31 March 2016

Logging and Monitoring

R80

Administration Guide
Classification: [Protected]
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Important Information
Check Point R80
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Revision History
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31 March 2016 First release of this document
Contents
Important Information................................................................................................... 3
Terms ............................................................................................................................ 7
Welcome ....................................................................................................................... 9
Getting Started ............................................................................................................ 10
Logging and Monitoring Clients .............................................................................. 10
Understanding Logging ........................................................................................... 11
Deploying Logging ................................................................................................... 12
Deploying a Dedicated Log Server .................................................................................12
Configuring Logging ......................................................................................................12
Enabling Log Indexing ...................................................................................................13
Disabling Log Indexing ..................................................................................................13
Saving Logs on Security Gateways .................................................................................14
Configuring a Security Gateway to Save Logs Locally ....................................................14
Deploying SmartEvent............................................................................................. 15
SmartEvent Licensing....................................................................................................15
System Requirements ...................................................................................................15
Enabling SmartEvent on the Security Management Server ...........................................16
Deploying a Dedicated SmartEvent Server ....................................................................17
Configuring Dedicated Correlation Units .......................................................................20
Configuring SmartEvent to use a Non-Standard LEA Port .............................................21
Configuring SmartEvent to read External Logs .............................................................22
Administrator Permission Profiles ......................................................................... 23
Creating an Administrator .............................................................................................23
Permissions for Monitoring, Logging, Events, and Reports ...........................................24
Multi-Domain Security Management .............................................................................24
Locally Managing the Administrator ..............................................................................24
SmartEvent Reports-Only Permission Profile ...............................................................25
Importing Offline Log Files ..................................................................................... 26
Offline Work For Correlated Events...............................................................................26
Importing Log Files from SmartEvent Servers ..............................................................27
Views and Reports ....................................................................................................... 28
Deploying Views and Reports .................................................................................. 28
Catalog of Views and Reports.................................................................................. 29
Views ....................................................................................................................... 31
Customization................................................................................................................32
Export and Import..........................................................................................................33
Save As PDF ..................................................................................................................33
Reports.................................................................................................................... 34
Customization................................................................................................................35
Automatic Report Updates.............................................................................................37
Adding a Logo to Reports...............................................................................................37
Export and Import..........................................................................................................37
Generating a Report ......................................................................................................37
Generating a Predefined Report in the SmartEvent GUI Client ......................................38
Scheduling a Report ......................................................................................................38
Generating a Network Activity Report ...........................................................................39
Configuring Email Settings for Reports .........................................................................40
 Widgets ................................................................................................................... 41
Adding and Customizing ................................................................................................41
Filters ............................................................................................................................43
Logging ....................................................................................................................... 44
Log Analysis ............................................................................................................ 44
Sample Log Analysis ............................................................................................... 44
Using the Log View .................................................................................................. 45
Working with Logs .................................................................................................. 46
Choosing Rules to Track ................................................................................................46
Viewing Rule Logs .........................................................................................................47
Searching the Logs ........................................................................................................47
Query Language Overview .............................................................................................50
Event Analysis ............................................................................................................. 54
Event Analysis with SmartEvent ............................................................................. 54
What is an Event? .................................................................................................... 54
How Are Logs Converted to Events? ..............................................................................54
Sample Application & URL Filtering Event Analysis ............................................... 55
The SmartEvent Solution ........................................................................................ 56
The Event Analysis Architecture ....................................................................................56
SmartEvent Correlation Unit .........................................................................................57
The SmartEvent GUI ......................................................................................................58
The SmartView Web Application ....................................................................................59
Working with SmartEvent ....................................................................................... 59
Opening the SmartEvent GUI Client ...............................................................................59
Working with Queries ....................................................................................................59
Investigating Events ......................................................................................................67
Configuring Event Definitions in the SmartEvent Policy Tab ..........................................68
System Administration ..................................................................................................89
SmartEvent High Availability Environment ....................................................................91
Monitoring Traffic and Connections ............................................................................ 92
SmartView Monitor Features .................................................................................. 92
SmartView Monitor scenarios........................................................................................93
To Start the Monitoring Views ................................................................................. 93
Immediate Actions .................................................................................................. 93
Deploying Monitoring .............................................................................................. 94
Monitoring and Handling Alerts .............................................................................. 94
Viewing Alerts ...............................................................................................................94
System Alert Monitoring Mechanism .............................................................................95
Monitoring Suspicious Activity Rules ...................................................................... 95
The Need for Suspicious Activity Rules ..........................................................................95
Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule................................................................................95
Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule from Results ..........................................................96
Managing Suspicious Activity Rules ...............................................................................97
How SmartView Monitor Works .............................................................................. 97
AMON ............................................................................................................................98
Defining Status Fetch Frequency ...................................................................................99
Configuring SmartView Monitor .............................................................................. 99
System Alerts and Thresholds.......................................................................................99
Working with SNMP Monitoring Thresholds ................................................................100
Customizing Results ....................................................................................................106
Setting Your Default View ............................................................................................110
 Refreshing Views .........................................................................................................110
Monitoring Gateway Status ................................................................................... 110
Gateway Status ............................................................................................................110
Displaying Gateway Data .............................................................................................110
Starting and Stopping Cluster Members......................................................................115
Monitoring Tunnels ............................................................................................... 115
Tunnels Solution..........................................................................................................115
Tunnel View Updates ...................................................................................................116
Running Tunnel Views .................................................................................................116
Monitoring Traffic or System Counters ................................................................. 118
Traffic or System Counters Solution ............................................................................118
Select and Run a Traffic or System Counters View ......................................................120
Recording a Traffic or Counter View ............................................................................120
Monitoring Users .................................................................................................. 121
Users Solution .............................................................................................................121
Run a Users View .........................................................................................................121
Cooperative Enforcement ..................................................................................... 122
Cooperative Enforcement Solution ..............................................................................122
Running a Cooperative Enforcement View ...................................................................124
Log and Event Storage Maintenance ......................................................................... 126
Managing the Log and Event Database ................................................................. 126
Minimum Disk Space ............................................................................................. 126
Third-Party Log Formats .......................................................................................... 127
Importing Syslog Messages .................................................................................. 127
Generating a Syslog Parser and Importing syslog Messages ...................................... 127
Configuring SmartEvent to Read Imported Syslog Messages ...................................... 127
Importing Windows Events.................................................................................... 128
How Windows Event Service Works .............................................................................128
Administrator Support for WinEventToCPLog .............................................................128
Sending Windows Events to the Log Server .................................................................129
Working with SNMP .............................................................................................. 131
SNMP Best Practices Guide .........................................................................................131
Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing ............................................................................. 132
Planning and Considerations ................................................................................ 132
The Parsing Procedure ......................................................................................... 133
Manual Syslog Parsing .......................................................................................... 133
The Free Text Parsing Language .......................................................................... 134
The Commands............................................................................................................134
Try ...............................................................................................................................135
Group_try ....................................................................................................................136
Switch ..........................................................................................................................137
Unconditional _try .......................................................................................................138
Include.........................................................................................................................139
add_field .....................................................................................................................139
Dictionary ....................................................................................................................143
Index.......................................................................................................................... 145
 DLP

Terms
Data Loss Prevention. Detects and prevents
the unauthorized transmission of confidential
information.
Administrator
Event
A SmartConsole user with permissions to
A record of a security incident that is based
manage Check Point security products and
on one or more logs, and on a customizable
the network environment.
set of rules that are defined in the Event
Audit Log Policy.

A record of an action that is done by an Event Correlation

Administrator. See also Log (on page 7).
A procedure that extracts, aggregates,
Cluster correlates and analyses events from the
logs.
1) Two or more Security Gateways or servers
synchronized for High Availability or Load Event Policy
Sharing. 2) In a virtualized environment: a set
A set of rules that define the behavior of
of ESX/i hosts used for High Availability or
SmartEvent.
Load Sharing.
External Network
Cluster Member
Computers and networks that are outside of
A Security Gateway that is part of a cluster.
the protected network.
Configure
Internal Network
To select or to enter values that change how
Computers and resources protected by the
a product works.
Firewall and accessed by authenticated
Cooperative Enforcement users.

Integration of Endpoint Security server IPS

compliance to verify internal network
Intrusion Prevention System. Check Point
connections.
Software Blade that inspects and analyzes
Correlation Unit packets and data for numerous types of
risks.
A SmartEvent software component that
analyzes logs and detects events. Log

Custom Report A record of an action that is done by a

Software Blade. See also Event (on page 7),
A user defined report for a Check Point Audit Log (on page 7).
product, typically based on a predefined
report. Log Server

Database Physical server that hosts Check Point

product log files.
The Check Point database includes all
objects, including network objects, users, Management Server
services, servers, and protection profiles. It
A Security Management Server or
does not include the Rule Bases. When you
Multi-Domain Server that manages one or
modify an object, install the database on the
more Security Gateways and security
Security Management Server and the Log
policies.
Server.
Network devices and appliances, and manage a
1. A configuration of nodes and connecting multi-domain environment.
branches. 2. A site of machines, services, and
SmartEvent Server
the links (physical, virtual, wireless,
encrypted) that connect them. Physical server that hosts the events
database.
Policy
Software Blade
A collection of rules that control network
traffic and enforce organization guidelines A software blade is a security solution based
for data protection and access to resources on specific business needs.
with packet inspection. Each blade is independent, modular and
centrally managed. To extend security,
Predefined Report
additional blades can be quickly added.
A default report included in a Check Point
product that you can run right out of the box. System Counter
SmartView Monitor data or report on status,
Remote Access VPN
activity, and resource usage of Check Point
An encryption tunnel between a Security products.
Gateway and remote access clients, such as
Endpoint Security VPN, and communities. Traffic
The flow of data between network resources.
Report
A summary of network activity and Security VPN
Policy enforcement that is generated by Virtual Private Network. A secure, encrypted
Check Point products such as SmartEvent. connection between networks and remote
clients on a public infrastructure, to give
Security Cluster
authenticated remote users and sites
A cluster that has identical Check Point secured access to an organization's network
Security Gateway members for High and resources.
Availability and Load Sharing.
VPN Tunnel
Security Gateway
An encrypted connection between two hosts
A computer or appliance that inspects traffic using standard protocols (such as L2TP) to
and enforces Security Policies for connected encrypt traffic going in and decrypt it coming
network resources. out, creating an encapsulated network
through which data can be safely shared as
Security Management Server though on a physical private line.
The application that manages, stores, and
distributes the security policy to Security
Gateways.

Security Policy
A collection of rules that control network
traffic and enforce organization guidelines
for data protection and access to resources
with packet inspection.

SmartConsole
A Check Point GUI application used to
manage security policies, monitor products
and events, install updates, provision new
 Welcome

Welcome
With R80, logging, event management, reporting, and monitoring are more tightly integrated than
ever before. Security data and trends easy to understand at a glance, with Widgets and chart
templates that optimize visual display. Logs are now tightly integrated with the policy rules. To
access logs associated with a specific rule, click that rule. Free-text search lets you enter specific
search terms to retrieve results from millions of logs in seconds.
One-click exploration makes it easy to move from high-level overview to specific event details
such as type of attack, timeline, application type and source. After you investigate an event, it is
easy to act on it. Depends on the severity of the event, you can ignore it, act on it later, block it
immediately, or toggle over to the rules associated with the event to refine your policy. Send
reports to your manager or auditors that show only the content that is related to each stakeholder.
In R80, SmartReporter and SmartEvent functionality is integrated into SmartConsole.
With rich and customizable views and reports, R80 introduces a new experience for log and event
monitoring.
The new views are available from two locations:
• SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor
• SmartView Web Application. Browse to: https://<Server IP>/smartview/ where Server IP is IP
address of the Security Management Server or SmartEvent server.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 9

CHAPTE R 1

Getting Started
In This Section:
Logging and Monitoring Clients ...................................................................................10
Understanding Logging ................................................................................................11
Deploying Logging ........................................................................................................12
Deploying SmartEvent ..................................................................................................15
Administrator Permission Profiles ..............................................................................23
Importing Offline Log Files ..........................................................................................26

This section introduces the logging and monitoring clients, and explains how to install and
configure logging and monitoring products.

Logging and Monitoring Clients

R80 uses a number of customizable views and reports to monitor logs and events. The views are
available from:
• SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
• SmartView Web Application: Browse to: https://<Server IP>/smartview/ where Server IP is IP
address of the Security Management Server or SmartEvent server.
In R80, the SmartEvent GUI client and SmartView Monitor are still supported.

GUI Client Purpose

SmartConsole > Logs Analyze events that occur in your environment with customizable views
& Monitor and reports.

SmartView Web A SmartEvent Web application. It has the same real-time event
Application monitoring and analysis views as SmartConsole, with the convenience of
not having to install a client.

SmartEvent • For initial settings - configure the Correlation Unit, Log Servers,
Domains and Internal Network.
• To schedule Reports
• To configure the SmartEvent Correlation Unit
• For correlation policy (event definitions)
• For Automatic Reactions
SmartView Monitor • To monitor tunnels
• To monitor users
• For suspicious activity rules
• To monitor alerts - Thresholds configuration
For more about monitoring, see Monitoring Traffic and Connections (on
page 92).

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 10

 Getting Started

To open the SmartEvent GUI client:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click (+) for a Catalog (new tab).
3. Click SmartEvent Settings & Policy.

To open the SmartView Monitor GUI client:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click (+) for a Catalog (new tab).
3. Click Tunnel & User Monitoring.

Understanding Logging
Security Gateways generate logs, and the Security Management Server generates audit logs. The
Security Policy that is installed on each Security Gateway determines which rules generate logs.
Logs can be stored on a:
• Security Management Server that collects logs from the Security Gateways. This is the default.
• Log Server on a dedicated machine. This is recommended for organizations that generate a lot
of logs.
• Security Gateway. This is called local logging.
To find out how much storage is necessary for logging, see sk87263
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk87263.
In a Multi-Domain Security Management environment, the Security Gateways send logs to the
Domain Server or to dedicated Domain Log Servers. The Multi-Domain Server generates logs, and
they can be stored on the Multi-Domain Server or on a dedicated Multi-Domain Log Server. To
learn how to deploy logging in a Multi-Domain Security Management environment, see the R80
Multi-Domain Security Management Administration Guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=46532.
To decrease the load on the Security Management Server, you can install a dedicated Log Server
and configure the gateways to send their logs to this Log Server. To see the logs from all the Log
Servers, connect to the Security Management Server with SmartConsole, and go to the Logs &
Monitor view Logs tab.
A Log Server handles log management activities:
• Automatically starts a new log file when the existing log file gets to the defined maximum size.
• Handles backup and restore for log files.
• Stores log files for export and import.
• Makes an index of the logs. Therefore, log queries work quickly.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 11

 Getting Started

Deploying Logging
In This Section
Deploying a Dedicated Log Server ...............................................................................12
Configuring Logging .....................................................................................................12
Enabling Log Indexing ..................................................................................................13
Disabling Log Indexing .................................................................................................13
Saving Logs on Security Gateways ..............................................................................14
Configuring a Security Gateway to Save Logs Locally ................................................14

Deploying a Dedicated Log Server

Download the R80 installation ISO file.

On an open server:
1. Install R80 and run the First Time Configuration Wizard.
2. On the Installation Type page, select Security Management.
3. On the Products page, define the Security Management as Log Server / SmartEvent only.

On a Smart-1 appliance:
1. Run the First Time Configuration Wizard.
2. On the Installation Type page, select Security Management.
3. On the Products page, select Dedicated Server and SmartEvent.

Configuring Logging
You can configure logging from a Security Gateway to a Security Management Server or a Log
Server.

To configure logging:
1. Define one or more Log Servers (if you use them).
2. Enable logging on the Security Management Server and the Log Servers.
3. Configure the Security Gateways to send logs to the Domain Log Server or the Log Server.
4. Install the Policy.

To define a Log Server:

1. Enable the Logging & Status Software Blade on the Security Management Server and on all
Log Servers.
2. In SmartConsole, from the Objects list, select Object Explorer > Network Object > Gateways
and Servers > Check Point Host.
The General Properties window opens.
3. Give the host a Name.
4. Create an Secure Internal Communication between the Security Management Server and the
Log Server.
5. Make the certificate state: Trust Established.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 12

 Getting Started

6. On the General Properties > Management tab, select Logging & Status.
7. From the navigation tree, click Logs.
This shows the Security Gateways that forward logs to this machine.
8. Make sure that Enable Log Indexing is selected. It is enabled by default. If you clear this
option, it will take much more time to search the logs.
9. Click OK.
10. Click Publish.
11. Open Menu
12. Select Install Database.
13. The Install Database window opens.
14. Select the Log Server
To identify to the Log Server other network objects, that will send to and read logs from it,
install the database.

Enabling Log Indexing

Log indexing on the Security Management Server or Log Server reduces the time it takes to run a
query on the logs. Log indexing is enabled by default. If you disable log indexing to save disk
storage space, queries will take longer.

To manually enable Log Indexing:

1. Open SmartConsole.
2. From the Gateways & Servers view, double-click the Security Management Server or Domain
Log Server object.
The General Properties window opens.
3. In the Management tab, select Logging & Status.
4. From the navigation tree, click Logs.
5. Select Enable Log Indexing.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Publish.
8. From Menu, select Install Database.

Disabling Log Indexing

To save disk space, a Log Server can be configured to work in non-index mode. You must disable it
on all management and Log Server objects in the environment. R80 does not support the status in
which some Log Servers are in index mode and other Log Servers are in non-index mode.

To disable Log Indexing:

1. Open SmartConsole.
2. From the Gateways & Servers view, double-click the Security Management Server or Domain
Log Server object.
The General Properties window opens.
3. From the navigation tree, click Logs.
4. Clear the Enable Log Indexing option.
5. Click OK.
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 13
 Getting Started

6. Click Publish.
7. From Menu, select Install Database.
When log indexing is disabled, you must connect with SmartConsole to each Log Server separately
to query its logs. When you connect to the management server you do not get a unified view of all
logs, as in Indexed mode. On each Log Server, the search is done in one log file at a time.

To select a log file to search:

1. Connect SmartConsole to the Log Server.
2. Open Logs & Monitor > Logs view.
3. Click the Options menu button to the right of the search bar.
4. Select File > Open Log File.
Note - You cannot enable SmartEvent or a SmartEvent Correlation Unit on this server or on other
servers in the environment. SmartEvent and Correlation Units require indexing.

Saving Logs on Security Gateways

By default, Security Gateways send their log records to the Security Management Server. Sending
logs to a Log Server or to a Security Management Server is the recommended way of handling
logs.
You can also save logs locally on the Security Gateway. These files can be automatically forwarded
to the Security Management Server or Log Server, according to a schedule, or manually imported
with the Remote File Management operation.

