynamics on networks is a challenging task due to large data volume and the complex, temporal relationships between hosts. We present the architecture of VisFlowConnect-IP, a powerful new tool to visualize IP network traffic flow dynamics for security situational awareness. VisFlowConnect-IP allows an operator to visually assess the connectivity of large and complex networks on a single screen. It provides an overall view of the entire network and filter/drill-down features that allow operators to request more detailed information. Preliminary reports from several organizations using this tool report increased responsiveness to security events as well as new insights into understanding the security dynamics of their networks. In this paper we focus specifically on the design decisions made during the VisFlowConnect development process so that others may learn from our experience. The current VisFlowConnect architecture - the result of these design decisions - is extensible to processing other high-volume multi-dimensional data streams where link connectivity/activity is a focus of study. We report experimental results quantifying the scalability of the underlying algorithms for representing link analysis given continuous high-volume traffic flows as input.