I'm interested as well, particularly given the ties to Storm. I'd be happy to volunteer as mentor and/or committer if it would be welcome. I have some familiarity with both projects (obviously one more so than the other ;) ).
-Taylor > On Nov 30, 2015, at 1:15 PM, larry mccay <lmc...@apache.org> wrote: > > This is an interesting proposal that seems would build a community where an > open one doesn't really exist at the moment. > A project like this needs a healthy community to survive and scale with the > pace of changes in attacks. > I for one would be interested in lending a hand as a contributor or > committer - if that would be welcomed. > > >> On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Owen O'Malley <omal...@apache.org> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> We'd like to start a discussion proposing creating Metron as an incubator >> podling. The proposal is on the wiki here: >> https://wiki.apache.org/incubator/MetronProposal >> >> I would call your attention to the background section in particular. The >> condensed version is that the original code base (OpenSOC) was created by a >> company (Cisco) that put it on github as ALv2, but then hasn't been working >> on it. We posted a message >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opensoc-support/rFlW2uSSvmU/Sw_cO-T2AAAJ> >> to the OpenSOC support group a month ago proposing a move to Apache and got >> a single positive response. >> >> The text of the proposal is included below for easy quoting during >> discussion. >> >> Thanks, >> Owen >> >> = Apache Metron Proposal = >> >> == Abstract == >> >> The Metron project is an open source project dedicated to providing an >> extensible and scalable advanced security analytics tool. It has strong >> foundations in the Apache Hadoop ecosystem. >> >> == Proposal == >> >> Metron integrates a variety of open source big data technologies in order >> to offer a centralized tool for security monitoring and analysis. Metron >> provides capabilities for log aggregation, full packet capture indexing, >> storage, advanced behavioral analytics and data enrichment, while applying >> the most current threat-intelligence information to security telemetry >> within a single platform. >> >> Metron can be divided into 4 areas: >> >> 1. '''A mechanism to capture, store, and normalize any type of security >> telemetry at extremely high rates.''' Because security telemetry is >> constantly being generated, it requires a method for ingesting the data at >> high speeds and pushing it to various processing units for advanced >> computation and analytics. >> 1. '''Real time processing and application of enrichments''' such as >> threat intelligence, geolocation, and DNS information to telemetry being >> collected. The immediate application of this information to incoming >> telemetry provides the context and situational awareness, as well as the >> “who” and “where” information that is critical for investigation. >> 1. '''Efficient information storage''' based on how the information will >> be used: >> a. Logs and telemetry are stored such that they can be efficiently >> mined and analyzed for concise security visibility >> a. The ability to extract and reconstruct full packets helps an analyst >> answer questions such as who the true attacker was, what data was leaked, >> and where that data was sent >> a. Long-term storage not only increases visibility over time, but also >> enables advanced analytics such as machine learning techniques to be used >> to create models on the information. Incoming data can then be scored >> against these stored models for advanced anomaly detection. >> 1. '''An interface that gives a security investigator a centralized view >> of data and alerts passed through the system.''' Metron’s interface >> presents alert summaries with threat intelligence and enrichment data >> specific to that alert on one single page. Furthermore, advanced search >> capabilities and full packet extraction tools are presented to the analyst >> for investigation without the need to pivot into additional tools. >> >> Big data is a natural fit for powerful security analytics. The Metron >> framework integrates a number of elements from the Hadoop ecosystem to >> provide a scalable platform for security analytics, incorporating such >> functionality as full-packet capture, stream processing, batch processing, >> real-time search, and telemetry aggregation. With Metron, our goal is to >> tie big data into security analytics and drive towards an extensible >> centralized platform to effectively enable rapid detection and rapid >> response for advanced security threats. >> >> == Background == >> >> OpenSOC was developed by Cisco over the last two years and pushed out to >> Github (https://github.com/OpenSOC/opensoc) under the ALv2. However, the >> development was mostly closed and has largely stopped. As evidence of the >> inactivity, users have complained that pull requests are not answered for a >> while >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opensoc-support/R2W-ZFux8Vk/Y-5tL-EmAAAJ. >> Finally, no public releases of OpenSOC have been made. From an Apache point >> of view, the current community is not viable. >> >> However, some of the developers of the project have left Cisco and have >> found interest from several others that would like to work together to form >> an active and open community at Apache starting from the current OpenSOC >> code base. A message to the current support group proposing moving to >> Apache got a single positive response. >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/opensoc-support/rFlW2uSSvmU/09PIsWL4AAAJ >> >> Because Cisco is not currently interested in being involved, the project >> expects to change their