Configuring a Security Gateway to Save Logs Locally

To configure a Security Gateway to save logs locally:
1. Open SmartConsole.
2. In the Gateways & Servers view, double-click the gateway object.
The Check Point Gateway window opens.
3. From the navigation tree, click Logs.
4. Select Save logs locally, on this machine.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Publish.
7. Install a security policy on the gateway.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 14

 Getting Started

Deploying SmartEvent
SmartEvent Server is integrated with the Security Management Server architecture. It
communicates with Security Management Log Servers to read and analyze logs. You can enable
SmartEvent on the Security Management Server or deploy it as a dedicated server.
You can deploy R80 SmartEvent on a dedicated server and connect it to Security Management
Servers or Multi Domain servers of version R77.xx (or earlier). This lets you extend an R77.xx
environment with the new capabilities of R80 SmartEvent.
Only a Security Management Server can also work as a SmartEvent Server. In a Multi-domain
environment, you must install SmartEvent on a dedicated server.
Note - For R80, SmartReporter functionality (to generate reports on firewall and VPN activity) is
integrated into SmartConsole. To enable this functionality, activate the firewall session event on
the SmartEvent Policy tab. Select and enable Consolidated Sessions > Firewall Session. For
more, see Connecting SmartEvent Server to a Security Management Server ("Connecting the
SmartEvent Components to a Security Management Server" on page 18).

in This Section:
SmartEvent Licensing ..................................................................................................15
System Requirements ..................................................................................................15
Enabling SmartEvent on the Security Management Server .......................................16
Deploying a Dedicated SmartEvent Server .................................................................17
Configuring Dedicated Correlation Units ....................................................................20
Configuring SmartEvent to use a Non-Standard LEA Port ........................................21
Configuring SmartEvent to read External Logs ..........................................................22

SmartEvent Licensing
To deploy SmartEvent, you need a special license or contract. To get an evaluation license, contact
your sales representative. SmartEvent Server installed on an open server comes with a 45 day
trial period.
Check Point software is activated with a License Key. To generate a License Key, you need a
Certificate Key.
• To evaluate the product, register the Certificate Key that appears on the back of the software
media pack, in the Check Point UserCenter.
• For a permanent license, contact your reseller to get a Certificate Key.

System Requirements
To find the recommended Smart-1 appliance or open server for SmartEvent in your environment,
see the SmartEvent R80 Sizing Guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk109590.
To use SmartEvent, see the requirements in the R80 Release Notes
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=46538.
.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 15

 Getting Started

Enabling SmartEvent on the Security Management Server

To enable SmartEvent on the Security Management Server:
1. Open SmartConsole
2. Open the Security Management Server network object.
3. On the Management tab, enable these Software Blades:
• Logging & Status
• SmartEvent Server
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit
4. In the SmartConsole main toolbar, click Publish.
5. Optional: activate the firewall session for the network activity report ("Generating a Network
Activity Report" on page 39).
The Network Activity report gives information about Firewall connections. For example, top
sources, destinations, and services. To create this report, SmartEvent must make an index of
the Firewall logs.
6. To enable this report, on the SmartEvent GUI Policy tab, select and enable
Consolidated Sessions > Firewall Session.
Note: This configuration increases the number of events a day by five. This can have a
performance effect.
To make sure the hardware can handle the load, see the SmartEvent R80 Sizing Guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk109590.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 16

 Getting Started

Deploying a Dedicated SmartEvent Server

Installation
1. Download the installation ISO file.
2. Install the ISO on the open server or appliance.
Allocate partition size:
• Root partition: at least 20 GB
• Logs partition: more than allocated for Root and backup (set maximum possible) to let the
server keep a long history.
3. When prompted, reboot.
4. Connect to Gaia Web UI: https://<ServerIP>
5. Configure SmartEvent components using the First Time Configuration Wizard.

Configuring the SmartEvent components in the First Time Configuration

Wizard
You can configure the SmartEvent components on a Smart-1 appliance, or on an open server.

To configure the SmartEvent components on a Smart-1 appliance:

1. Run the First Time Configuration Wizard.
To learn how to run the First Time Configuration Wizard, see the R80 Installation and Upgrade
Guide http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=46530.
2. On the Installation Type page, select Security Management.
3. On the Products page, select Dedicated Server and SmartEvent.
Note - When the wizard completes, if the management server is R77.xx or older, run this
configuration script:
$RTDIR/scripts/SmartEvent_R80_change_dbysync_mode.sh
4. Install the R80 SmartConsole GUI client.
R80 SmartConsole includes the Logs & Monitor view with embedded SmartEvent tabs.

To configure the SmartEvent components on an open server:

1. Install R80.
2. Run the First Time Configuration Wizard.
To learn how to run the First Time Configuration Wizard, see the R80 Installation and Upgrade
Guide for Gaia Platforms
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=46530.
3. On the Installation Type page, select Security Management.
4. On the Products page, define the Security Management Server as Log Server / SmartEvent
only.
5. When the wizard completes, if the management server is R77.xx or older, run this
configuration script:
$RTDIR/scripts/SmartEvent_R80_change_dbysync_mode.sh
6. Install the R80 SmartConsole GUI client.
R80 SmartConsole includes the Logs & Monitor view with embedded SmartEvent tabs.
7. Connect SmartEvent Server to the management server.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 17

 Getting Started

Connecting the SmartEvent Components to a Security Management Server

To connect the SmartEvent components to a Security Management Server:
1. In SmartConsole, create a new Check Point host object for the SmartEvent Server.
2. If the management server is R77.xx or earlier, open SmartDashboard.
3. Create an SIC trust with the SmartEvent Server.
4. Select Version R80.
5. If the management version is R77.xx or earlier, select the highest version available and ignore
the Warning message.
6. On the Management tab, enable these Software Blades:
• Logging & Status
• SmartEvent Server
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit
Note - A Correlation Unit can also be installed on a dedicated server ("Configuring
Dedicated Correlation Units" on page 20).
7. In the Logs pane, make sure the Enable Log Indexing option is selected.
8. Click OK.
9. In R80, click Publish.
10. In R77.xx and earlier, click Save.
11. Click Install Database.
12. Make sure that SmartEvent processes are up and running.
a) Wait until the server synchronizes and loads SmartEvent process.
b) With the SmartEvent R80 CLI, run: evconfig.
c) Make sure that SmartEvent and SmartEvent Correlation Unit are activated.
d) Run: cpwd_admin list.
e) Make sure the cpsemd process is running.
13. Open the SmartEvent GUI:
a) In SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor, click + to open a catalog (new tab).
b) Click SmartEvent Settings & Policy.
14. In Policy tab > Correlation Units, define a Correlation Unit object.
15. Select the production Log Servers and local log server on the SmartEvent Server to read logs
from.
16. In Policy tab > Internal Network, define the internal Network.
17. Optional: Enable the Network Activity report.
The Network Activity report gives information about Firewall connections. For example, top
sources, destinations, and services. To create this report, SmartEvent must make an index of
the Firewall logs.
18. To enable this report, on the SmartEvent GUI Policy tab, select and enable
Consolidated Sessions > Firewall Session.
Note: This configuration increases the number of events a day by five. This can have a
performance effect. To make sure the hardware can handle the load, see the SmartEvent R80
Sizing Guide http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk109590.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 18

 Getting Started

19. Click Save.

20. Install the Event Policy on the Correlation Unit: SmartEvent menu > Actions > Install Event
Policy.

Connecting SmartEvent Components to a Multi-Domain Server

You can connect SmartEvent Server to one or more Domains in a Multi-Domain Security
Management environment.
Notes:
• In R80 Multi-Domain Security Management environment, you can only define SmartEvent and
Correlation Units at the global level and not the domain level.
• Configure SmartEvent to read logs from one domain or a number of domains.

To Connect SmartEvent to a Multi-Domain Server:

1. Run SmartConsole.
2. Log in to the global Domain:
• In the SmartConsole login window, enter the Multi-Domain Server IP address or host
name.
• Select the global Domain from the list (\Global).
• In Multi-Domain Security Management R77.x and earlier, open SmartDashboard and log
into the global Domain.
3. Create a Check Point Host object for SmartEvent R80.
4. In Multi-Domain Security Management R77.x and earlier, define it with the highest version
possible, and ignore the Warning message.
5. In the Check Point Host > Management, select these Management Blades:
• Logging & Status
• SmartEvent Server
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit
6. Initialize SIC with the new SmartEvent R80 Server.
7. For R77.x and earlier, in the Logs page, click Enable SmartLog.
8. Click OK.
9. In R80, click Publish.
10. In R77.xx and earlier, click Save.
11. Reassign the global Policy for the Domains that use SmartEvent. For new Domains, create a
new global assignment.
12. In each Domain Server, open SmartConsole.
13. Click Menu > Install Database , on each Domain Server and Domain Log Servers.
14. Wait until the server synchronizes and loads SmartEvent procedure.
15. In the SmartEvent R80 CLI, run: evconfig
16. Make sure that "SmartEvent" and "SmartEvent Correlation Unit" are activated.
17. Run: cpwd_admin list
18. Make sure the "cpsemd" procedure is running.

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 Getting Started

19. Launch the SmartEvent GUI client.

a) In the Logs & Monitor view, click on + to open a catalog (new tab).
b) Click the SmartEvent Settings & Policy link.
Note - The primary GUI application is the R80 SmartConsole. With R80, some configurations
can be done only in the SmartEvent GUI client.
20. If SmartEvent is connected to a Multi-Domain Server, in Policy tab > Domains, define the
required domains to connect to.
21. In Policy tab > Correlation Units, define a Correlation Unit object.
22. Select the production Log Servers and local log server on the SmartEvent Server to read logs
from.
23. In Policy tab > Internal Network, define the internal Network.
24. Optional: Enable the Network Activity report.
The Network Activity report gives information about Firewall connections. For example, top
sources, destinations, and services. To create this report, SmartEvent must make an index of
the Firewall logs.
25. To enable this report, on the SmartEvent GUI Policy tab, select and enable
Consolidated Sessions > Firewall Session.
Note: This configuration increases the number of events a day by five. This can have a
performance effect. To make sure the hardware can handle the load, see the SmartEvent
Sizing Guide http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk109590.
26. Click Save.
27. Install the Event Policy on the Correlation Unit: SmartEvent menu > Actions > Install Event
Policy.

Configuring Dedicated Correlation Units

You can install a SmartEvent Correlation Unit on a dedicated server.
Note: Configuration of dedicated Correlation Units are only supported for management versions
R77 and higher.

To configure a dedicated Correlation Unit:

1. In SmartConsole (or in the Global SmartConsole for Multi-Domain Security Management),
create a new Correlation Unit network object.
2. Create an SIC trust with the dedicated Correlation Unit.
3. On the Management tab, enable these Software Blades:
• Logging & Status
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit
4. If you use a Multi-Domain Security Management deployment, assign the Global Policy to all
Domains that use SmartEvent.
5. Open the SmartConsole of each domain.
6. Install Database on the Log Servers and on the R80 Correlation Unit.
If installation fails on the Correlation Unit, ignore the message and continue with these steps:
7. Open the SmartEvent GUI.
a) In SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor, click + to open a catalog (new tab).
b) Click SmartEvent Settings & Policy.
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 20
 Getting Started

8. In the SmartEvent Policy tab > Correlation Units, double-click the new Correlation Unit
object.
The window shows a list of all objects defined as Correlation units.
9. Select which Correlation Unit to enable and which Log Servers they read logs from.
10. Select:
• All Log Servers to read logs from
• The Log Server with the dedicated Correlation Unit
• The Log Server on SmartEvent R80
11. Click Save.
12. Install the Event Policy on the Correlation Unit: SmartEvent menu > Actions > Install Event
Policy

Configuring SmartEvent to use a Non-Standard LEA Port

You can get logs from and send logs to a third-party Log Server. The Check Point Log Server and
the third party Log Server use the LEA (Log Export API) protocol to read logs. By default, the
Check Point Log Server uses port 18184 for this connection. If you configure the Log Server to use
a different LEA port, you must manually configure the new port on the SmartEvent Server and on
the SmartEvent Correlation Unit.

To change the default LEA port:

1. Open $INDEXERDIR/log_indexer_custom_settings.conf in a text editor.
2. Add this line to the file:
:lea_port (<new_port_number>)
3. In the SmartEvent client, configure the new port on the Correlation Unit.
4. In Policy tab > Correlation Units, configure the Correlation Unit to read logs from the local
Log Server (on the SmartEvent Server).
5. Configure the new port on the SmartEvent Server:
a) In Policy tab > Network Objects, double-click the SmartEvent Server object.
b) Change the LEA port No. parameter to <new_port_number>.
6. Install the Event Policy on the Correlation Unit: Actions > Install Event Policy
7. On the SmartEvent Server:
a) Run: cpstop
b) Open $FWDIR/conf/fwopsec.conf in a text editor.
c) Change these parameters:
lea_server auth_port <new_port_number>
lea_server port 0
d) Run: cpstart

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 Getting Started

Configuring SmartEvent to read External Logs

To configure SmartEvent to read logs from an externally-managed Log Server or an external
Security Management Server, see sk35288
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk35288.
An externally managed Log Server is managed by a different Security Management Server than
the one that manages the SmartEvent Server. An external Security Management Server is not the
one that manages the SmartEvent Server.

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 Getting Started

Administrator Permission Profiles

You can give an administrator permissions for:
• Monitoring and Logging
• Events and Reports
To define an administrator with these permissions:
1. Define an administrator or an administrator group.
2. Define a Permission Profile with the required permissions in SmartConsole (Manage &
Settings > Permission Profiles).
3. Assign that profile to the administrator or to the administrator group.

Creating an Administrator
To Create an Administrator
1. In SmartConsole, open Manage & Settings.
2. Click Administrators.
3. Click New Administrator.
The New Administrator window opens.
4. Enter a name for the administrator.
5. Select an Authentication method.
6. In the Permission Profiles area, select a permission profile, or click New and create a
permission profile.
7. In a new profile, in the Overview tab, configure Permissions. If you select Customized, you can
select these options for the features:
• Not selected - The administrator cannot see the feature.
Note - If you cannot clear a resource selection, the administrator access to it is mandatory,
and you cannot make it invisible
• Selected - The administrator can see the feature.
• Read - The administrator can see the feature but cannot change it.
• Write - The administrator can see and change the feature.
Some resources do not have the Read or Write option. You can only select (for full
permissions) or clear (for no permissions) these resources.
8. Optional: In the Expiration area, define an expiration date for the administrator account.
9. Optional: In the left of the window:
a) Click Additional.
b) Enter the personal information (email, phone number) for the administrator.
10. Click OK.

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 Getting Started

Permissions for Monitoring, Logging, Events, and Reports

In the Profile object, select the features and the Read or Write administrator permissions for
them.

Monitoring and Logging Features

These are some of the available features:
• Monitoring
• Management Logs
• Track Logs
• Application and URL Filtering Logs

Events and Reports Features

These are the permissions for the SmartEvent GUI:
• SmartEvent
• Events - The Events tab
• Policy - Events correlation on the Policy tab
• Reports - Reports tab
• SmartEvent Application & URL Filtering reports only

Multi-Domain Security Management

In Multi-Domain Security Management, each Event and Report is related to a Domain.
Administrators can see events for Domains according to their permissions .
A Multi-Domain Security Management Policy administrator can be:
• Locally defined administrator on the SmartEvent Server.
• Multi-Domain Server Super User defined on the Multi-Domain Server.
• An administrator with permissions on all Domains. Select the Domains in SmartEvent, in
Policy > General Settings > Objects > Domains. This type of administrator can install a Policy,
and can see events from multiple Domains.

Locally Managing the Administrator

If you do not want to centrally manage administrators, and you use the local administrator defined
for the SmartEvent Server, run this CLI command on the SmartEvent Server:
cpprod_util CPPROD_SetValue FW1 REMOTE_LOGIN 4 1 1

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 Getting Started

SmartEvent Reports-Only Permission Profile

You can define a special permission profile for administrators that only see and generate
SmartEvent reports. With this permission profile, Administrators can open the SmartEvent client,
but only see the Reports tab. They cannot access other security information in SmartEvent. You
can configure this permissions profile to apply to the Application & URL Filtering blade only, or
apply to all blades.

To create a SmartEvent report-only permissions profile:

1. In SmartConsole, click Manage & Settings > Permissions Profiles.
2. In the Permission Profiles page, select a permission profile, or click the New button and
create a permission profile.
3. Select Customized.
4. On the Events and Reports page, select SmartEvent Reports.
5. Clear all other options.
6. For SmartEvent Reports option, select All Blades.
7. On the Access Control, Threat Prevention, and Others pages, clear all options.
8. On the Monitoring and Logging page, select all features, with Write permissions.
9. Click OK.
The profile shows in the Permission Profiles page.
10. Assign the SmartEvent Reports Only permissions profile to administrators ("Creating an
Administrator" on page 23).
11. Publish the changes.
12. Install the policy.

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 Getting Started

Importing Offline Log Files

The administrator can examine logs from a previously generated log file. This makes it possible to
review security threats and pattern anomalies that occurred in the past, before SmartEvent was
installed. You can investigate threats such as unauthorized scans targeting vulnerable hosts,
unauthorized legions, denial of service attacks, network anomalies, and other host-based activity.
The administrator can review logs from a specific time period in the past and focus on deploying
resources on threats that have been active for a period of time but may have been missed (for
example, new events which may have been dynamically updated can now be processed over the
previous period).

Offline Work For Correlated Events

To detect suspicious logging activity (that is, suspicious according to the Event Policy on the
SmartEvent GUI > Policy tab), run the offline log file through the Correlation Unit.
The settings to generate of Offline logs are in: SmartEvent GUI client > Policy tab > General
Settings > Initial Settings > Offline Jobs, connected to the Security Management Server or
Multi-Domain Server.
The settings are:
• Add - Configure an Offline Log File procedure.
• Name acts as a label that enables you to recognize the specified Offline Line log file for
future processing. For example, you can create a query according to the Offline Job name.
This name is used in Event tab queries to search events that were generated by this job.
• Comment contains a description of the Offline Job for edification.
• Offline Job Parameters:
SmartEvent Correlation Unit: the machine that reads and processes the Offline Logs.
Log Server: the machine that contains the Offline Log files. SmartEvent makes a query to
this Log Server to find out which log files are available.
Log File contains a list of available log files found on the selected Log Server. These log
files will be processed by the SmartEvent Correlation Unit. In this window, select the log
file from which to retrieve historical information.
• Edit - Change the parameters of an Offline Log File procedure.
• Remove - Delete an Offline Log File procedure. After you start an Offline Log File procedure
you cannot remove it.
• Start - Run the Offline Log File procedure. The results of this procedure show in the Events
tab. These results are accessible by the By Job Name query or filter.
• Stop - Stop the Offline Log Files procedure. It does not delete the full procedure, but stops the
procedure at the specified selected point. The information collected up until the procedure
steps shows in the Events tab.

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 Getting Started

Importing Log Files from SmartEvent Servers

To import offline log files, add events to the SmartEvent Server. By default, you can import the 14
most recent days of offline logs. To import more days of logs, change the log indexing settings.

To change log indexing settings:

Note - Do this to make it possible to import logs that are older than the last 14 days before the
SmartEvent Server was installed.
1. Run: # evstop
2. Edit the log settings file log_indexer_custom_settings.conf
a) Make a backup. Run this command:
cp $INDEXERDIR/log_indexer_custom_settings.conf
$INDEXERDIR/log_indexer_custom_settings.conf_orig
b) Edit $INDEXERDIR/log_indexer_custom_settings.conf in a text editor.
c) Delete these lines:
:time_restriction_for_fetch_all (<existing_data>)
:time_restriction_for_fetch_all_disp (<existing_data>)
d) Add this line:
:num_days_restriction_for_fetch_all_integrated (<days>)
<days> is the last number of days of logs to be indexed by the SmartEvent Server. For
example, to import and index logs from the last 30 days of logs, give a value of 30.
Note - To decrease the performance effect while you index the offline logs, import only the
necessary number of days of logs.
3. Run: # evstart
4. In the SmartEvent Server object properties, in the Logs > Storage page, configure Disk Space
Management.

