Introduction to Network Security

This book is designed to provide a starting point for researchers and students in the field of network security. The goal is to help them understand the problem domain, learn how to build an experimental set, and conduct experiments. This book focuses on concepts related to securing computer networks and does not cover cryptography. The book covers the areas of intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, and response systems. This includes processing data collected from network traffic and post-processing alerts generated by the intrusion detection system. Alert post-processing methods include alert aggregation and alert correlation. This book covers the theoretical concepts used in this field of work, supported by empirical examples, to show the reader how these tasks are possible. Concepts such as statistics, principal component analysis, dimensionality reduction, feature selection, classification methods, clustering methods, and expert systems are discussed in this book and used in examples. Finding and creating suitable datasets is also explained in this book. The examples provided are MS-Windows based, coded in C++, and explained in full detail. The examples are implemented in environments such as WEKA, CLIPS, and Visual Studio. The book covers methods for preventing and responding to intrusions. In addition to current methods in this field, the registry and MS-Windows Firewall are among the sections discussed in two chapters of the book. The book focuses primarily on wired networks or networks using TCP/IP-based connections, but there is also discussion of the applicability of these methods to other technologies and methods, such as Wi-Fi, Cookies, Fingerprinting, and Honeypots.

Peyman Kabiri, PhD, received his bachelor’s degree in computer hardware engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology in 1992. After receiving his master’s degree in real-time systems from Nottingham Trent University in 1996, he received a bursary from Nottingham Trent University to continue his doctoral studies. He received PhD in Computer Science from Nottingham Trent University in 2000. After receiving his PhD, he held various positions in companies and universities, including Assistance Professor in the School of Computer Engineering at the Iran University of Science and Technology, Project coordinator in Faculty of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick – Canada, Senior Lecturer in Cybersecurity in the Department of Computing at the Sheffield Hallam University, and Senior Lecturer in Cybersecurity in the School of Computer Science and Informatics at De Montfort University.Dr Kabiri has designed and taught many modules in the field of cybersecurity at undergraduate and graduate levels since 2010. His lectures are based on his research findings and were initially intended for graduate students, including: Intrusion Detection and Response Methods and Systems for Computer Networks, Secure Computer Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems Security. Later, he designed and taught undergraduate lectures and laboratory tutorials for undergraduate courses at UK universities, namely Network Intrusion Detection and Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity (except for the last few sessions). He has a diverse range of research and teaching experiences that enable him to contribute to multidisciplinary research and teaching areas. He has published 46 conference papers, 32 journal articles, and edited one book. He has supervised the final projects of many undergraduate students, 52 master’s students and 5 doctoral students to completion. Dr Kabiri strongly believes in research-based teaching and in his lectures, he provides his students with theoretical and practical knowledge to with examples of real-world scenarios. Having diverse research and teaching experience at the international level helps him to have a broader perspective on different research and teaching approaches and the educational needs of researchers and students.