name. The project would like to use Metron, >> although we will perform a podling name search to check for conflicts. >> Metron, meaning measure, is half of the greek root for the word >> 'telemetry.' Metron is also a DC Comics character who “... wanders in >> search of greater knowledge beyond his own”. >> >> >> == Rationale == >> Metron strives to move the state of the art in security analytics forward. >> We want to move away from the proprietary nature of legacy security point >> tools and develop an open platform where people can contribute and share >> datasets, machine learning models, telemetry parsers, sources of telemetry >> enrichment, and threat intelligence feeds. Cyber security is too large of >> a problem for a single corporation to tackle on its own and the current >> tooling is too fragmented and proprietary for us to be able to rally around >> a single tool or vendor. >> >> In addition to being open and facilitating advancement in security >> analytics, Metron has several advantages over a conventional Security >> Information Management System (SIEM). >> >> * Metron uses all open source stack under the hood and runs on commodity >> hardware. This means Metron is much cheaper to run then the competition. >> In security cost plays a major factor because the cost of your >> countermeasure for monitoring and reacting to a threat should not exceed >> the cost of what is being protected. By driving down the cost of security >> the economics works for more assets to be monitored, which means more >> secure data centers. >> * Metron, being in the open, allows additional vetting and scrutiny by >> the open source community for all of its components. This is a better >> model for a security-oriented tool than doing it closed source. All the >> problems should be flushed out and fixed in the open. The closed source >> competition does not have this kind of rigor, is motivated by marketing and >> sales, and thus, does not inspire confidence when it comes to security. >> * Being Hadoop-based, Metron can process unprecedented volumes of >> streaming data via Apache Storm. When an organization is hit with malware >> or malicious behavior most commonly this happens as a part of a global >> malware campaign, signatures for which are known and are available from >> third party threat intelligence feeds. Having the ability to take in all >> the feeds and reference them against every telemetry message processed by >> Metron in real time does not only facilitate detection of such campaigns, >> it changes the economics for the “bad guys”. If you have to customize your >> malware for each of your targets these global attacks become a lot more >> expensive and non viable for them. >> * Metron strives to shift conventional SOC workflows away from being >> rules-driven to a more data-driven approach that incorporates machine >> learning and a higher degree of automation and autonomous detection. The >> modern threat landscape is too dynamic to be manageable via static rules >> alone, which is what conventional SIEMs rely on. Rule bases tend to bloat, >> and if improperly maintained turn themselves into sources of false positive >> alerts. >> >> The ability to analyze and model large volumes of data at rest and then >> being able to push up the output of that into a stream processor is >> essential in disrupting the >> >> == Current Status == >> >> As stated in the background section, the current community isn’t healthy, >> which is why we are proposing moving to Apache Incubator. In this section, >> we will describe the current state of the OpenSOC project. >> >> === Meritocracy === >> The OpenSOC development is controlled by Cisco and pull requests are being >> ignored. The development list is private and requests to join are rejected >> because there is no activity on it. The goal of moving to Apache is to form >> a meritocracy where a variety of individuals, regardless of their current >> employer, come together and work together. We understand that diversity, >> open development, and open governance are critical to being a successful >> Apache project. >> >> === Community === >> The OpenSOC project is not responding to pull requests or making releases. >> The easiest solution would be to create a variety of forks of the project >> on github, but that would further fracture the community and prevent it >> from reaching critical mass. Our prefered solution is to build a single >> large diverse and open community at Apache. >> >> === Core Developers === >> The core developers of Metron are James Sirota, Charles Porter, and Mark >> Bittmann. None of them have experience running an open source project, but >> they are eager to learn. >> >> === Alignment === >> The ASF is a natural host for Metron given that it is already the home of >> Hadoop, HBase, Hive, Storm, Kafka, Spark and other emerging big data >> projects. Metron leverages many of Apache open-source products. We are very >> interested in a place to develop our community and integrations with the >> other Apache big data projects. >> >> == Known Risks == >> >> === Orphaned Products === >> >> The current product developers are all salaried developers at a small >> number of companies and thus there is a risk of becoming an orphaned >> product. However, the companies view Metron as very important to their >> product offering and plan to ramp up their work in the space. The project >> is unique in the product space and thus has strong potential to become a >> sustainable community. >> >> === Inexperience with Open Source === >> The vast majority of the developers are inexperienced with open source >> development and the Apache Way. One of the major hurdles to graduation from >> the Apache Incubator will be demonstrating that