To allow the SmartEvent Server to index offline log files:

1. Copy the log files and related pointer files <log file name>.log* to $FWDIR/log. Copy the
files to the Log Server that sends logs to the SmartEvent Server.
2. Optional: Do an Offline Work for Correlated Events (on page 26) procedure for each log file.
This procedure is done to run the log files through the Correlation Unit for correlation analysis
according to the Event Policy (defined in SmartEvent GUI client).
To run SmartEvent offline jobs for multiple log files, see: sk98894
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk98894.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 27

CHAPTE R 2

Views and Reports

In This Section:
Deploying Views and Reports.......................................................................................28
Catalog of Views and Reports ......................................................................................29
Views..............................................................................................................................31
Reports ..........................................................................................................................34
Widgets ..........................................................................................................................41

You can create rich and customizable views and reports for log and event monitoring, that inform
key stakeholders about security activities.
The views are available from two locations:
• SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor. Here you can also generate reports.
• SmartView Web Application. By browsing to: https://<Server IP>/smartview/
Where Server IP is IP address of the Security Management Server or SmartEvent server.
For a quick overview of Views and Reports in R80, see the online tutorial
https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/R80/CP_SmartEvent_R80_Views_and_Reports_Tutorial_w
eb/EN/html_frameset.htm.

Deploying Views and Reports

To allow SmartEvent views and reports, you must install and configure a SmartEvent Server. For
the details, see Deploying SmartEvent (on page 15).

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 Views and Reports

Catalog of Views and Reports

In the Logs & Monitor view, click the (+) tab to open a catalog of all views and reports, predefined
and customized. Click a view or report to open it.

Item Description
1 Open Log View - See and search through the logs from all Log Servers. You can also
search the logs from a Log Server that you choose.
Open Audit Logs View - See and search records of actions done by SmartConsole
administrators.
These views come from the Log Servers. Other views come from the SmartEvent Server.

2 Compliance View - Optimize your security settings and ensure compliance with
regulatory requirements.

3 Views - The list of predefined and customized views. A view is an interactive dashboard
made up of widgets. The view tells administrators and other stakeholders about security
and network events. Each widget is the output of a query. Widgets can show the
information as a graph, table, or some other format. To find out more about the events,
double-click a widget to drill down to a more specific view or raw log files.

4 Reports - The list of predefined and customized reports. A report has multiple views, and
applies to the time that the report is generated. It gives more details than a view. There
are several predefined reports, and you can create new reports. Reports can be
customized, filtered, generated and scheduled. You cannot drill down into a report. A
report is divided onto pages.

5 Favorites - Use this view to collect the views and reports you use the most.

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 Views and Reports

Item Description
6 Switch to Table View or Thumbnails View - The Table view is the default for views and
reports. The Thumbnails view is the default for the Favorites and Recents.

7 External Apps
• SmartEvent Settings & Policy - The SmartEvent GUI client. Use it for initial setup and
to define the SmartEvent Correlation Unit policy. The views in SmartConsole are a
replacement for those in the SmartEvent GUI client.
• Open Tunnel and User Monitoring - The SmartView Monitor GUI Client. The
monitoring views in SmartConsole are a replacement for those in the SmartView
Monitor GUI client, except for Tunnel and User Monitoring.
• SmartView Web Application - A SmartEvent Web application that you can use to
analyze events that occur in your environment. Use it to see an overview of the
security information for your environment. It has the same real-time event monitoring
and analysis views as SmartConsole, with the convenience of not having to install a
client.

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 Views and Reports

Views
Views tells administrators and other stakeholders about security and network events. A view is an
interactive dashboard made up of widgets. Each widget is the output of a query. A Widget can
show information in different formats, for example, a graph or a table.
SmartConsole comes with several predefined views. You can create new views that match your
needs, or you can customize an existing view.
In the Logs & Monitor view, clicking the (+) tab opens a catalog of all views and reports, predefined
and customized. Click a view to open it.

Item Description
1 Widget- The output of a query. A Widget can show information in different formats, for
example, a graph or a table.

2 Drill Down - To find out more about the events, double-click a widget to drill down to a
more specific view or raw log files.

3 Options - Customize the view

4 Queries - Predefined and favorite search queries

5 Time Period - Specify the time periods for the view.

6 Query search bar - Define custom queries using the GUI tools, or manually entering
query criteria. Shows the query definition for the most recent query.

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 Views and Reports

Customization
Customize your views according to these options:

Click Edit to switch to view edit mode.

SmartConsole saves an administrator's customized views.
• To share a customized view with another administrator, use the Export and Import option
("Export and Import" on page 33).
• To customize a widget, see: Customizing Widgets ("Widgets" on page 41)

View Settings

1. Enter a title.
2. To show more results, this option allows a table to spread across multiple pages when saved
to PDF.
The No page limit option shows more results by spreading them across a number of pages.

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 Views and Reports

Export and Import

To export the view layout and widget definitions to a file, use the Export option
To import the file from another server, or from another administrator, use the Import option in the
Catalog (new tab).

Save As PDF
The Save as PDF option saves the current view as a PDF file, based on the defined filters and time
frame.

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 Views and Reports

Reports
A report has multiple views, and applies to the time that the report is generated. It gives more
details than a view. There are several predefined reports, and you can create new reports. Reports
can be customized, filtered, generated and scheduled. You cannot drill down into a report
In the Logs & Monitor view, clicking the (+) tab opens a catalog of all views and reports, predefined
and customized. Click a report to open it.

Item Description
1 Preview bar - A report is divided onto pages, usually, one view on one page. Editing a
report is done per page, in the same way as you edit a view.

2 Options - Customize, and generate a report.

3 Time Period - Specify the time periods for the report.

4 Query Search bar - Define custom queries using the GUI tools, or manually entering
query criteria. Shows the query definition for the most recent query.

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 Views and Reports

Customization
Customize your reports according to these options:

Click Edit to switch to the report edit mode.

To customize widgets, see: Customizing Widgets ("Widgets" on page 41)
SmartConsole saves an administrator's customized reports. To share customized reports with
other administrators, use the Export and Import options.

Report Settings
Reports can be configured according to these options:

Customizing a Report
1. Select a report from the Catalog (new tab).
2. Click Options > Edit.
3. Select the page to edit.
You can also add or remove pages by clicking one of these:

4. Customize the widgets ("Adding and Customizing" on page 41).

5. Add a widget, or arrange widgets in the view: Drag & Drop or expand.
6. Define filters.
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 35
 Views and Reports

Note -
• Use the timeframe to see how the report will look.
• The timeframe and search bar are not saved with the report definition. Define them as
needed when generating the report (Save as PDF).
See: Generating a Report (on page 37)

Filtering Reports by User Groups

You can filter based on User Groups.
To enable this feature, you must first do initial configuration steps.

To configure SmartEvent for user group filtering:

1. In SmartConsole, define an Access Role object that includes User Groups to use for
SmartEvent reports.
2. Install policies on the Security Gateways.

To generate reports filtered by user groups:

1. On the SmartEvent Reports tab, select a report.
2. Click Generate.
3. Select the User Group filter.
4. Select a one or more groups.
5. Click Generate.
The generated report is based on users mapped to the selected groups.

To define a scheduled report filtered by user groups:

1. Generate a report filtered by the specified User Group.
2. Copy the full User Group name from the generated report cover page.
The User Group name typically starts with the prefix "ad_".
3. Define new custom report:
a) Right-click on an existing report.
b) Select Save As.
c) Right-click the new report.
d) Select Edit.
e) Click the Filter icon.
f) Define a User Group filter.
The Filter icon is on the toolbar, above the report page selection area.
g) Make sure that you accurately enter (or paste) the User Group name that you copied in step
2.
h) Save the report.
4. Generate the new custom report.
5. Make sure that the filter works as expected.
Note: In the Generate a Report window, make sure that the User Group filter is defined as
Any.
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 36
 Views and Reports

6. Click Schedule.
7. Configure the days and times that this custom report runs automatically.

Automatic Report Updates

SmartEvent automatically downloads new predefined reports and updates to existing predefined
reports. To use this feature, the SmartEvent client computer must be connected to the Internet.

Adding a Logo to Reports

You can configure reports to show your company logo on report cover pages. The Check Point logo
shows on report cover pages.

To add a logo to your reports:

1. Save your logo image as a PNG file with the name cover-company-logo.png.
2. Copy the image to the $RTDIR/smartview/conf directory on the SmartEvent server.
Note: The best image dimensions are 152 pixels wide by 94 pixels high.

Export and Import

To export the view layout and widget definitions to a file, use the Export option
To import the file from another server, or from another administrator, use the Import option in the
Catalog (new tab).

Generating a Report
1. Open the Catalog (new tab) and select a report.
2. Define the required timeframe and filter in the search bar.
3. Click Options > Save As PDF.

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 Views and Reports

Generating a Predefined Report in the SmartEvent GUI Client

You can use predefined graphical report templates in the SmartEvent GUI for the most frequently
seen security issues. Try these before you create a customized report.
Generate a predefined report in the SmartEvent GUI if you want to schedule it.

To generate a predefined report:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click the + to open a Catalog (new tab).
3. Click the SmartEvent Settings & Policy link.
4. In the SmartEvent GUI, open the Reports tab.
5. Select a Default Report for a Software Blade.
6. Click Generate.
7. In the Generate a Report window, select a time period.
8. Click Generate.
Your reports are saved in the Report History.

Scheduling a Report
To schedule a report you need to define and edit it in the SmartEvent GUI client.
Note - Reports in the SmartEvent GUI client are different from reports in SmartConsole or the
SmartView Web Application. To customize a report before scheduling, edit the report in the
SmartEvent GUI client:
1. Open the Report tab
2. Select the report from the Report tree.
3. Click Edit.

To schedule a report:
1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click the (+) to open a Catalog (new tab).
3. Click the SmartEvent Settings & Policy link.
4. In the SmartEvent GUI client, select Schedule.

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 Views and Reports

The Schedule and Email settings configuration window opens.

5. Click Add, and select a schedule.

6. Select Active for the schedules you want to activate.
7. Optional: Click Email Settings.
8. Select Send By Email, and configure email settings to get the schedule report automatically.

Generating a Network Activity Report

The Network Activity report shows important firewall connections. For example, top sources,
destinations, and services. To create this report, SmartEvent must first index the firewall logs.

To enable the Network Activity Report:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click the (+) to open a Catalog (new tab).
3. Click the SmartEvent Settings & Policy link.
4. In the SmartEvent GUI client > Policy tab, select and expand Consolidated Sessions.
5. Select Firewall Session.
Note - this configuration increases the number of events per day by about five times. To avoid a
performance impact, make sure the hardware can handle the load.
To configure SmartEvent on a dedicated server, see the SmartEvent sizing guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk109590.

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 39

 Views and Reports

Configuring Email Settings for Reports

You can configure SmartEvent to automatically send reports by email to specified, default
recipients each time the report runs. Use this procedure to define the default recipient addresses
and the SMTP server connection.

To configure email server settings:

1. In SmartEvent, click Settings > Reports.
2. In the Email Server section, enter the SMTP mail server URL and sender email address in the
applicable fields.
The sender email address shows on all report emails sent by SmartEvent.
3. Click Test Connection, to make sure that the defined SMTP connection works correctly.
4. In the Email Server section, enter the default recipient email addresses in the To and Cc
fields.
You can enter more than one email address in each field, separated by semicolons.

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CHAPTE R 3

Widgets
In This Section:
Adding and Customizing ...............................................................................................41
Filters ............................................................................................................................43

To customize widgets, switch to edit mode. Click on Options > Edit.

• To save changes, click Done.
• To cancel changes, click on Discard.
• To restore the predefined view to the default values, click Options > Restore Defaults.

Adding and Customizing

To add a Widget:
1. Add a widget

2. Select a widget type:

Chart
Timeline
Table
Map
Infographic
Container
Rich Text

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 Views and Reports

To customize a widget:

1. Drag and drop the widget within the view.

2. Select the graphic presentation that best fits the information you want to see.
3. Select filters for the widget in addition to the inherited filters from the report and view layers.
(See: Filters (on page 43)).
4. Configure settings for the widget.
5. Delete a widget.
6. Resize widget.

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 Views and Reports

Filters
The search bar is used to apply on-demand filters, but you can also save filters with the view /
report definition.

There are different layers of filters:

1. Filters to apply to the full report.
2. Filters to apply to a view, or a specified page in a report and all widgets that this page includes.
3. Filters to apply to the selected widget.

Edit View Filter

1. Click the + (plus) button to add a filter.

To delete a filter, click the X button.
2. Select a field.
To enable free text search, select Custom Filter.
3. Select a comparison method.
4. Select or enter the value.
You can define multiple values, separated by a comma.

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CHAPTE R 4

Logging
In This Section:
Log Analysis ..................................................................................................................44
Sample Log Analysis ....................................................................................................44
Using the Log View .......................................................................................................45
Working with Logs ........................................................................................................46

Log Analysis
SmartConsole lets you transform log data into security intelligence. Search results are fast and
immediately show the log records you need. The Security Gateways send logs to the Log Servers
on the Security Management Server or on a dedicated server. Logs show on the SmartConsole
Logs & Monitor Logs tab. You can:
• Quickly search through logs with simple Google-like searches.
• Select from many predefined search queries to find the applicable logs.
• Create your own queries using a powerful query language.
• Monitor logs from administrator activity and connections in real-time.

Sample Log Analysis

This is a sample procedure that shows how to do an analysis of a log of a dropped connection.

To show a log of a dropped connection:

1. Log into SmartConsole.
2. Connect to the IP address of the Security Management Server, not to a Log Server.
3. In the Access Control view, select a rule with the Drop action.
4. In the bottom pane, click Logs.
This shows the logs for connections that were dropped by the Rule Base.
5. Double-click a log.
The Log Details window opens.

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 Logging

Using the Log View

This is an example of the Log view.

Item Description
1 Queries - Predefined and favorite search queries.

2 Time Period - Search with predefined custom time periods.

3 Query search bar - Define custom queries in this field. You can use the GUI tools or
manually enter query criteria. Shows the query definition for the most recent query.

4 Log statistics pane - Shows top results of the most recent query.

5 Results pane - Shows log entries for the most recent query.

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 Logging

Working with Logs

In This Section:
Choosing Rules to Track ..............................................................................................46
Viewing Rule Logs.........................................................................................................47
Searching the Logs .......................................................................................................47
Query Language Overview ............................................................................................50

Choosing Rules to Track

Logs are useful if they show the traffic patterns you are interested in. Make sure your Security
Policy tracks all necessary rules. But when you track multiple rules, the log file will be large, and
will require more disk space and management operations.
To balance these requirements, track rules that can help you improve your network security, help
you understand of user behavior, and are useful in reports.

To configure tracking in a rule:

1. Right-click in the Track column.
2. Select a tracking option.
3. Install the policy.

Tracking Options
• Network Log - Generates a log with only basic Firewall information: Source, Destination,
Source Port, Destination Port, and Protocol.
• Log - Equivalent to the Network Log option, but also includes the application name (for
example, Dropbox), and application information (for example, the URL of the Website). This is
the default Tracking option.
• Full Log - Equivalent to the log option, but also records data for each URL request made.
• If suppression is selected, it generates a complete log from pre-R80 management
• If suppression is not selected
• None - Do not generate a log.
You can add these options to a Log, Full Log, or Network Log:
• Accounting - If selected, update the log every 10 minutes, to show how much data has passed
in the connection: Upload bytes, Download bytes, and browse time.
• Suppression - If there are multiple equivalent connections:
• If selected, one log is generated every three hours for all the connections. This is the
default.
• If not selected, there is a log for each Rule Base match (an extended log in pre-R80
management).

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 Logging

Alert:
If an Alert is selected, Log is selected automatically.
• None - Do not generate an alert.
• Alert - Generate a log and run a command, such as: Show a popup window, send an email
alert or an SNMP trap alert, or run a user-defined script as defined in the Menu > Global
Properties > Log and Alert > Alerts.
• SNMP - Send an SNMP alert to the SNMP GUI, or run the script defined in: Menu > Global
Properties > Log and Alert > Alerts.
• Mail - Send an email to the administrator, or run the mail alert script defined in: Menu >
Global Properties > Log and Alert > Alerts.
• User Defined Alert - Send one of three possible customized alerts. The alerts are defined by
the scripts specified in the Menu > Global Properties > Log and Alert > Alerts.

Viewing Rule Logs

To see logs generated by a specified rule:
1. In SmartConsole, go to the Security Policies view.
2. In the Access Control Policy or Threat Prevention Policy, select a rule.
3. In the bottom pane, click one of these tabs to see:
• Summary - Rule name, rule action, rule creation information, and the hit count. Add
custom information about the rule.
• Details - Details per column. Select columns as necessary.
• Logs - Log entries according to specific filter criteria - Source, Destination, Blade, Action,
Service, Port, Source Port, Rule (Current rule is the default), Origin, User, or Other
Fields.
• History - List of rule operations in chronological order, including the information about the
rule type and the administrator that made the change.

Searching the Logs

SmartConsole lets you quickly and easily search the logs with many predefined log queries, and
an easy to use language for custom queries ("Creating Custom Queries" on page 49).

Running Queries
To create and run a query:
1. In the query search bar, click Enter Search Query (Ctrl+F).
2. Enter or select query criteria.
The query runs automatically. When you add more criteria, results are updated dynamically.

To manually refresh your query:

Click Refresh (F5).

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 Logging

To continuously refresh your query (Auto-Refresh):

Click Auto-Refresh (F6). The icon is highlighted when Auto-Refresh is enabled.

The query continues to update every five seconds while Auto-Refresh is enabled. If the number of
logs exceeds 100 in a five-second period, the logs are aggregated, and the summary view shows.
To see all logs that have been aggregated in a specific time interval, click View.

Showing Query Results

Query results can include tens of thousands of log records. To prevent performance degradation,
SmartConsole only shows the first set of results in the Results pane. Typically, this is a set of 50
results.
Scroll down to show more results. As you scroll down, SmartConsole extracts more records from
the log index on the Security Management Server or Log Server, and adds them to the results set.
See the number of results above the Results pane.
For example, on the first run of a query, you can see the first 50 results out of over 150,000
results. When you scroll down, you can see the first 100 results out of over 150,000.

Customizing the Results Pane

By default, SmartConsole shows a predefined set of columns and information based on the
selected blade in your query. This is known as the Column Profile. For example:
• The DLP column profile includes columns for: Blade, Type, DLP Incident UID, and severity.
• The Threat Prevention column profile includes columns for: Origin, Action, Severity, and
Source User.
If no blade is specified, a column profile is assigned based on the blade that occurs most
frequently in the query results. This is called Automatic Profile Selection, and is enabled by
default.
The Column Profile defines which columns show in the Results Pane and in which sequence. You
can change the Column Profile as necessary for your environment.

To use the default Column Profile assignments:

• Right-click a column heading and select Columns Profile > Automatic Profile Selection.

To manually assign Column Profile assignments by default:

• Right-click a column heading and select Columns Profile > Manual Profile Selection.

To manually assign a different Column Profile:

1. Right-click a column heading and select Columns Profile.
2. Select a Column Profile from the options menu.

To change a Column Profile:

1. Right-click a column heading and select Columns Profile > Edit Profile.
2. In the Show Fields window, select a Column Profile to change.
3. Select fields to add from the Available Fields column.
4. Click Add.
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 Logging

5. Select fields to remove from the Selected Fields column.

6. Click Remove.
7. Select a field in the Selected Fields.
8. Click Move Up or Move Down to change its position in the Results Pane.
9. Double-click the Width column to change the default column width for the selected field.
10. To change the column width, drag the right column border in the Results Pane.
11. To save the column width, right-click and select Save Profile.
The column is applicable to future sessions.