they have learned the >> Apache Way and are applying it to how the project is managed. Vinod Kumar >> Vavilapalli is an Apache Member and plans on actively working as a >> committer in the project. They also have the other mentors to help them >> learn as they progress. >> >> === Homogenous Developers === >> The developers are employed by four diverse companies (B23, Hortonworks, >> Mantech, and Rackspace), They are distributed across the United States. We >> hope to attract additional diversity as an Apache project. >> >> === Reliance on Salaried Developers === >> Metron is currently being developed exclusively by salaried developers, but >> the goal of coming to Apache is to form a community of users and developers >> that is much more diverse including non-salaried developers. >> >> === Relationships with Other Apache Products === >> Metron has a strong relationship and dependency with Apache Flume, Hadoop, >> HBase, Hive, Kafka, Spark, and Storm. Being part of Apache’s Incubation >> community could help with a closer collaboration among these projects and >> as well as others. >> >> We note that although there is a superficial resemblance to Apache Eagle, >> which does security analysis of Hadoop audit events, the projects are >> significantly different. In particular, Metron is focused on analyzing >> network packet traffic and thus has a very different scope and scale of >> events than Eagle. >> >> === An Excessive Fascination with the Apache Brand === >> >> While the Apache brand is important, we are much more interested in finding >> a home for the project that encourages open development and open >> governance. We want to form the new community using the Apache Way with its >> strong focus on meritocracy, organizational independence, and open >> development. >> >> == Documentation == >> The current information on the OpenSOC project is here: >> http://opensoc.github.io/ >> A slide deck presenting background material is here: >> http://www.slideshare.net/JamesSirota/cisco-opensoc >> >> == Initial Source == >> The initial code is on github: http://opensoc.github.io/ >> >> == External Dependencies == >> Metron has the following external dependencies: >> * Apache Flume >> * Apache Hadoop >> * Apache HBase >> * Apache Hive >> * Apache Kafka >> * Apache Spark >> * Apache Storm >> * ElasticSearch >> * MySQL >> >> The project understands that it will need to support alternatives for MySQL >> that are licensed under a ALv2 compatible license. >> >> == Cryptography == >> Metron will eventually support encryption on the wire, but this is not one >> of the initial goals, and we do not expect Metron to be a controlled export >> item due to the use of encryption. Metron supports but does not require the >> Kerberos authentication mechanism to access secured Hadoop services. >> >> == Required Resources == >> >> === Mailing List === >> >> * metron-private for private PMC discussions >> * metron-dev for developers >> * metron-commits for all commits >> * metron-users for all users >> >> === Version Control === >> Git is the preferred source control system. >> >> === Issue Tracking === >> >> * JIRA (METRON) >> >> === Other Resources === >> The existing code already has unit tests so we will make use of existing >> Apache continuous testing infrastructure. The resulting load should not be >> very large. >> >> == Initial Committers == >> * Jim Baker < jim.baker at rackspace dot com > >> * Mark Bittmann < mark at b23 dot io > >> * Sheetal Dolas < sheetal at hortonworks dot com > >> * Discovery Gerdes < discovery.gerdes at rackspace dot com > >> * Andrew Hartnett < andrew.hartnett at rackspace dot com > >> * Dave Hirko < dave at b23 dot io > >> * Paul Kehrer < paul.kehrer at rackspace dot com > >> * Brad Kolarov < brad at b23 dot io > >> * Kiran Komaravolu <kkomaravolu at hortonworks dot com > >> * Ryan Merriman < rmerriman at hortonworks dot com > >> * Michael Perez <michael.perez at hortonworks dot com> >> * Charles Porter <Charles.Porter at mcs dot mantech dot com > >> * Sean Schulte < sean.schulte at rackspace dot com > >> * James Sirota < jsirota at hortonworks dot com > >> * Casey Stella < cstella at hortonworks dot com > >> * Bryan Taylor < bryan.taylor at rackspace dot com > >> * Ray Urciuoli < Ray.Urciuoli at mcs dot mantech dot com > >> * Vinod Kumar Vavilapalli < vinodkv at apache dot org > >> * George Vetticaden < gvetticaden at hortonworks dot com > >> * Oskar Zabik < oskar.zabik at rackspace dot com > >> >> == Affiliations == >> The initial committers are employees of: >> * Jim Baker - Rackspace >> * Mark Bittmann - B23 >> * Sheetal Dolas - Hortonworks >> * Discovery Gerdes - Rackspace >> * Andrew Hartnett - Rackspace >> * Dave Hirko - B23 >> * Paul Kehrer - Rackspace >> * Brad Kolarov - B23 >> * Kiran Komaravolu - Hortonworks >> * Ryan Merriman - Hortonworks >> * Michael Perez - Hortonworks >> * Charles Porter - Mantech >> * Sean Schulte - Rackspace >> * James Sirota - Hortonworks >> * Casey Stella - Hortonworks >> * Bryan Taylor - Rackspace >> * Ray Urciuoli - Mantech >> * Vinod Kumar Vavilapalli - Hortonworks >> * George Vetticaden - Hortonworks >> * Oskar Zabik - Rackspace >> >> == Sponsors == >> >> === Champion === >> * Owen O’Malley - Apache IPMC member >> >> === Nominated Mentors === >> * Chris Mattmann <mattmann at apache dot org > - Apache IPMC member, NASA >> * Owen O’Malley <omalley at apache dot org > - Apache IPMC member, >> Hortonworks >> * Billie Rinaldi < billie at apache dot org > - Apache IPMC member, >> Hortonworks >> * Vinod Kumar Vavilapalli < vinodkv at apache dot org > - Apache IPMC >> member, Hortonworks >> >> === Sponsoring Entity === >> We are requesting the Incubator to sponsor this project. >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org