Creating Custom Queries

Queries can include one or more criteria. To create custom queries, use one or a combination of
these basic procedures:
• Right-click columns in the grid view and select Add Filter.
• Click in the Query search bar and select the fields and filter criteria for those fields.
• Manually enter filter criteria in the Query search bar.
To create a new custom query, run an existing query, and use one of these procedures to change
it. You can save the new query in the Favorites list.
When you create complex queries, the log search tool suggests, or automatically enters, an
appropriate Boolean operator. This can be an implied AND operator, which does not explicitly
show.

Selecting Query Fields

You can enter query criteria directly from the Query search bar.

To select field criteria:

1. If you start a new query, click Clear to remove query definitions.
2. Put the cursor in the Query search bar.
3. Select a criterion from the drop-down list or enter the criteria in the Query search bar.
The query runs automatically.

Selecting Criteria from Grid Columns

You can use the column headings in the Grid view to select query criteria. This option is not
available in the Table view.

To select query criteria from grid columns:

1. In the Results pane, right-click on a column heading.
2. Select Add Filter.
3. Select or enter the filter criteria.
The criteria show in the Query search bar and the query runs automatically.
To enter more criteria, use this procedure or other procedures.

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 Logging

Manually Entering Query Criteria

You can type query criteria directly in the Query search bar. You can manually create a new query
or make changes to an existing query that shows in the Query search bar.
As you type, the Search shows recently used query criteria or full queries. This helps you to
search. To use these suggestions, select them from the drop-down list. If you make a syntax error
in a query, the Search shows a helpful error message that identifies the error and suggests a
solution.

Query Language Overview

A powerful query language lets you show only selected records from the log files, according to
your criteria. To create complex queries, use Boolean operators, wildcards, fields, and ranges.
This section refers in detail to the query language.
When you use the GUI to create a query, the applicable criteria show in the Query search bar.
The basic query syntax is [<Field>:] <Filter Criterion>.
To put together many criteria in one query, use Boolean operators:
[<Field>:] <Filter Criterion> AND|OR|NOT [<Field>:] <Filter Criterion> ...
Most query keywords and filter criteria are not case sensitive, but there are some exceptions. For
example, Risk:High is case sensitive (Risk:high does not match). If your query results do not show
the expected results, change the case of your query criteria, or try upper and lower case.
When you use queries with more than one criteria value, enter a Boolean operator.

Criteria Values
Criteria values are written as one or more text strings. You can enter one text string, such as a
word, IP address, or URL, without delimiters. Phrases or text strings that contain more than one
word must be surrounded by quotation marks.

One word string examples:

• John
• inbound
• 192.168.2.1
• mahler.ts.example.com
• dns_udp

Phrase examples
• "John Doe"
• "Log Out"
• "VPN-1 Embedded Connector"
IP Addresses
IPv4 and IPv6 addresses used in log queries are counted as one word. Enter IPv4 address with
dotted decimal notation and IPv6 addresses with colons. You can also use the '*' wildcard
character with IP addresses.

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 Logging

Example:
• 192.0.2.1
• 2001:db8::f00:d
NOT Values
You can use NOT <field> values with field keywords (on page 52) in log queries to find logs for
which the value of the field is not the value in the query.
Syntax
NOT <field>:<value>

Example
NOT src:10.0.4.10

Wildcards
You can use the standard wildcard characters (* and ?) in queries to match variable characters or
strings in log records. The wildcard character cannot be the first character in a query criterion.
You can use more than the wildcard character.

Wildcard syntax
• The ? (question mark) matches one character.
• The * (asterisk) matches a character string.
Examples:
• Jo? shows Joe and Jon, but not Joseph.
• Jo* shows Jon, Joseph, and John Paul.
If your criteria value contains more than one word, you can use the wildcard in each word. For
example, 'Jo* N*' shows Joe North, John Natt, Joshua Named, and so on.

Using Wildcards with IP Addresses

The wildcard character is useful when used with IPv4 addresses. It is a best practice to put the
wildcard character after an IP address delimiter.

Examples:
• 192.168.2.* shows all records for 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.2.255 inclusive
• 192.168.* shows all records for 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 inclusive

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 Logging

Field Keywords
You can use predefined field names as keywords in filter criteria. The query result only shows log
records that match the criteria in the specified field. If you do not use field names, the query result
shows records that match the criteria in all fields.
This table shows the predefined field keywords. Some fields also support keyword aliases that you
can type as alternatives to the primary keyword.

Keyword Keyword Description

Alias
severity Severity of the event

risk Potential risk from the event

protection Name of the protection

protection_type Type of protection

confidence level Level of confidence that an event is malicious

action Action taken by a security rule

blade product Software Blade

destination dst Traffic destination IP address, DNS name or Check Point

network object name

origin orig Name of originating Security Gateway

service Service that generated the log entry

source src Traffic source IP address, DNS name or Check Point network
object name

user User name

Syntax for a field name query:

<field name>:<values>|(<value><operator><value>)

Examples:
• source:192.168.2.1
• action:(Reject OR Block)
You can use the OR Boolean operator in parentheses to include multiple criteria values.
Important - When you use fields with multiple values, you must:
• Write the Boolean operator, for example AND.
• Use parentheses.

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 Logging

Boolean Operators
You can use the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to create filters with many different criteria.
You can put multiple Boolean expressions in parentheses.
If you enter more than one criteria without a Boolean operator, the AND operator is implied. When
you use multiple criteria without parentheses, the OR operator is applied before the AND operator.

Examples:
• blade:"application control" AND action:block
Shows log records from the Application & URL Filtering Software Blade where traffic was
blocked.
• 192.168.2.133 10.19.136.101
Shows log entries that match the two IP addresses. The AND operator is presumed.
• 192.168.2.133 OR 10.19.136.101
Shows log entries that match one of the IP addresses.
• (blade:Firewall OR blade:IPS OR blade:VPN) AND NOT action:drop
Shows all log entries from the Firewall, IPS or VPN blades that are not dropped. The criteria in
the parentheses are applied before the AND NOT criterion.
• source:(192.168.2.1 OR 192.168.2.2) AND destination:17.168.8.2
Shows log entries from the two source IP addresses if the destination IP address is
17.168.8.2. This example also shows how you can use Boolean operators with field criteria.

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CHAPTE R 5

Event Analysis
In This Section:
Event Analysis with SmartEvent ..................................................................................54
What is an Event?..........................................................................................................54
Sample Application & URL Filtering Event Analysis ..................................................55
The SmartEvent Solution .............................................................................................56
Working with SmartEvent ............................................................................................59

Event Analysis with SmartEvent

The SmartEvent Software Blade is a unified security event management and analysis solution that
delivers real-time, graphical threat management information. SmartConsole, SmartView Web
Application, and the SmartEvent GUI client consolidate billions of logs and show them as
prioritized security events so you can immediately respond to security incidents, and do the
necessary actions to prevent more attacks. You can customize the views to monitor the events that
are most important to you. You can move from a high level view to detailed forensic analysis in a
few clicks. With the free-text search and suggestions, you can quickly run data analysis and
identify critical security events.

What is an Event?
An event is a record of a security incident. It is based on one or more logs, and o rules that are
defined in the Event Policy.
An example of an event that is based on one log: A High Severity Anti-Bot event. One Anti-Bot log
with a Severity of High causes the event to be recorded.
An example of an event that is based on more than one log: A Certificate Sharing event. Two login
logs with the same certificate and a different user cause the event to be recorded.

How Are Logs Converted to Events?

SmartEvent automatically defines logs that are not Firewall, VPN, or HTTPS Inspection logs, as
events.
Events that are based on a suspicious pattern of two or more logs, are created by the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit. These correlated events are defined in the SmartEvent client GUI, in the Policy
tab.
Most logs are Firewall, VPN and HTTPS inspection logs. Therefore, SmartEvent does not define
them as events by default to avoid a performance impact on the SmartEvent Server. However,
enabling consolidated events for Firewall saves disk space so and makes it possible to keep a
longer event history. To create events for Firewall, in the SmartEvent Policy tab, enable
Consolidated Sessions > Firewall Session.

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 Event Analysis

Sample Application & URL Filtering Event Analysis

To show an Internet browsing event:
1. In the Logs & Monitor view of SmartConsole or the SmartView Web Application, open the
General Overview.
2. In the Query search bar, select the time period. For example: Past 24 Hours
The events of this time period show.
3. In Timeline View, click a circle below High Risk Attacks.
This is an example log of a High Risk event.

Information about the event:

• In the User column, five users tried to access the VTunnel web proxy.
• VTunnel is classified as a High security risk. It is a Web proxy site that lets users go to websites
anonymously.
• The names of the five users that tried to go to the VTunnel website are shown.

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 Event Analysis

The SmartEvent Solution

In This Section:
The Event Analysis Architecture ..................................................................................56
SmartEvent Correlation Unit .......................................................................................57
The SmartEvent GUI .....................................................................................................58
The SmartView Web Application ..................................................................................59

The Event Analysis Architecture

SmartEvent has some components that work together to help track down security threats and
make your network more secure.
This is how they work together. The numbers refer to the diagram:
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit (3) analyzes log entries on Log Servers (2).
• SmartEvent Server (4) contains the Events Database (5).
• The SmartEvent and SmartConsole clients (6) manage the SmartEvent Server.

Item Description Purpose

Log data flow

Event data flow

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 Event Analysis

Item Description Purpose

1
Check Point Sends logs to the Log Server.
Security Gateway

2 Log Server Stores logs.

3 SmartEvent Identifies events: Analyzes each log entry from a Log Server, and
Correlation Unit looks for patterns according to the installed Event Policy. The logs
contain data from Check Point products and certain third-party
devices. When a threat pattern is identified, the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit forwards the event to the SmartEvent Server.

4 SmartEvent Server Receives the items that are identified as events by the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit. The SmartEvent Server does further analysis to
determine the severity level of the event and what action to do. The
event is stored in the system database.

5 Events database Stores events. Located on the SmartEvent Server.

6 SmartEvent client Shows the received events. Uses the clients to manage events (for
example: to filter and close events), fine-tunes, and installs the
Event Policy. The clients are:
• SmartConsole
• SmartEvent GUI
• SmartView Web Application
The SmartEvent components can be installed on one computer (that is, a standalone deployment)
or multiple computers and sites (a distributed deployment). To handle higher volumes of logging
activity, we recommend a distributed deployment. You can install more than one SmartEvent
Correlation Unit. Each SmartEvent Correlation Unit can analyze logs from more than one Log
Server or Domain Log Server.

SmartEvent Correlation Unit

The SmartEvent Correlation Unit analyzes the log entries and identifies events from them. During
analysis, the SmartEvent Correlation Unit does one of these actions:
• Marks log entries that are not stand-alone events, but can be part of a larger pattern to be
identified later.
• Takes a log entry that meets one of the criteria set in the Events Policy, and generates an
event.
• Takes a new log entry that is part of a group of items. Together, all these items make up a
security event. The SmartEvent Correlation Unit adds it to an ongoing event.
• Discards log entries that do not meet event criteria.

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 Event Analysis

The SmartEvent GUI

The SmartEvent GUI is one of the SmartEvent clients that you can use to analyze events that occur
in your environment.

Overviews:
The Overview tab shows top events of all types. When you work with a protection type, you can go
directly to the data for that area.

Click the tab for events filtered by Software Blade:

• Application and URL Filtering
• Threat Prevention (IPS, Anti-Bot, Anti-Virus, and Threat Emulation)
• DLP (Data Loss Prevention)

Drill down forensics:

Double-click a result in a pane (such as an IP address or a user name). The other Overview panes
are filtered for the selection. The search bar shows the filter applied to the events. For example, if
you click one of the Top Sources, the search bar shows: src:"<ip_address>".

Quickly search the database of logs and events:

Use Search Suggestions and Recent Searches. Click in the search bar to see the search
suggestions and your recent searches. The search is fast, and the results are from the event
database.
For example, to see only important events from 192.168.2.15:
1. Click the Search bar.
2. Select Severity in the Suggestions list.
3. In the list of valid values that shows, click Critical.
4. Click in the Search bar.
5. Select Source in the Suggestions list.
6. If the required IP address not in the list, enter it in the search bar.
The data in all the panes is updated to match your search.

Filter for standard results:

Click Filters to select a standard filter option. For example, in Application and URL Filtering, you
can filter to see only events of Application Control or only events of URL Filtering. You can filter
for Action, to see events for Blocked or Allowed traffic.

Free-text search using the log search syntax:

For more sophisticated searching, you can do AND/OR searches with the Query Syntax ("Query
Language Overview" on page 50).

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 Event Analysis

The SmartView Web Application

The SmartView Web Application is one of the SmartEvent clients that you can use to analyze
events that occur in your environment. Use the SmartView Web Application to see an overview of
the security information for your environment. It has the same real-time event monitoring and
analysis views as SmartConsole. The convenience is that you do not have to install a client.

To log in to SmartEvent using SmartView Web Application:

Browse to
https://<Security Management Server IP Address>/smartview/
or
https://<Security Management Server host name>/smartview/
Note - The URL is case sensitive.

Working with SmartEvent

In This Section:
Opening the SmartEvent GUI Client ............................................................................59
Working with Queries ...................................................................................................59
Investigating Events......................................................................................................67
Configuring Event Definitions in the SmartEvent Policy Tab .....................................68
System Administration .................................................................................................89
SmartEvent High Availability Environment .................................................................91

Opening the SmartEvent GUI Client

To open the SmartEvent GUI client:
1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click (+) for a new Catalog tab.
3. Click SmartEvent Settings & Policy.

Working with Queries

SmartEvent uses filtered event views, called queries, to identify and show relevant events. Event
window information, timelines, graphs, and reports are based on queries that identify potentially
dangerous events and event patterns. You use this information to adjust your Security Policies and
protection settings in response to detected threats.

Event Queries in SmartEvent

SmartEvent uses filtered event views, called queries, to define the events to view. Located in the
Queries Tree, these queries filter and organize event data for display in the Events, Charts and
Maps tabs. Queries are defined by filter properties and charts properties. Filter properties allow
you to define what type of events to display and how they should be organized. Charts properties
allow you to define how the filtered event data should be displayed in chart form.

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 Event Analysis

Predefined Queries
SmartEvent provides a thorough set of predefined queries, which are appropriate for many
scenarios.
Queries are organized by combinations of event properties, for example:
• Threat Prevention, which includes queries of Threat Prevention events, including IPS events.
• Ticketing, such as ticket State.
• More > By IP, either the Source or Destination IP address.
• More > By Severity, such as Critical, High, and Medium.
Custom Queries
SmartEvent gives you the flexibility to define custom queries that show the most related events
and trends. After you define custom queries, you can organize them into folders. That way, they
are easy to find and use.
Use your queries to:
• Show an overview of events with specified characteristics in the Events tab.
• Generate reports to analyze specified events and trends in the Reports tab.
Customizing Query Filters
You can work with queries in the Events windows. To learn about procedures and to work with
report queries, see the Reports section.

To change query filter properties:

1. In SmartEvent, click Events.
2. In the tree, right-click the query and select Options > Properties > Event Query Properties.
3. In the Query Properties window, configure the query.

To clear filter values from a query:

1. In the tree, right-click the query and select Options > Properties > Events Query Properties.
2. In the In Use list, right-click the value in the Filter column and select Clear Filter.
This filter value changes into Any.

Event Query Properties window - Actions

• Use the Add and Remove buttons to select criteria fields to include in your query.
• Selected criteria show in the In Use list. Deselected criteria show in the Ignored list. You can
enter text in the Search Fields box to highlight matching text strings in criteria fields.
• Click the Filter column to define filter criteria. Select or enter criteria values in the window
that opens.
• The window type and data entry procedures are different for each criterion type. The default
value is Any.
• Optional: Clear the Show option. The criterion column does not show in the Event pane.
• In this case, the criterion filter applies to the query, but the column does not show. By default,
the Show option is selected for all criteria.

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 Event Analysis

Note - If you clear the Show option for a criterion that does not have a filter applied, that
criterion automatically moves to the Ignored list. This action is equivalent to the use of the
Remove button.

• Optional: Select a field in the In Use list and click Group.

• This shows events with the same field value below a collapsible summary line. This option
works best when you select only one criteria field.
• Use the Up and Down buttons to change the criteria column sequence in the Event List.
Optional: Define these additional query settings:
• When running the query prompt for - Select this option to require users to enter, or select ,a
filter value at run time. Select a filter criterion from the list. When enabled, the query shows a
Filter window and the user must select or enter the filter value. This makes the query more
dynamic, and lets the user to specify values each time the query is run.
• Auto refresh query every 60 seconds - The query automatically updates the Event List at 60
second intervals. This option is cleared by default.
• Run query on OK - The query automatically updates the Event List after you complete the
definition and click OK. This option is selected by default.
• Use existing value from the toolbar - Shows only the number of events as defined in the Show
up to # toolbar field. This option is selected by default.
• Return maximum of X events per query - Shows only the number of events defined it this
field. SmartEvent ignores the value in the Show up to # toolbar field.
Creating Custom Queries
You can create a custom query from scratch in the Custom folder or based on an existing query.

To create a custom query based on the default query:

1. In SmartEvent, click Events.
2. In the Selector tree, right-click on the Custom folder and select New.
3. Enter a name for the custom query.

To create a custom query based on an existing query:

1. Right-click an existing query and select Save As.
2. Enter a name for the new query.
3. To save the query with the Time frame setting from the Events list:
a) Click More.
b) Select the Save time frame option.
4. Click Save.

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Event Query Results in SmartEvent

The Events tab is the primary part of SmartEvent.

These are the components of the Events tab:

Item Description
1 Query Tree - Double-click a query to run the query. The results show in the event List.

2 Event Statistics pane - Shows the top events, destinations, sources and users of the
query results, either as a chart or in a tallied list.

3 Event List - Shows events generated by a query.

4 Event Preview Pane - Shows the details of the selected event

Event List
The SmartEvent Event List in SmartConsole and in the SmartEvent GUI can show up to 100,000
events. The events shown are the result of a query that ran on the Event Database. To run a
different query, double-click a query in the Selector tree. The Event List show the events that
match the criteria of the query.
The Event List is where detected events can be filtered, sorted, grouped, sent for review, and
exported to a file. This helps to understand your network security status. Event details, such as
Start and End Time, Event Name and Severity, are shown in a grid. In the Status bar at the
bottom of the SmartConsole and SmartEvent client window, Number of records in view shows a
count of new events. Refresh retrieves the data from the database according the active query
filter.
The details of an event provide important specifics about the event: Type of event, origin, service,
and number of connections. To access event details, double-click the event or show the Event
Preview Pane.

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Queries are built with default settings that can be changed directly in the Events tab to provide
more specified or more comprehensive results.

• The time frame Last... selection lets you select the period of time for which events are shown.
• The Event number selection sets the number of events that show from the query (default is
5,000 events). Up to 100,000 events can be shown and managed at one time.
• The Group By selection is useful to:
• Divide data by specified criteria.
• Immediately show the number of events for each grouping.

Filtering Events
After you run a query, you can right-click a column and define the filter parameters to filter the
event data. This temporarily includes the filter in the active query and runs the query again against
the database to return the matching values.
A green filter icon at the top of a column indicates that a filter is applied to that field. To save the
new set of filters as a custom query, select Save from the File menu. To discard the filters that
was not saved, run the query again.

To use filters with query results:

• To change the filter criteria, right-click on a column header and select Edit Filter.
• To remove events that have any specific field value, right-click on the value and select Filter
out.
• To include only events that have a specific field value, right-click on the value and select
Follow.
• To remove the extra conditions you have applied, right-click the filter and select Clear Filter.
Sorting and Searching Events
Running a query can return thousands of matching events. To help you organize the events that
have already been returned by the query, click a column header to sort these events
To look for events with specified values, enter values in the Search field. When you search for
multiple values, with commas that separate the values, the events that contain the search values
return. But the values can be in all event fields. The search can be made case-sensitive or can
search data that does not show in columns.

Grouping Events
One of the most powerful ways to analyze event data: To group the data based on the specified
columns, and use the Group By button on the toolbar. Group the events by one or more columns.
The Event List shows the number of matching events in those groups, presented in descending
sequence.
To specify the default grouping that a query uses, mark fields as Grouped in the Events Query
Properties ("Customizing Query Filters" on page 60) window.
The top line of each group in the Event List shows a summary of the events that it contains. Hover
over a field in the top line to see details of what data that field contains in this group events.

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To group events by one or more fields:

• Click Group By in the toolbar and select the field to group events.
• Click Group By in the toolbar and select More Fields. In the Group By window select one or
more field to use to group events.
• Right-click the column in the Event List to use to group events and select Group By This
Column.
To add a column for grouping: In the Event List, right-click the column to use to group events
and select Add this Column to the Group.

To remove fields from the grouping:

• Click Ungroup in the toolbar to remove all grouping.
• Click Group By in the toolbar and select More Fields. In the Group By window, remove one or
more field from grouping.
• Right-click on the column in the Event List to remove from the grouping and select Remove
Column from Group.
Sending an Event
Use event information to show a sign of a security attack or vulnerability that needs to be resolved.
For example, another member of your security team can review an event as a sign of an attack.
When you report events to Check Point it helps Check Point to improve the IPS technology to
detect new threats in an ever-changing security environment. From the Event List: Send event
details as an email with your default email client, or send the event details to Check Point over a
secure SSL connection.

To send an event with an email:

1. Select the event in the Event List.
2. Right-click on the event and select Send event by Email.
A new email opens with your default email client. The event information is included in the body
of the email.

To report an event to Check Point:

1. Select the event in the Event List.
2. Right-click on the event and select Report Event to Check Point.
3. Include the Event Details only, or include the Packet Capture related to the event.
Only the event information is sent to Check Point over a secure SSL connection. The data is
kept confidential. Check Point uses the information only to improve IPS.

Exporting Events to a File

The Event List can contain thousands of events. Export the events from SmartConsole and the
SmartEvent GUI client into a text file to review or manipulate the data with external applications.
For example: A spreadsheet or text editor.
You can export events from the Overview tab, Events tab or Events window. When exported, the
list of events is saved exactly as it shows in the Event List, including: The visible columns and all
sorting, filtering or grouping that is applied to the events.

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To export events to a comma-delimited (csv) file:

1. In the Events tab or Events window, organize the events.
• Hide or show columns to show the information to save.
• Apply sorting, filtering and grouping to make a list of events in the necessary format.
2. From the File menu, select Export Events to csv File.
3. Name the file.
4. Navigate to the location where you want the file saved.
5. Click Save.

Event Statistics pane

The Event List in the Events tab is accompanied by charts displaying the Top Events, Top Sources,
Top Destinations and Top Users for the active query. These statistics are automatically updated as
filters are applied to the Event List.

You can filter in or out any value in the Event Statistics Pane to focus the query results on the data
that is most important to you. Filtering in the Event Statistics pane is also reflected in the Event
List, and clearing filters from the Event Statistics Pane clears all filters that have been applied to
the query.
• To remove events that have any specific field value, right-click on the value and select Filter
out.
• To include only events that have a specific field value, right-click on the value and select
Follow.
To remove the extra conditions you have applied, click on the Clear Filter icon.

Event Details
See the details of an event from the Preview Pane in the Events tab or by double-clicking on the
event in the Event List. The Event Details window has two tabs with different data:
• Summary tab - Shows a brief summary of the event in a user-friendly format.
• Details tab - Shows the full, technical details of the event.
These options are available from the Event Details window:

• Copy - Copies the event details to the Windows Clipboard.

• Actions - Actions that you can do that are related to this log. They include:
• Edit Ticket - Lets you set the state of the event and add a comment.
• Add Comment - Lets you add a quick comment about the event without changing the state
or owner.
• Blade Specific Menu - For example, IPS or Application Control. This menu has different
options depending on the Software Blade that is related to the event.
• Previous displays the event that appears before the current event in the Event List.
• Next displays the event that appears after the current event in the Event List.

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Details Tab
The Details tab includes:
• Details about the Software Blade and rule that caused the event.
• Ticketing information for the event - Use this to track activity related to the event.
• General Event Information - Includes the severity for the event and a unique ID.
• Traffic Information - Where the event originated, its destination, and the size of the data in
bytes.
• Event Detection - How and when the event was detected and by which Security Gateway.
• More - Additional information related to the connections involved in the event and the source.

Summary Tab
The Summary tab includes:
• The source of the activity. If Identity Awareness is enabled, this can be the user name.
• A brief description of the event.
• The action taken on the event.
• The time of the event.
• Other important data related to the event.
Browse Time
The Browse Time feature keeps track of the total time that users are connected to different sites
and applications. R76 and later Security Gateways calculate the cumulative connection time for
each session and periodically updates this value until the session is closed.

Browse time is calculated as follows:

• Total browse time is calculated for each site from the first HTTP request to the last HTTP
response. Idle time of more than two minutes is not included in the browse time.
• The minimum calculated time is two minutes. Any connection of less than two minutes is
rounded up to two minutes. However, browse time for each user does not include time spent at
more than one site simultaneously. For example, if a user connects to google.com and
facebook.com at the same time, only one site is included in the browse time calculation.
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Investigating Events
After you arrange the events as you like in the Event List, you can investigate their details and
evaluate if they represent a threat.

Tracking Event Resolution using Tickets

Events can be categorized and assigned to administrators to track their path through the workflow
of resolving threats. When administrators review an event, they can assign it a status, such as
Investigation in Progress, Resolved, or False Alarm; add comments that detail the actions that
have been taken with respect to the event. This process is called Ticketing.
After administrators edit the ticket, they can use queries to track the actions taken to mitigate
security threats and produce statistics based on those actions.

• To edit an Event Ticket, open the event and click Edit Ticket.

Editing IPS Protection Details

When you review events generated from the IPS blade, review the IPS protections and profiles to
understand why an event was generated or attempt to change the way the traffic is handled by the
IPS blade.
The IPS menu presents actions that are specific to IPS events. These actions include:
• Go to Protection - opens the SmartConsole to the IPS protection which triggered the event.
• Go to Advisory - opens the Check Point Advisory article which provides background
information about the IPS protection.
• Protection description - opens a detailed description of the IPS protection.

Packet Capture
If a log has related packet captures, you can open a packet viewer to see the contents of the
captured packet. To examine this more, save the packet capture to a file.
To use the Packet Capture feature, you must activate blades.

To activate blades:
1. In a Security Management Server deployment, activate the Logging & Status Software Blade
on the Security Management Server.
2. In a Multi-Domain Security Management deployment:
a) Connect to SmartConsole for the Domain Server.
b) In the Gateways & Servers tab, double-click the Domain Server object.
c) In the General pane, select SmartEvent.

To see a packet capture:

1. In the SmartEvent Events tab, right-click the event in the Event List pane.
2. Select Additional Information > View packet capture from the Options menu.
The Packet Capture Viewer Output window opens.
3. Optional: Click Save to save the packet capture data as a text file.

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4. Optional: Select Actions > Packet Capture Configuration to define an application in which to
see packet capture information.
The options are:
• The SmartEvent Internal Viewer.
• A windows program related to this file type.
• To select a program, enter the program executable file name, and required arguments.

Using Custom Commands

The SmartEvent client provides a convenient way to run frequently used command line
executables that help you to examine events. Right-click cells in the Event List that refer to an IP
address to show the default list of commands in the context-sensitive menu.
These commands are available by default: ping, whois, nslookup and Telnet. The IP address of
the active cell is used as the destination of the command when run. Therefore, the commands
show by design only on cells that refer to IP addresses, because t
For example: Right-click a cell with an IP address and select the default ping command. A window
opens and three ICMP packets are sent to that address. This behavior is configurable. You can add
your own custom commands.

To add (or edit) custom commands:

1. In the SmartEvent GUI, select Actions > Configure Custom Commands.
2. To add a command, select Add...
3. Optional: To edit a command, highlight the command and select Edit.
4. Enter the text to appear in the right-click context menu.
5. Enter the command to run, and any arguments.
6. Configure the command to run in a SmartEvent window or in a separate Windows command
window.
7. Select if the command will appear in the context menu only when you right-click in cells with
IP address data.
8. Click OK.

Configuring Event Definitions in the SmartEvent Policy Tab

Use the Policy tab of the SmartEvent GUI client to configure and customize the events that define
the SmartEvent Event Policy.

Policy Tab
Define the Event Policy in the Event Policy tab. Most configuration steps occur in the Policy tab.
You define system components, such as SmartEvent Correlation Unit, lists of blocked IP
addresses and other general settings.
The types of events that SmartEvent can detect are listed here, and sorted into a number of
categories. To change each event, change the default thresholds and set Automated Responses.
You can also disable events.
The Policy tab has these sections:
• Selector Tree - The navigation pane.

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• Detail pane - The settings of each item in the Selector Tree.

• Description pane - A description of the selected item.
After the SmartEvent client starts to show events, do these procedures:
• Fine-tune the Event Policy
• Change the existing Event Definition to see the events that interest you (see "Modifying Event
Definitions" on page 69)
• Create new Event Definitions to see the events that are not included in the existing definitions
(see "Creating Event Definitions (User Defined Events)" on page 75)
Save Event Policy
Modifications to the Event Policy do not take effect until saved on the SmartEvent server and
installed to the SmartEvent Correlation Unit.

To enable changes made to the Event Policy:

1. Click File > Save.
2. Click Actions > Install Event Policy.

Revert Changes
You can undo changes to the Event Policy, if they were not saved.
To undo changes: click File > Revert Changes.

Modifying Event Definitions

SmartEvent constantly takes data from your Log Servers, and searches for patterns in all the
network chatter that enters your system.
Depending on the levels set in each Event Definition, the number of events detected can be high.
But only a portion of those events can be meaningful. You can change the thresholds and other
criteria of an event, to reduce the number of false alarms.

To change Event Definitions:

1. Select a type of event from one of the Event Policy categories.
2. Adjust the Event Definitions. The elements that can be modified vary per event definition. Some
event types include all; others have just one or two of these configurable elements.
3. To save the Event Policy, click File > Save.
4. From the Actions menu, click Install Event Policy.

Event Definitions and General Settings

The Selector tree is divided into two branches: Event Policy and General Settings. The events
detectable by SmartEvent are organized by category in the Event Policy branch. Select an event
definition to show its configurable properties in the Detail pane, and a description of the event in
the Description pane. Clear the property to remove this event type from the Event Policy the next
time the Event Policy is installed.
The General Settings branch contains Initial Settings. For example: To define SmartEvent
Correlation Unit, which is typically used for the initial configuration. Click a General Settings item
to show its configurable properties in the Detail pane.
For details on specified attacks or events, refer to the Event Definition Detail pane.
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Event Definition Parameters

When an event definition is selected, its configurable elements appear in the Detail pane, and a
description of the event is displayed in the Description pane. These are the usual types of
configurable elements:
• Thresholds, such as Detect the event when more than x connections were detected over y
seconds
• Severity, such as Critical, Medium, Informational, etc.
• Automatic Reactions, such as Block Source or run External Script
• Exceptions, such as Apply the following exceptions
• Time Object, such as to issue an event if the following occurs outside the following Working
Hours
Not all of these elements appear for every Event Definition. After you install and run SmartEvent
for a short time, you will discover which of these elements need to be fine-tuned per Event
Definition.
For configuration information regarding most objects in General Settings, see System
Administration (on page 89).

Event Threshold
The Event Threshold allows you to modify the limits that, when exceeded, indicates that an event
has occurred. The limits typically are the number of connections, logs, or failures, and the period
of time in which they occurred. It appears thus:
Detect the event when more than x connections/logs/failures (etc.) were detected over a period
of y seconds.
To decreasing the number of false alarms based on a particular event, increase the number of
connections, logs or failures and/or the period of time for them to occur.

Severity
An event severity affects in which queries (among those that filter for severity) this type of event
will appear.
To modify the severity of an event, select a severity level from the drop-down list.

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Automatic Reactions
When detected, an event can activate an Automatic Reaction. The SmartEvent administrator can
create and configure one Automatic Reaction, or many, according to the needs of the system.
For example: A Mail Reaction can be defined to tell the administrator of events to which it is
applied. Multiple Automatic Mail Reactions can be created to tell a different responsible party for
each type of event.

To create an automatic reaction:

1. Create an automatic reaction object in the Event definition, or from General Settings > Objects
> Automatic Reactions.
2. Assign the Automatic Reaction to an event (or to an exception to the event).
3. To save the Event Policy, click File > Save
4. To install the Event Policy on the SmartEvent Correlation Unit, click Actions > Install Event
Policy.
These are the types of Automatic Reactions:
• Mail - tell an administrator by email that the event occurred. See Create a Mail Reaction
("Creating a Mail Reaction" on page 72).
• Block Source - instruct the Security Gateway to block the source IP address from which this
event was detected for a configurable period of time . Select a period of time from one minute
to more than three weeks. See Create a Block Source Reaction ("Creating a Block Source
Reaction" on page 73)
• Block Event activity - instruct the Security Gateway to block a distributed attack that emanates
from multiple sources, or attacks multiple destinations for a configurable period of time.
Select a period of time from one minute to more than three weeks). See Create a Block Event
Activity Reaction ("Creating a Block Event Activity Reaction" on page 73).
• External Script - run a script that you provide. See Creating an External Script Automatic
Reaction (on page 73) to write a script that can exploit SmartEvent data.
• SNMP Trap - generate an SNMP Trap. See Create an SNMP Trap Reaction ("Creating an SNMP
Trap Reaction" on page 72).
You can send event fields in the SNMP Trap message. The format for such an event field is
[seam_event_table_field]. This list represents the possible seam_event table fields:
AdditionalInfo varchar(1024)
AutoReactionStatus varchar(1024)
Category varchar(1024)
DetectedBy integer
DetectionTime integer
Direction integer
DueDate integer
EndTime integer
EventNumber integer
FollowUp integer
IsLast integer
LastUpdateTime integer
MaxNumOfConnections integer
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Name varchar(1024) ,NumOfAcceptedConnections integer

NumOfRejectedConnections integer
NumOfUpdates integer
ProductCategory varchar(1024)
ProductName varchar(1024)
Remarks varchar(1024)
RuleID varchar(48)
Severity integer
StartTime integer
State integer
TimeInterval integer
TotalNumOfConnections varchar(20)
User varchar(1024)
Uuid varchar(48)
aba_customer varchar(1024)
jobID varchar(48)
policyRuleID varchar(48)
These sections tell how to add an Automatic Reaction to an event:

Creating Automatic Reactions

You can create Automatic reaction from:
• The Policy tab: Select General Settings> Object > Automatic Reactions
• In an Event Definition: Select the icon […] and click Add New.
The first step for each of the next procedures assumes that you are at one of the starting points
above.

Creating a Mail Reaction

1. Select Add > Mail.
2. Give the automatic reaction a significant name.
3. Fill out the Mail Parameters of From, To and cc.
4. To add multiple recipients, separate each email address with a semi-colon.
Note - the Subject field has the default variables of [EventNumber] - [Severity] - [Name].
These variables automatically adds to the mail subject the event number, severity and name of
the event that triggered this reaction. These variables can be removed at your discretion.
5. Optional: Include your own standard text for each mail reaction.
6. Enter the domain name of the SMTP server.
7. Select Save.

Creating an SNMP Trap Reaction

1. Select Add > SNMP Trap.
2. Give the automatic reaction a significant name.
3. Fill out the SNMP Trap parameters of Host, Message, OID and Community name.
The command send_snmp uses values that are found in the file chkpnnt.mib, in the directory
$CPDIR/lib/snmp/. An OID value used in the SNMP Trap parameters window must be

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defined in chkpnnt.mib, or in a file that refers it. If the OID field is left blank, the value is
determined from iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprises.checkpoint.products.fw.fwEvent =
1.3.6.1.4.1.2620.1.1.11.
When the automatic reaction occurs, the SNMP Trap is sent as a 256 byte DisplayString
text. But, if the OID type is not text, the message is not sent.
4. Select Save.

Creating a Block Source Reaction

1. Select Add > Block Source.
2. Give the automatic reaction a significant name.
3. From the drop-down list, select the number of minutes to block this source.
4. Select Save.

Creating a Block Event Activity Reaction

1. Select Add > Block Event Activity.
2. Give the automatic reaction a significant name.
3. From the drop-down list, select the number of minutes to block this source.
4. Select Save.

Creating an External Script Automatic Reaction

To add an External Script:

1. Create the script. See the Guidelines for creating the script below.
2. Put the script on the SmartEvent Server:
a) In $RTDIR/bin, create the folder ext_commands. Run:
mkdir $RTDIR/bin/ext_commands
b) Put the script in $RTDIR/bin/ext_commands/ or in a folder under that location. The
path and script name must not contain any spaces.
c) Give the script executable permissions. Run:
chmod +x <script_filename>
3. In the SmartEvent GUI client Policy tab, in Automatic Reactions, Select Add > External Script.
4. In the Add Automatic Reaction window:
a) Give the automatic reaction object a significant Name.
b) In Command line, enter the name of the script to run. Specify the name of the script that is
in $RTDIR/bin/ext_commands/ directory. Use the relative path if needed. Do not
specify the full path of $RTDIR/bin/ext_commands/.
c) Select Save.

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Guidelines for creating the script

• Run the script manually and make sure it works as expected
• Make sure the script runs for no longer than 10 minutes, otherwise it will be terminated by the
SmartEvent Server.
• Use the event fields in the script:
To refer to the event in the script, define this environment variable:
EVENT=$(cat)
and use $EVENT
Use line editor commands like awk or sed to parse the event and refer to specific fields. You
can print the $EVENT one time to see its format.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The format of the event content is a name-value set – a structured set of fields that have the
form:
(name: value ;* );
where name is a string and value is either free text until a semicolon, or a nested name-value
set.
The following is a sample event:
(Name: Check Point administrator credential guessing; RuleID:
{F182D6BC-A0AA-444a-9F31-C0C22ACA2114}; Uuid:
<42135c9c,00000000,2e1510ac,131c07b6>; NumOfUpdates: 0; IsLast: 0;
StartTime: 16Feb2015 16:45:45; EndTime: Not Completed; DetectionTime:
16Feb2015 16:45:48; LastUpdateTime: 0; TimeInterval: 600;
MaxNumOfConnections: 3; TotalNumOfConnections: 3; DetectedBy:
2886735150;
Origin: (IP: 192.0.2.4; repetitions: 3; countryname: United States;
hostname: theHost) ; ProductName: SmartDashboard; User: XYZ; Source:
(hostname: theHost; repetitions: 3; IP: 192.0.2.4; countryname: United
States) ; Severity: Critical; EventNumber: EN00000184; State: 0;
NumOfRejectedConnections: 0; NumOfAcceptedConnections: 0) ;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you need to refer to more fields, you can add them to the event:
a) In the SmartEvent GUI client, in the Policy tab, right click the event, and select Properties >
Event Format tab
b) In the Display column, select the Event fields to have in the Event.
c) Install the Event Policy on the SmartEvent Correlation Unit.

Assigning an Automatic Reaction to an Event

You can add an Automatic Reaction for SmartEvent to run when this type of event is detected.
1. Select the icon [...].
2. Select an Automatic Reaction that you created from the list, or select Add new…. For details
on how to create each type of Automatic Reaction, see section below.
3. Configure the Automatic Reaction.
4. Select Save.
5. Click OK.

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Working Hours
Working Hours are used to detect unauthorized attempts to access protected systems and other
forbidden operations after-hours. To set the Regular Working Hours for an event, select a Time
Object that you have configured from the drop-down list.

To create a Time Object:

1. From the Policy tab, select General Settings > Objects > Time Objects.
2. Click Add.
3. Enter a Name and Description.
4. Select the days and times that are considered Regular Working Hours.
5. Click OK.

To assign a Time Object to an event:

1. From the Policy tab, select an event that requires a Time Object (for example, User Login at
irregular hours in the Unauthorized Entry event category).
2. Select the Time Object you created from the drop-down list.
3. Select File > Save.

Exceptions
Exceptions allow an event to be independently configured for the sources or destinations that
appear. For example, if the event Port Scan from Internal Network is set to detect an event when
30 port scans have occurred within 60 seconds, you can also define that two port scans detected
from host A in 10 seconds of each other is also an event.
To manually add an exception, under the heading Apply the following exceptions, click Add and
select the Source and/or Destination of the object to apply different criteria for this event.

Note - If you do not see the host object listed, you may need to create it in
SmartEvent (see "Adding Network and Host Objects" on page 89).

To modify or delete existing exceptions, select Edit or Remove, respectively.

Creating Event Definitions (User Defined Events)

To create a user-defined event you must have knowledge of the method by which SmartEvent
identifies events. This section starts with a high level overview of how logs are analyzed to
conclude if an event occurs or occurred.

High Level Overview of Event Identification

Events are detected by the SmartEvent Correlation Unit. The SmartEvent Correlation Unit scans
logs for criteria that match an Event Definition.
SmartEvent uses these procedures to identify these events:
• Matching a Log Against Global Exclusions (on page 76)
• Matching a Log Against Each Event Definition (on page 76)
• Creating an Event Candidate (on page 77)
• When a Candidate Becomes an Event (on page 79)
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Matching a Log Against Global Exclusions

When the SmartEvent Correlation Unit reads a log, it first checks if the log matches all defined
Global Exclusions. Global Exclusions (defined on the Policy tab > Event Policy > Global
Exclusions) direct SmartEvent to ignore logs that are not expected to contribute to an event.
If the log matches a Global Exclusion, it is discarded by the system. If not, the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit starts to match it against each Event Definition.

Matching a Log Against Each Event Definition

Each Event Definition contains a filter which is comprised of a number of criteria that must be
found in all matching logs. The criteria are divided by product: The Event Definition can include a
number of different products, but each product has its own criterion.

To match the Event Definition "A", a log from Endpoint Security must match the Action, Event
Type, Port, and Protocol values listed in the Endpoint Security column. A log from a Security
Gateway must match the values listed in its column.
SmartEvent divides this procedure into two steps. The SmartEvent Correlation Unit first checks if
the Product value in the log matches one of the permitted Product values of an Event Definition.

If Log 1 did not contain a permitted Product value, the SmartEvent Correlation Unit compares the
log against Event Definition "B", and so on. If the log fails to match against an Event Definition, it
is discarded.
The SmartEvent Correlation Unit checks if the log contains the Product-specific criteria to match
the Event Definition. For example: The product Endpoint Security generates logs that involve the
Firewall, Spyware, Malicious Code Protection, and others. The log contains this information in the
field Event Type. If an event is defined to match on Endpoint Security logs with the event type
Firewall, an Endpoint Security log with Event Type "Spyware" fails against the Event Definition
filter. Other criteria can be specified to the Product.
In our example, Log 1 matched Event Definition "A" with a permitted product value. The
SmartEvent Correlation Unit examines if the log contains the necessary criteria for an Endpoint
Security log to match.

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If the criteria do not match, the SmartEvent Correlation Unit continues to compare the log criteria
to other event definitions.

Creating an Event Candidate

When a log matches the criteria, it is added to an Event Candidate. Event candidates let
SmartEvent track logs until an event threshold is crossed, at which point an event is generated.

Notes -
• The Event Candidate can track logs from multiple products
• The logs must be from the same source
• The Event Candidate tracks logs before all of the criteria were matched
Each Event Definition can have multiple event candidates, each of which keeps track of logs
grouped by equivalent properties. In the figure above the logs that create the event candidate have
a common source value. They were dropped, blocked or rejected by a Firewall. They are grouped
together because the Event Definition is designed to detect this type of activity, that originates
from one source.

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When a log matches the event definition, but has properties different than those of the existing
event candidates, a new event candidate is created. This event candidate is added to what can be
thought of as the Event Candidate Pool.

Note - SmartEvent creates a new event candidate for a log with a different source.

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To illustrate more, an event defined detects a high rate of blocked connections. SmartEvent tracks
the number of blocked connections for each Firewall, and the logs of the blocked traffic at each
Firewall forms an event candidate. When the threshold of blocked connection logs from a Firewall
is surpassed, that Firewall event candidate becomes an event. While this Event Definition creates
one event candidate for each Firewall monitored, other Event Definitions can create many more.

The Event Candidate Pool is a dynamic environment, with new logs added and older logs discarded
when they have exceeded an Event Definition time threshold.

When a Candidate Becomes an Event

When a candidate becomes an event, the SmartEvent Correlation Unit forwards the event to the
Event Database. But to discover an event does not mean that SmartEvent stops to track logs
related to it. The SmartEvent Correlation Unit adds matching logs to the event as long as they
continue to arrive during the event threshold. To keep the event open condenses what can appear
as many instances of the same event to one, and provides accurate, up-to-date information as to
the start and end time of the event.

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Creating a User-Defined Event

To create New Event Definitions, right-click an existing Event Definition, or use the Actions menu:
Right Actions Menu Description
Click

New New Custom Launches the Event Definition Wizard, which allows you to select how to base the
event: on an existing Event Definition, or from scratch.
Event

Save As Save Event As Creates an Event Definition based on the properties of the
highlighted Event Definition. When you select Save As, the system
prompts you to save the selected Event Definition with a new name
for later editing. Save As can also be accessed from the Properties
window.

All User Defined Events are saved at Policy tab > Event Policy > User Defined Events. When an
Event Definition exists it can be modified through the Properties window, available by right-click
and from the Actions menu.

Creating a New Event Definition

To create a User Defined Event based on an existing event:

1. From the Actions menu, select New Custom Event.
The Event Definition Wizard opens.
2. For Create an event
a) Select that is based on an existing event.
b) Select an event that has equivalent properties to the event you want to create.
c) Click Next.
3. Name the Event Definition.
4. Enter a Description.
5. Select a Severity level.
6. Click Next.
7. Set which of these options generates the event:
• A single log — Frequently depicts an event, such as a log from a virus scanner that reports
that a virus has been found.
• Multiple logs — Required if the event can only be identified as a result of a combination of
multiple logs, such as a High Connection Rate.
Click Next.
8. Examine the products that can cause this event.
9. Select Next.
10. Optional: Edit the product filters:
• If you added a product you can edit the filters for each product (Edit all product filters), or
those of new products you added (Edit only newly selected product filters).
• If you did not add other products, edit the filters of existing products (Yes) or skip this step
(No, Leave the original files).
Click Next.

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 Event Analysis

11. Edit or add product filters for each log necessary in the Event Definition filter:
a) Select the Log field from the available Log Field list.
b) Click Add to edit the filter.
c) Make sure that the filter matches on All Conditions or Any Conditions.
d) Double-click the Log field and select the values to use in the filter.
Click Next.
12. When you defined the filters for each product, select values for these options to define how to
process logs:
• Detect the event when at least __ logs occurred over a period of __ seconds contains the
event thresholds that define the event. You can modify the event thresholds by altering the
number of logs and/or the period of time that define the event.
• Each event definition may have multiple Event Candidates existing simultaneously allows
you to set whether SmartEvent creates distinct Event Candidates based on a field (or set of
fields) that you select below.
Select the field(s) by which distinct Event Candidates will be created allows you to set the
field (or set of fields) that are used to differentiate between Event Candidates.
• Use unique values of the __ field when counting logs directs SmartEvent to count unique
values of the specified field when determining whether the Event Threshold has been
surpassed. When this property is not selected, SmartEvent counts the total number of logs
received.
13. Click Finish.

To edit a user-defined event:

1. From the Policy tab > Event Policy > User Defined Events, right-click a User-Defined Event
and select Properties.
2. In the tabs provided, make the necessary changes:
• Name - Name the Event Definition, enter a Description and select a Severity level. The
text you enter in the Description field shows in the Event Description area (below the event
configurable properties).
• Filter - To edit a product filter:
(i) Select the product.
(ii) Select the Log field from the available Log Fields list.
(iii) If the necessary field does not show select Show more fields... to add a field to the Log
Fields list.
(iv) Click Add to edit the filter.
(v) Select if the filter matches on All Conditions or Any Conditions.
• Count logs
This screen defines how SmartEvent counts logs related to this event.
 A Single log — Frequently depicts an event, such as a log from a virus scanner that
reports that a virus is found.
 With this option you can set the fields that are used to group events into Event
Candidates. Logs with matching values for these fields are added to the same event.

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For example: Multiple logs that report a virus detected on the same source with the
same virus name are combined into the same event.
 Multiple logs — Required for events that identify an activity level, such as a High
Connection Rate.
 When the event is triggered by multiple logs, set the behavior of Event Candidates:
 Detect the event when at least... — Set the Event Threshold that, when exceeded,
indicates that an event has occurred.
 Select the field(s) by which distinct event candidates will be created — An event is
generated by logs with the same values in the fields specified here. To define how logs
are grouped into Event Candidates, select the related fields here.
 Use unique values of the ...— Only logs with unique values for the fields specified here
are counted in the event candidate. For example: A port scan event counts logs that
include unique ports scanned. Also, the logs do not increment the log count for logs
that contain ports already encountered in the event candidate.
 Advanced — Define the keep=alive time for the event, and how often the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit updates the SmartEvent server with new logs for the created event.
• Event Format
When an event is generated, information about the event is presented in the Event Detail
pane.
This screen lets you specify if the information will be added to the detailed pane and from
which Log Field the information is taken.
You can clear it in the Display column. The Event Field will not be populated.
• GUI representation
All events can be configured. This screen lets you select the configuration parameters that
show.
 The Threshold section shows the number of logs that must matched to create the
event. This is usually not shown for one log events and shown for multiple log events.
 The Exclude section lets you specify the log fields that show when you add an event
exclusion.
 The Exception section lets you specify the log fields that show when you add an event
exception.
3. Click OK to save your changes.

Eliminating False Positives

This section shows you how to reduce false positives.

Services that Generate Events

Some types of services are characterized by a high quantity of traffic that can be misidentified as
events. These are examples of services and protocols that can potentially generate events:
• Software that does a routine scan of the network to make sure that everything runs correctly.
Configuration of SmartEvent to exclude this source from a scan event eliminates a source of
false positive events.
• High connection rate on a web server. Set SmartEvent to allow a higher connection rate for
each minute on a busy web server, or to exclude this source from a scan event.

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Common Events by Service

The information in this table provides a list of server types where high activity is frequently used.
To change the Event Policy, adjust event thresholds and add Exclusions for servers and services .
You can decrease more the quantity of false positives detected.
Common events by service

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
SNMP Scans IP sweep from Any Any SNMP-read Hosts that query
internal other hosts
network

DNS Scans IP sweep from DNS servers - DNS Inter-DNS

Servers internal servers updates
network

Denial of High Any DNS DNS DNS requests

Service connection rate servers and inter-DNS
(DoS) on internal host servers updates
on service

Anomalies High Any Any DNS DNS requests

connection rate and inter-DNS
from internal servers updates
network

Anomalies High Any Any DNS DNS requests

connection rate and inter-DNS
from internal servers updates
network on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any Any DNS DNS requests

activity on and inter-DNS
service servers updates

NIS Scans Port scan from NIS servers Any - Multiple NIS
Servers internal queries
network

Denial of High Any NIS NIS NIS queries

Service connection rate servers
(DoS) on internal host
on service

Anomalies High Any Any NIS NIS queries

connection rate
from internal
network

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
Anomalies High Any Any NIS NIS queries
connection rate
from internal
network on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any Any NIS NIS queries

activity on
service

LDAP Denial of High Any LDAP LDAP LDAP requests

Servers Service connection rate servers
(DoS) on internal host
on service

Anomalies High Any LDAP LDAP LDAP requests

connection rate servers
from internal
network

Anomalies High Any LDAP LDAP LDAP requests

connection rate servers
from internal
network on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any LDAP LDAP LDAP requests

activity on servers
service

HTTP Denial of High Any Proxy HTTP:8080 Hosts

Proxy Service connection rate servers connections to
Servers - (DoS) on internal host Proxy servers
Hosts To on service
Proxy
Server

Anomalies High Any Proxy HTTP:8080 Hosts

connection rate servers connections to
from internal Proxy servers
network

Anomalies High Any Proxy HTTP:8080 Hosts

connection rate servers connections to
from internal Proxy servers
hosts on
service

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
Anomalies Abnormal Any Proxy HTTP:8080 Hosts
activity on servers connections to
service Proxy servers

HTTP Scans IP sweep from Proxy servers Any HTTP/ Proxy servers
Proxy internal HTTPS connections out
Servers - network to various sites
Out to the
Web

Denial of High Proxy servers Any HTTP/ Proxy servers

Service connection rate HTTPS connections out
(DoS) on internal host to various sites
on service

Anomalies High Proxy servers Any HTTP/ Proxy servers

connection rate HTTPS connections out
from internal to various sites
network

High Proxy servers Any HTTP/ Proxy servers

connection rate HTTPS connections out
from internal to various sites
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Proxy servers Any HTTP/ Proxy servers

activity on HTTPS connections out
service to various sites

UFP Denial of High Any UFP Any/UFP by Firewall

Servers Service connection rate servers vendor connections to
(DoS) on internal host UFP servers
on service

Anomalies High Any UFP Any/UFP by Firewall

connection rate servers vendor connections to
from internal UFP servers
network

Anomalies High Any UFP Any/UFP by Firewall

connection rate servers vendor connections to
from internal UFP servers
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any UFP Any/UFP by Firewall

activity on servers vendor connections to
service UFP servers

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
CVP Denial of High Any CVP Any/CVP by Firewall
Servers Service connection rate servers vendor connections to
Request (DoS) on internal host CVP servers
on service

Anomalies High Any CVP Any/CVP by Firewall

connection rate servers vendor connections to
from internal CVP servers
network

Anomalies High Any CVP Any/CVP by Firewall

connection rate servers vendor connections to
from internal CVP servers
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any CVP Any/CVP by Firewall

activity on servers vendor connections to
service CVP servers

CVP Scans Port scans CVP servers Any - Multiple CVP

Servers from internal replies to same
Replies network GW

Scans IP sweep from CVP servers - CVP CVP replies to

internal multiple GWs
network

Denial of High CVP servers Any Any/CVP by CVP replies

Service connection rate vendor
(DoS) on internal host
on service

Anomalies High CVP servers Any Any/CVP by CVP replies

connection rate vendor
from internal
network

Anomalies High CVP servers Any Any/CVP by CVP replies

connection rate vendor
from internal
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal CVP servers Any Any/CVP by CVP replies

activity on vendor
service

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
UA Server Denial of High Any UA uas-port Connections to
Request Service connection rate servers (TCP:19191 UA servers
(DoS) on internal host TCP:19194)
on service

Anomalies High Any UA (TCP:19191 Connections to

connection rate servers TCP:19194) UA servers
from internal
network

Anomalies High Any UA uas-port Connections to

connection rate servers (TCP:19191 UA servers
from internal TCP:19194)
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal Any UA uas-port Connections to

activity on servers (TCP:19191 UA servers
service TCP:19194)

UA Servers Scans Port scans UA servers Any - Multiple UA

Replies from internal replies to the
network same computer

Scans IP sweep from UA servers Any uas-port Multiple UA

internal (TCP:19191 replies to
network TCP:19194) multiple
computers

Denial of High UA servers Any uas-port UA replies

Service connection rate (TCP:19191
(DoS) on internal host TCP:19194)
on service

Anomalies High UA servers Any uas-port UA replies

connection rate (TCP:19191
from internal TCP:19194)
network

Anomalies High UA servers Any uas-port UA replies

connection rate (TCP:19191
from internal TCP:19194)
hosts on
service

Anomalies Abnormal UA servers Any uas-port UA replies

activity on (TCP:19191
service TCP:19194)

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
SMTP Scans IP sweep from SMTP servers - SMTP SMTP servers
Servers internal connections out
network to various SMTP
servers

Denial of High SMTP servers Any SMTP SMTP servers

Service connection rate connections out
(DoS) on internal host to various SMTP
on service servers

Anomalies High SMTP servers Any SMTP SMTP servers

connection rate connections out
from internal to various SMTP
network servers

Anomalies High SMTP servers Any SMTP SMTP servers

connection rate connections out
from internal to various SMTP
hosts on servers
service

Anomalies Abnormal SMTP servers Any SMTP SMTP servers

activity on connections out
service to various SMTP
servers

Anti-Virus Scans IP sweep from AV_Defs - Any/AV by Anti-Virus

Definition internal servers vendor definitions
Servers network updates
deployment

Denial of High AV_Defs - Any/AV by Anti-Virus

Service connection rate servers vendor definitions
(DoS) on internal host updates
on service deployment

Anomalies High AV_Defs - Any/AV by Anti-Virus

connection rate servers vendor definitions
from internal updates
network deployment

Anomalies High AV_Defs - Any/AV by Anti-Virus

connection rate servers vendor definitions
from internal updates
hosts on deployment
service

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 Event Analysis

Server Category Event Name Source Dest Service Reason

Type
Anomalies Abnormal AV_Defs - Any/AV by Anti-Virus
activity on servers vendor definitions
service updates
deployment

System Administration
To maintain your SmartEvent system, you can do these tasks from the General Settings section of
the Policy tab:
• Adding a SmartEvent Correlation Unit and Log Servers (see "Configuring Dedicated
Correlation Units" on page 20)
• Create offline jobs analyze historical log files ("Importing Offline Log Files" on page 26)
• Adding objects to the Internal Network (see "Defining the Internal Network" on page 90)
• Creating scripts to run as Automatic Reactions for certain events ("Creating an External Script
Automatic Reaction" on page 73)
• Creating objects for use in filters (see "Adding Network and Host Objects" on page 89)

Save Event Policy

Modifications to the Event Policy do not take effect until saved on the SmartEvent server and
installed to the SmartEvent Correlation Unit.

To enable changes made to the Event Policy:

1. Click File > Save.
2. Click Actions > Install Event Policy.

Revert Changes
You can undo changes to the Event Policy, if they were not saved.
To undo changes: click File > Revert Changes.

Adding Network and Host Objects

Certain objects from the Management server are added during the initial sync with the
SmartEvent server and updated at a set interval. But it is useful (or necessary)to add other
Network or Host objects, for these reasons:
• If some devices or networks are not represented on the Management server, and are
important to define your internal network.
• When you add sources or destinations to exclusions or exceptions in Event Definitions.
• When you select sources or destinations in a filter.

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These screens are locked until initial sync is complete:

• Network Objects
• Internal Network
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit
You can make a device available to use in SmartEvent.

To make a device that is a host object available in SmartEvent:

1. From the Policy tab, select General Settings > Objects > Network Objects > Add > Host.
2. Give the device a significant name.
3. Enter its IP Address or select Get Address.
4. Select OK.

To make a device that is a network object available in SmartEvent:

1. From the Policy tab, select General Settings > Objects > Network Objects > Add > Network.
2. Give the network a significant name.
3. Enter the Network Address and Net Mask.
4. Select OK.
See Defining the Internal Network (on page 90) for information about how to add objects to the
Internal Network definition.

Defining the Internal Network

To help SmartEvent conclude if events originated internally or externally, you must define the
Internal Network. These are the options to calculate the traffic direction:
• Incoming – all the sources are external to the network and all destinations are inner
• Outgoing – all sources are in the network and all destinations external
• Internal – sources and destinations are all in the network
• Other – a mixture of and internal and external values makes the result indeterminate

To define the Internal Network:

1. From the Policy tab, select General Settings > Initial Settings > Internal Network.
2. Add internal objects.
We recommend to add all internal Network objects, and not Host objects.
Some network objects are copied from the Management server to the SmartEvent Server during
the initial sync and updated afterwards.
These screens are locked until initial sync is complete:
• Network Objects
• Internal Network
• Correlation Units

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SmartEvent High Availability Environment

The SmartEvent database keeps a synchronized copy of management objects locally on the
SmartEvent Server. This process, dbsync, allows SmartEvent to work independently of different
management versions and different management servers in a High Availability environment.
Management High Availability capability exists for Security Management Servers, and in a
Multi-Domain Security Management environment, dbsync supports High Availability for the
Multi-Domain Servers and the Domain Servers.

How it works
Dbsync initially connects to the management server with which SIC is established. It retrieves all
the objects. After the initial synchronization it gets updates when an object is saved. Dbsync
registers all the High Availability management machines and periodically tests the connectivity
with the newest management server. If connectivity is lost, it attempts to connect to the other High
Availability management servers until it finds an active one and connects to it.
If two management servers are active concurrently, dbsync stays connected to one management
server. Dbsync does not get changes made on the other management server until a
synchronization operation is done.

Log Server High Availability

In SmartConsole, you can configure a Security Gateway, that when it fails to send its logs to one
Log Server, it will send its logs to a secondary Log Server. To support this configuration, you can
add Log Servers to a single SmartEvent Correlation Unit. In this way, the SmartEvent Correlation
Unit gets an uninterrupted stream of logs from both servers and continues to correlate all logs.

SmartEvent Correlation Unit High Availability

Multiple correlation units can read logs from the same Log Servers. That way, the units provide
redundancy if one of them fails. The events that the correlation units detect are duplicated in the
SmartEvent database. But these events can be disambiguated if you filter them with the Detected
By field in the Event Query definition. The Detected By field specifies which SmartEvent
Correlation Unit detected the event.
If the SmartEvent Server becomes unavailable, the correlation units keep the events until it can
reconnect with the SmartEvent Server and forward the events.

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CHAPTE R 6

Monitoring Traffic and Connections

In This Section:
SmartView Monitor Features .......................................................................................92
To Start the Monitoring Views ......................................................................................93
Immediate Actions ........................................................................................................93
Deploying Monitoring ...................................................................................................94
Monitoring and Handling Alerts ...................................................................................94
Monitoring Suspicious Activity Rules ..........................................................................95
How SmartView Monitor Works ...................................................................................97
Configuring SmartView Monitor ..................................................................................99
Monitoring Gateway Status ........................................................................................110
Monitoring Tunnels.....................................................................................................115
Monitoring Traffic or System Counters .....................................................................118
Monitoring Users ........................................................................................................121
Cooperative Enforcement ..........................................................................................122

SmartView Monitor gives you a complete picture of network and security performance. Use it to
respond quickly and efficiently to changes in gateways, tunnels, remote users and traffic flow
patterns or security activities.
SmartView Monitor is a high-performance network and security analysis system. This system
helps you to establish work habits based on learned system resource patterns. Based on Check
Point Security Management Architecture, SmartView Monitor provides a single, central interface,
to monitor network activity and performance of Check Point Software Blades.

SmartView Monitor Features

SmartView Monitor allows administrators to easily configure and monitor different aspects of
network activities. You can see graphical from an integrated, intuitive interface.
Defined views include the most frequently used traffic, counter, tunnel, gateway, and remote user
information. For example, Check Point System Counters collect information on the status and
activities of Check Point products (for example, VPN or NAT). With custom or defined views,
administrators can drill-down the status of a specified gateway and/or a segment of traffic. That
way, administrators identify top bandwidth hosts that can influence network performance. If
suspicious activity is detected, administrators can immediately apply a Firewall rule to the
applicable Security Gateway to block that activity. These Firewall rules can be created dynamically
through the graphical interface and be set to expire in a specified time period.
You can generate Real-time and historical graphical reports of monitored events. This provides a
comprehensive view of gateways, tunnels, remote users, network, security, and performance over
time.
The monitoring views show real-time and historical graphical views of:
• Gateway status
• Remote users (SmartView Monitor only)

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 Monitoring Traffic and Connections

• System Counters
• VPN tunnel monitoring (SmartView Monitor only)
• Cooperative Enforcement, for Endpoint Security Servers
• Traffic
In SmartView Monitor you can create customized monitoring view.

SmartView Monitor scenarios

Examples of scenarios for which SmartView Monitor can help:
• If the Internet access of a company is slow, a Traffic view and report can be created. This
makes sure what can clog up the company's gateway interface. The view can be based on an
inspection of: Specific Services, Firewall rules or Network Objects, that can be known to
impede the flow of Internet traffic. If the SmartView Monitor Traffic view indicates that users
aggressively use such Services or Network Objects (for example, Peer to Peer application or
HTTP), the cause of the slow Internet access is determined. If aggressive use is not the cause,
the network administrator have to look at other avenues. For instance, performance
degradation can be the result of memory overload.
• If employees that work away from the office cannot connect to the network a Counter view. A
report can be created to determine what can prevent network connections. The view can be
based on CPU Use %, to collect information about the status, activities hardware and software
use of Check Point products in real-time. The SmartView Monitor Counter view can indicate
that there are more failures than successes. Therefore, it is possible that the company cannot
accommodate the mass number of employees that try to log on at once.

To Start the Monitoring Views

To open the monitoring views in SmartConsole:
1. From the Gateways & Servers view, select a Gateway.
2. Click Monitor.

To open SmartView Monitor:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Open the catalog (new tab).
3. Click Tunnel & User Monitoring.

Immediate Actions
If the status shows an issue, you can act on that network object.
For example:
• Disconnect client - Disconnect one or more of the connected SmartConsole clients.
• Start/Stop cluster member - You can see all Cluster Members of a Gateway Cluster in
SmartView Monitor. You can start or stop a selected Cluster Member.
• Suspicious Action Rules - You can block suspicious network activity while you investigate the
real risk or to quickly block an obvious intruder.
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Deploying Monitoring
To monitor a Gateway in the Logs & Monitor view of SmartConsole, or in SmartView Monitor:
• You need a Security Management Server and one or more Security Gateways.
• Enable the Monitoring blade on the Security Management Server and Security Gateways.
No other deployment steps are necessary.

Monitoring and Handling Alerts

Alerts provide real-time information about vulnerabilities to computing systems and how they can
be eliminated.
Check Point alerts users to possible threats of the security of their systems. Check Point provides
information about how to avoid, minimize, or recover from the damage.
The gateways sends alerts to the Security Management Server. The Security Management Server
forwards these alerts to SmartView Monitor, which is actively connected to the Security
Management Server.
The gateways sends alerts to get the administrator's attention to problematic gateways. The alerts
show in SmartView Monitor. These alerts are sent:
• If some rules or attributes, which are set to be tracked as alerts, are matched by a passing
connection.
• If system events (also called System Alerts) are configured to cause an alert when different
predefined thresholds are surpassed.
The administrator can define alerts to be sent for different gateways. These alerts are sent in
specified conditions. For example, if they have been defined for certain policies, or if they have
been set for different properties. By default an alert is sent as a pop-up message to the
administrator desktop when a new alert arrives to SmartView Monitor.
You can send alerts for predefined system events. If predefined conditions are set, you can get an
alert for important situation updates. These are called System Alerts. For example, if free disk
space is less than 10%, or if a security policy has been changed. This is how System Alerts are
characterized:
• Defined for each product: For instance, you can define System Alerts for Unified Package and
other System Alerts for Check Point QoS.
• Global for each gateway: Set global alert parameters for all gateways in the system, or specify
an action to take on alert on the level of each Check Point gateway.
• Shows through the same user-friendly window.

Viewing Alerts
Alert commands are set in SmartConsole > Global Properties > Log and Alert > Alerts page. The
Alerts in this window apply only to Security Gateways.

To see alerts:
1. Click the Alerts icon in the toolbar.
The Alerts window opens.

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 Monitoring Traffic and Connections

2. Set alert attributes and delete shown alerts.

System Alert Monitoring Mechanism

Check Point Security Management Server has a System Alert monitoring mechanism. It uses the
System Alert thresholds you defined. If reached, it activates the defined action.
• To activate this mechanism: Select Tools > Start System Alert Daemon.
• To stop the System Alert monitoring mechanism: Select Tools > Stop System Alert Daemon.

Monitoring Suspicious Activity Rules

Suspicious Activity Monitoring (SAM) is a utility integrated in SmartView Monitor. It blocks
activities that you see in the SmartView Monitor results and that appear to be suspicious. For
example, you can block a user who tries several times to gain unauthorized access to a network or
Internet resource.
A Security Gateway with SAM enabled has Firewall rules to block suspicious connections that are
not restricted by the security policy. These rules are applied immediately (Install Policy not
required).

The Need for Suspicious Activity Rules

Connections that provide access to employees and customers can be an open doorway to attack
the network and its applications. Therefore, the connection of enterprise and public networks
make a good information security challenge.
A modern business requires an easy access to information, but to keep this information secure
and private.
The changing network environment demands to immediately react to a security problem, but
without to change the network's Firewall Rule Base. For example, you want to instantly block a
user. Inspect and identify all inbound and outbound network activity as suspicious when
necessary. For instance, when network or system activity indicates that someone attempts to
break in.

Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule

SAM rules take some CPU resources. Therefore, set an expiration that gives you time to
investigate, but does not influence performance. Best practice is to keep only the necessary SAM
rules. If you confirm that an activity is risky, edit the Security Policy, educate users, or handle the
risk.
You can block suspicious activity based on source, destination, or service.

To block an activity:
1. In the SmartView Monitor toolbar, click the Suspicious Activity Rules button.
The Enforced Suspicious Activity Rules window opens.
2. Click Add.
The Block Suspicious Activity window opens.
3. In Source and in Destination, select IP or Network:
• To block all sources or destinations that match the other parameters, enter Any.
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• To block one suspicious source or destination, enter an IP Address and Network Mask.
4. In Service:
• To block all connections that fit the other parameters, enter Any.
• To block one suspicious service or protocol, click the button and select a service from the
window that opens.
5. In Expiration, set your examining time limit.
6. Click Enforce.
You can create a Suspicious Activity rule based on TCP or UDP use.

To create an activity rule:

1. In the Block Suspicious Activity window > Service, click the button.
The Select Service window opens.
2. Click Custom Service.
3. Select TCP or UDP.
4. Enter the port number.
5. Click OK.

To define SmartView Monitor actions on rule match:

1. In the Block Suspicious Activity window, click Advanced.
The Advanced window opens.
2. In Action, select the Firewall action for SmartView Monitor to do on rule match:
 Notify - Send a message about the activity, but do not block it.
 Drop - Drop packets, but do not send a response. The connection will time out.
 Reject - Send an RST packet to the source and close the connection.
3. In Track, select No Log, Log or Alert.
4. If the action is Drop: To close the connection immediately on rule match, select Close
connections.
5. Click OK.

Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule from Results

If you monitor traffic, and see a suspicious result, you can create an SAM rule immediately from
the results.
Note - You can only create a Suspicious Activity rule for Traffic views with data about the Source
or Destination (Top Sources, Top P2P Users, and so on).

To create an SAM rule:

1. In SmartView Monitor open a Traffic view.
The Select Gateway / Interface window opens.
2. Select an object and click OK.
3. In the Results, right-click the bar in the chart (or the row in the report), that represents the
source, destination, or other traffic property to block.
4. Select Block Source.
The Block Suspicious Activity window opens.
5. Create the rule.
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6. Click Enforce.

For example:
Your corporate policy does not allow to share peer2peer file, and you see it in the Traffic > Top
P2P Users results.
1. Right-click the result bar and select Block Source.
The SAM rule is set up automatically with the user IP address and the
P2P_File_Sharing_Applications service.
2. Click Enforce.
3. For the next hour, while this traffic is dropped and logged, contact the user.

Managing Suspicious Activity Rules

The Enforced Suspicious Activity Rules window shows the currently enforced rules. If you add a
rule that conflicts with another rule, the conflicting rule remains hidden. For example, if you
define a rule to drop http traffic, and a rule exists to reject http traffic, only the drop rule shows.

How SmartView Monitor Works

Data for the status of all gateways in the system is collected by the Security Management Server
and viewed in SmartView Monitor. The data shows status for:
• Check Point Security Gateways
• OPSEC gateways
• Check Point Software Blades
Gateway Status is the SmartView Monitor view which shows all component status information. A
Gateway Status view shows a snapshot of all Software Blades, such as VPN and ClusterXL, and
third party products (for example, OPSEC-partner gateways).

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Gateway Status is similar in operation to the SNMP daemon that provides a mechanism to get data
about gateways in the system.

SIC is initialized between Security Gateways (1) (local and remote) and the Security Management
Server (2). The Security Management Server then gets status data from the Software Blades with
the AMON (Application Monitoring) protocol. SmartView Monitor (3) gets the data from the Security
Management Server.

AMON
The Security Management Server acts as an AMON client. It collects data about installed Software
Blades. Each Security Gateway, or any other OPSEC gateway which runs an AMON server, acts as
the AMON server itself. The gateway requests status updates from other components, such as the
Firewall kernel and network servers. Requests are fetched at a defined interval.
An alternate source for status collection can be any AMON client, such as an OPSEC partner,
which uses the AMON protocol.
The AMON protocol is SIC- based. It can collect data only after SIC is initialized.

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Defining Status Fetch Frequency

The Security Management Server collects status data from the Security Gateways on a defined
interval. The default is 60 seconds.

To set the Status Fetching Interval:

1. Open SmartConsole.
2. Open Global Properties > Log and Alert > Time Settings.
3. Enter the number of seconds in Status fetching interval.

Configuring SmartView Monitor

System Alerts and Thresholds
You can set thresholds for selected gateways. When a threshold is passed, a system alert is sent.

To set System Alert thresholds:

1. Open Gateways Status view.
2. Right-click a network object and select Configure Thresholds.
The Threshold Settings window opens.
3. Set the thresholds for the selected object:
• Use global settings - All objects get the same thresholds for system alerts.
• None - The selected gateway object does not have thresholds for system alerts.
• Custom - Change the thresholds for the selected object to be different than the global
settings.

To change Global Threshold settings:

1. In the Threshold Settings window, click Edit Global Settings.

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The Global Threshold Settings window opens.

2. Select thresholds.
3. In Action, select:
• none - No alert.
• log - Sends a log entry to the database.
• alert - Opens a pop-up window to your desktop.
• mail - Sends a mail alert to your Inbox.
• snmptrap - Sends an SNMP alert.
• useralert - Runs a script. Make sure a user-defined action is available. Go to
SmartConsole > Global Properties > Log and Alert > Alert Commands.

To change custom threshold settings:

1. In the Threshold Settings window, select Custom.
The global threshold settings show.
2. Select thresholds to enable for this gateway or cluster member.
3. Set defining values.

Working with SNMP Monitoring Thresholds

You can configure a variety of different SNMP thresholds that generate SNMP traps, or alerts. You
can use these thresholds to monitor many system components automatically without requesting
information from each object or device. The categories of thresholds that you can configure
include:
• Hardware
• High Availability
• Networking
• Resources

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• Domain Log Server Connectivity

Some categories apply only to some machines or deployments.

Note - SNMP monitoring thresholds are supported from R75.20, R71.30, and higher.

In each category there are many individual thresholds that you can set. For example, the hardware
category includes alerts for the state of the RAID disk, the state of the temperature sensor, the
state of the fan speed sensor, and others. For each individual threshold, you can configure:
• If it is enabled or disabled
• How frequently alerts are sent
• The severity of the alert
• The threshold point (if necessary)
• Where the alerts are sent to
You can also configure some settings globally, such as how often alerts are send and where they
are sent to.

Types of Alerts
• Active alerts are sent when a threshold point is passed or the status of a monitored component
is problematic.
• Clear alerts are sent when the problem is resolved and the component has returned to its
normal value. Clear alerts look like active alerts but the severity is set to 0.

Configuring SNMP Monitoring

Configure the SNMP monitoring thresholds in the command line of the Security Management
Server. When you install the policy on the gateways the SNMP monitoring thresholds are applied
globally to all gateways.

Configuring in Multi-Domain Security Management

In a Multi-Domain Security Management environment, you can configure thresholds on the
Multi-Domain Server and on each individual Domain Server. Thresholds that you configure on the
Multi-Domain Server are for the Multi-Domain Server only. Thresholds that you configure for a
Domain Server are for that Domain Server and its gateways. If a threshold applies to the
Multi-Domain Server and the Domain Server gateways, set it on the Multi-Domain Server and
Domain Server. But in this situation you can only get alerts from the Multi-Domain Server if the
threshold passed.
For example, because the Multi-Domain Server and Domain Server are on the same machine, if
the CPU threshold is passed, it applies to both of them. But only the Multi-Domain Server
generates alerts.
You can see the Multi-Domain Security Management level for each threshold with the
threshold_config utility.
• If the Multi-Domain Security Management level for a threshold is Multi-Domain Server: Alerts
are generated for the Multi-Domain Server when the threshold point is passed.
• If the Multi-Domain Security Management level for a threshold is Multi-Domain Server and
Domain Server: Alerts are generated for the Multi-Domain Server and Domain Servers
separately when the threshold point is passed.
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Configuring a Local Gateway Policy

You can configure SNMP thresholds locally on a gateway with the same procedure that you do on a
Security Management Server. But each time you install a policy on the gateway, the local settings
are erased and it reverts to the global SNMP threshold settings.
You can use the threshold_config utility to save the configuration file and load it again later.
On SecurePlatform and Linux, the configuration file that you can back up is:
$FWDIR/conf/thresholds.conf
On Windows, the configuration file that you can back up is: %FWDIR%\conf\thresholds.conf

Configuration Procedures
There is one primary command to configure the thresholds in the command line,
threshold_config. You must be in the Expert mode to run it. After you run
threshold_config, follow the on-screen instructions to make selections and configure the
global settings and each threshold.
When you run threshold_config, you get these options:
• Show policy name - Shows you the name configured for the threshold policy.
• Set policy name - Lets you set a name for the threshold policy.
• Save policy- Lets you save the policy.
• Save policy to file - Lets you export the policy to a file.
• Load policy from file - Lets you import a threshold policy from a file.
• Configure global alert settings - Lets you configure global settings for how frequently alerts
are sent and how many alerts are sent.
• Configure alert destinations - Lets you configure a location or locations where the SNMP
alerts are sent.
• View thresholds overview - Shows a list of all thresholds that you can set including: the
category of the threshold, if it is active or disabled, the threshold point (if relevant), and a short
description of what it monitors.
• Configure thresholds - Opens the list of threshold categories to let you select thresholds to
configure.
Configure Global Alert Settings
If you select Configure global alert settings, you can configure global settings for how frequently
alerts are sent and how many alerts are sent. You can configure these settings for each threshold.
If a threshold does not have its own alert settings, it uses the global settings by default.
You can configure these options:
• Enter Alert Repetitions - How many alerts are sent when an active alert is triggered. If you
enter 0, alerts are sent until the problem is fixed.
• Enter Alert Repetitions Delay - How long the system waits between it sends active alerts.
• Enter Clear Alert Repetitions - How many clear alerts are sent after a threshold returns to a
regular value.
• Enter Clear Alert Repetitions Delay - How long the system waits between it sends clear
alerts.

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Configure Alert Destinations

If you select Configure Alert Destinations, you can add and remove destinations for where the
alerts are sent. You can see a list of the configured destinations. A destination is usually an NMS
(Network Management System) or a Check Point Domain Log Server.
After you enter the details for a destination, the CLI asks if the destination applies to all
thresholds.
• If you enter yes, alerts for all thresholds are sent to that destination, unless you remove the
destination from an individual threshold.
• If you enter no, no alerts are sent to that destination by default. But for each individual
threshold, you can configure the destinations and you can add destinations that were not
applied to all thresholds.
For each threshold, you can choose to which of the alert destinations its alerts are sent. If you do
not define alert destination settings for a threshold, it sends alerts to all of the destinations that
you applied to all thresholds.
For each alert destination enter:
• Name - An identifying name.
• IP - The IP address of the destination.
• Port - Through which port it is accessed
• Ver - The version on SNMP that it uses
• Other data- Some versions of SNMP require more data. Enter the data that is supplied for that
SNMP version.
Configure Thresholds
If you select Configure thresholds, you see a list of the categories of thresholds, including:
• Hardware
• High Availability
• Networking
• Resources
• Domain Log Server Connectivity
Some categories apply only to some machines or deployments. For example, Hardware applies
only to Check Point appliances and High Availability applies only to clusters or High Availability
deployments.
Select a category to see the thresholds in it. Each threshold can have these options:
• Enable/Disable Threshold - If the threshold is enabled, the system sends alerts when there is
a problem. If it is disabled it does not generate alerts.
• Set Severity - You can give each threshold a severity setting. The options are: Low, Medium,
High, and Critical. The severity level shows in the alerts and in SmartView Monitor. It lets you
know quickly how important the alert is.
• Set Repetitions - Set how frequently and how many alerts will be sent when the threshold is
passed. If you do not configure this, it uses the global alert settings.
• Set Threshold Point - Enter the value that will cause active alerts when it is passed. Enter the
number only, without a unit of measurement.

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• Configure Alert Destinations - See all of the configured alert destinations. By default, active
alerts and clear alerts are sent to the destinations. You can change this for each destination.
When you select the destination you see these options:
• Remove from destinations - If you select this, alerts for this threshold are not sent to the
selected destination.
• Add a destination - If you configured a destination in the global alert destinations but did
not apply it to all thresholds, you can add it to the threshold.
• Disable clear alerts - Cleared alerts for this threshold are not sent to the selected
destination. Active alerts are sent.

Completing the Configuration

You can complete threshold configuration and activate the settings.

To complete configuration and activate the settings:

1. On the Security Management Server, install the policy on all Security Gateways.
2. For a local Security Gateway threshold policy or a Multi-Domain Security Management
Multi-Domain Server environment, use the cpwd_admin utility to restart the CPD process:
a) Run: cpwd_admin stop -name CPD -path "$CPDIR/bin/cpd_admin" -command
"cpd_admin stop"
b) Run: cpwd_admin start -name CPD -path "$CPDIR/bin/cpd" -command "cpd"

Monitoring SNMP Thresholds

You can see an overview of the SNMP thresholds that you configure in SmartView Monitor.

To see an overview of the SNMP thresholds:

1. Open SmartView Monitor and select a Security Gateway.
2. In the summary of the Security Gateway data that open in the bottom pane, click System
Information.
3. In the new pane that opens, click Thresholds.
In the pane that opens, you can see these details:
• General Info - A summary of the total SNMP Threshold policy.
 Policy name- The name that you set for the policy in the CLI.
 State - If the policy is enabled or disabled.
 Thresholds - How many thresholds are enabled.
 Active events - How many thresholds are currently sending alerts.
 Generated Events - How many not active thresholds became active since the policy
was installed.
• Active Events- Details for the thresholds that are currently sending alerts.
 Name - The name of the alert (given in the CLI).
 Category - The category of the alert (given in the CLI), for example, Hardware or
Resources.
 MIB object - The name of the object as recorded in the MIB file.
 MIB object value - The value of the object when the threshold became active, as
recorded in the MIB file.

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 State - The status of the object: active or clearing (passed the threshold but returns to
usual value).
 Severity - The severity of that threshold, as you configured for it in the CLI.
 Activation time - When was the alert first sent.
• Alert Destinations - A list of the destinations that alerts are sent to.
 Name - The name of the location.
 Type - The type of location. For example, a Domain Log Server or NMS.
 State - If logs are sent from the gateway or Security Management Server to the
destination machine.
 Alert Count - How many alerts were sent to the destination from when the policy
started.
• Errors - Shows thresholds that cannot be monitored. For example, the Security Gateway
cannot monitor RAID sensors on a machine that does not have RAID sensors. Therefore it
shows an error for the RAID Sensor Threshold.
 Threshold Name - The name of the threshold with an error.
 Error - A description of the error.
 Time of Error - When the error first occurred.

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Customizing Results
You can create Custom Views, to change the fields that show in the results.

Editing a Custom View

The changes you make to a view are not automatically saved. You can use this procedure to save a
predefined view as a new Custom view.

To save a new view with changes:

1. Right-click the results of the view and select Properties.
Note - For some of the views, this option is View Properties or Query Properties.
2. Add or remove fields and other options for the view.
3. Click OK.
4. For some of the views, select the gateway.
5. In the Results toolbar, click the Save View to Tree button.
6. In the window that opens, enter a name for the new view.
7. Click Save.

Creating a Custom Gateway Status View

To create a custom Gateway status view:

1. In the Tree, right-click Custom and select New Gateways View.
The Gateway Properties window opens.
2. In Select available fields from, select the source of the data.
3. In Available fields, double-click the data to add to SmartView Monitor.
4. Open the Filter Gateways tab to remove gateways from the results of this view.
5. Click OK.
6. Right-click the new Custom view and select Rename.
7. Enter a name for the view.

Creating a Custom Traffic View

To creating a custom traffic view:

1. In the Tree, right-click Custom and select New Traffic View.
The Query Properties window opens.
2. Select History or Real Time.
3. If you select Real Time, select what you want to see:
• Interfaces
• Services
• IPs / Network Objects
• QoS Rules
• Security Rules
• Connections

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• Tunnels
• Virtual Links
• Packet Size Distribution
4. Select the Target gateway.
• If you often need results for on gateway, select it in Specific Gateway.
• If you have a small number of gateways, you can create a custom view for each one.
• If not, select Prompt for Gateway before run.
5. Open the next tabs.
The tabs that show depend on the Query Type you selected.
• If you select History, the next tab is Traffic History, where you select the Time Frame and
type of report.
• If you select Real Time, the next tabs let you set services or objects to monitor, gateways or
specified IP addresses to monitor, update interval, result type, and chart settings.
6. Click Save.
7. Right-click the new Custom view and select Rename.
8. Enter a name for the view.

Creating a Custom Counters View

To create a custom counters view:

1. In the Tree, right-click Custom and select New Counters View.
The Query Properties window opens.
2. Select History or Real Time.
3. Select the Target gateway.
• If results for one gateway are frequently necessary, select it in Specific Gateway.
• If you have a small number of gateways, you can create a custom view for each one.
• If not, select Prompt for Gateway before run.
4. Open the Counters tab.
5. Select a category and the counters to add.
You can add counters from different categories to one view.
6. In the Query Type:
• If the Query Type is History: Select the Time Frame and click Save.
• If the Query Type is Real Time:
(i) Open the Settings tab.
(ii) Set the update interval and chart type.
(iii) Click Save.
7. Right-click the new Custom view and select Rename.
8. Enter a name for the view.

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Creating a Custom Tunnel View

To create a custom tunnel view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, select File > New > Tunnels View.
The Query Properties window shows.
2. Select Prompt on to generate a report about a specified Tunnel, Community or Gateway.
Prompt on: When you run the view, you will be asked for the specified Tunnel, Community or
Gateway on which to base your view.
Important - Do not select Prompt on if your view is not about one of these three.
3. Select Show one record per tunnel or Show two records per tunnel.
Show two records per tunnel shows a more accurate status because the report provides the
status for the tunnels in both directions.
4. In the Show column, select the filter to be related to this view
5. In the Filter column, click the corresponding Any(*) link.
6. Select the related objects to edit the selected filters.
7. Click the Advanced button.
8. Set a limit in the Records limitation window for the number of lines that show in the report.
9. Enter a record limitation.
10. Click OK.
A Tunnels view shows in the Custom branch of the Tree View.
11. Enter the name of the new Tunnel view.
12. Click Enter.

Creating a Custom Users View

To create a custom users view:

1. In SmartView Monitor, select File > New > Users View.
The Query Properties window shows.
2. Select Prompt on to generate a user report about a specified user or Gateway.
Prompt on: When you decide to run the view, you will be asked for the specified User DN or
Gateway on which to base your view.
Important - Do not select Prompt on if your view is not about one of these two.
3. In the Show column, select the filter to be related with this view.
4. In the Filter column, click the corresponding Any(*) link.
5. Select the related objects to edit the selected filters.
6. Click the Advanced button to set a limit (in the Records limitation window) to the number of
lines that show in the report.
7. Enter a record limitation.
8. Click OK.
A Users view shows in the Custom branch of the Tree View.
9. Enter a name for the new Users view.
10. Click Enter.

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Custom View Example

For example purposes, we create a real-time Traffic view for Services.

To create a real-time traffic view:

1. Double-click the view to change and select the gateway for which you create the view.
2. Select the View Properties button on the view toolbar.
The Query Properties window shows.
3. Select Real-Time.
Real-Time provides information about currently monitored traffic or system counters.
4. Select History for information that was logged before.
5. Select the topic about which you want to create a Real-Time traffic view in the drop-down list
provided. For example, for purposes select Services.
Note - The remaining tabs in the Query Properties window change according to the
type of view you create and the selection you made in the Real-Time drop-down list.
6. Select the Target of this Custom Traffic view.
Target is the gateway for which you monitor traffic.
7. Click the Monitor by Services tab.
8. Select Specific Services and the Services for which you want to create a custom Traffic view.
9. Click the Filter tab.
10. Make the necessary selections.
11. Click the Settings tab.
12. Make the necessary selections.
13. Click OK when you are done with your selections.
The Select Gateway / Interface window shows.
14. Select the gateway or interface for which you want to create or run this new view.
15. Click the Save to Tree button on the toolbar.
16. Enter a name for the new view.
17. Click OK.
The new view is saved in the Custom branch.

Exporting a Custom View

You can back up a custom view before you install an upgrade. You can share a custom view with
other SmartView Monitor GUI clients and other users.

To export a custom view:

1. Right-click the view and select Export Properties.
2. In the window that opens, enter a pathname for the export file.
3. Click Save.
A file with an svm_setting extension is created.

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Setting Your Default View

You can set which view to see when SmartView Monitor starts.
In the Tree, right-click the view and select Run at Startup.

Refreshing Views
Results are automatically refreshed every 60 seconds.
To refresh the view earlier, right-click the view name in the Tree and select Run.
To refresh data about an object in the current view, right-click the object in the results and select
Refresh.

Monitoring Gateway Status

Gateway Status
Status updates show for Security Gateways and Software Blades. The Overall status of a gateway
is the most serious status of its Software Blades. For example, if all the Software Blades statuses
are OK except for the SmartEvent blade, which has a Problem status, the Overall status is
Problem.

Status Icon Description

OK The gateway and all its Software Blades work properly.

Attention At least one Software Blade has a minor issue, but the gateway works.

Problem At least one Software Blade reported a malfunction, or an enabled

Software Blade is not installed.

Waiting SmartView Monitor waits for the Security Management Server to send
data from Security Gateways.

Disconnected Cannot reach the Security Gateway.

Untrusted Cannot make Secure Internal Communication between the Security

Management Server and the gateway.

Displaying Gateway Data

Gateway Status data shows for each Check Point or OPSEC gateway.
To see data about a gateway, click the gateway in the Gateway Results view. Details about the
gateway show in the Gateway Details pane.

System Data
• Unified Package - The version number.
• SO Information - The name, the version name/number, the build number, the service pack,
and any additional information about the Operating System in use.

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• CPU - The specific CPU parameters (for example, Idle, User, Kernel, and Total) for each CPU.
Note - In the Gateways Results view the Average CPU indicates the average total CPU usage
of all existing CPOS.
• Memory - The total amount of virtual memory, what percentage of this total is used. The total
amount of real memory, what percentage of this total is used, and the amount of real memory
available for use.
• Disk - Shows all the disk partitions and their specific details (for example, capacity, used, and
free).
Note - In the Gateways Results view the percentage/total of free space in the hard disk on
which the Firewall is installed. For example, if there are two hard drives C and D and the
Firewall is on C, the Disk Free percentage represents the free space in C and not D.

Firewall
• Policy information - The name of the Security Policy installed on the gateway, and the date and
time that this policy was installed.
• Packets - The number of packets accepted, dropped and logged by the gateway.
• UFP Cache performance - The hit ratio percentage and the total number of hits handled by the
cache, the number of connections inspected by the UFP Server.
• Hash Kernel Memory (the memory status) and System Kernel Memory (the OS memory) - The
total amount of memory allocated and used. The total amount of memory blocks used. The
number of memory allocations, and those allocation operations which failed. The number of
times that the memory allocation freed up, or failed to free up. The NAT Cache, including the
total amount of hits and misses.

Virtual Private Networks

The Virtual Private Networks (VPN) is divided into these main statuses:
• Current represents the current number of active output.
• High Watermark represents the maximum number of current output
• Accumulative data represents the total number of the output.
This includes:
• Active Tunnels - All types of active VPN peers to which there is currently an open IPsec tunnel.
This is useful to track the proximity to a VPN Net license and the activity level of the VPN
gateway. High Watermark includes the maximum number of VPN peers for which there was an
open IPsec tunnel since the gateway was restarted.
• Remote Access - All types of Remote Access VPN users with which there is currently an open
IPsec tunnel. This is useful to track the activity level and load patterns of VPN gateways that
serve as a remote access server. High Watermark includes the maximum number of Remote
Access VPN users with which there was an open IPsec tunnel since the gateway was restarted.
• Tunnels Establishment Negotiation - The current rate of successful Phase I IKE Negotiations
(measured in Negotiations per second). This is useful to track the activity level and load
patterns of a VPN gateway that serve as a remote access server. High Watermark includes the
highest rate of successful Phase I IKE Negotiations since the Policy was installed (measured in
Negotiations per second). Accumulative data includes the total number of successful Phase I
IKE negotiations since the Policy was installed.

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• Failed - The current failure rate of Phase I IKE Negotiations can be used to troubleshoot (for
instance, denial of service) or for a heavy load of VPN remote access connections. High
Watermark includes the highest rate of failed Phase I IKE negotiations since the Policy was
installed. Accumulative is the total number of failed Phase I IKE negotiations since the Policy
was installed.
• Concurrent - The current number of concurrent IKE negotiations. This is useful to track the
behavior of VPN connection initiation, especially in large deployments of remote access VPN
scenarios. High Watermark includes the maximum number of concurrent IKE negotiations
since the Policy was installed.
• Encrypted and Decrypted throughput - The current rate of encrypted or decrypted traffic
(measured in Mbps). Encrypted or decrypted throughput is useful (in conjunction with
encrypted or decrypted packet rate) to track VPN usage and VPN performance of the gateway.
High Watermark includes the maximum rate of encrypted or decrypted traffic (measured in
Mbps) since the gateway was restarted. Accumulative includes the total encrypted or
decrypted traffic since the gateway was restarted (measured in Mbps).
• Encrypted and Decrypted packets - The current rate of encrypted or decrypted packets
(measured in packets per second). Encrypted or decrypted packet rate is useful (in conjunction
with encrypted/decrypted throughput) to track VPN usage and VPN performance of the
gateway. High Watermark includes the maximum rate of encrypted or decrypted packets since
the gateway was restarted, and Accumulative, the total number of encrypted packets since the
gateway was restarted.
• Encryption and Decryption errors - The current rate at which errors are encountered by the
gateway (measured in errors per second). This is useful to troubleshoot VPN connectivity
issues. High Watermark includes the maximum rate at which errors are encountered by the
gateway (measured in errors per second) since the gateway was restarted, and the total
number of errors encountered by the gateway since the gateway was restarted.
• Hardware - The name of the VPN Accelerator Vendor, and the status of the Accelerator.
General errors such as the current rate at which VPN Accelerator general errors are
encountered by the gateway (measured in errors per second). The High Watermark includes
the maximum rate at which VPN Accelerator general errors are encountered by the gateway
(measured in errors per second) since the gateway was restarted. The total number of VPN
Accelerator general errors encountered by the gateway since it was restarted.
• IP Compression - Compressed/Decompressed packets statistics and errors.

QoS
• Policy information - The name of the QoS Policy and the date and time that it was installed.
• Number of interfaces - The number of interfaces on the Check Point QoS gateway. Information
about the interfaces applies to both inbound and outbound traffic. This includes the maximum
and average amount of bytes that pass per second, and the total number of conversations,
where conversations are active connections and connections that are anticipated as a result of
prior inspection. Examples are data connections in FTP, and the "second half" of UDP
connections.
• Packet and Byte information - The number of packets and bytes in Check Point QoS queues.

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ClusterXL
• gateway working mode - The gateway working mode as a cluster member, active or not, and
its place in the priority sequence. Working modes are: ClusterXL, Load Sharing, Sync only.
Running modes: active, standby, ready and down.
• Interfaces - Interfaces recognized by the gateway. The interface data includes the IP Address
and status of the specified interface, if the connection that passes through the interface is
verified, trusted or shared.
• Problem Notes - Descriptions of the problem notification device such as its status, priority and
when the status was last verified.

OPSEC
• The version name or number, and build number of the Check Point OPSEC SDK and OPSEC
product. The of time it takes (in seconds) since the OPSEC gateway is up and running.
• The OPSEC vendor can add fields to their OPSEC Application gateway details.

Check Point Security Management

• The synchronization status indicates the status of the peer Security Management Servers in
relation to that of the selected Security Management Server. View this status in the
Management High Availability Servers window, if you are connected to the Active or Standby
Security Management Server. The possible synchronization statuses are:
• Never been synchronized - Immediately after the Secondary Security Management Server
was installed, it did not undergo with the first manual synchronization. This synchronization
brings it up to date with the Primary Management.
• Synchronized - The peer is synchronized correctly and has the same database information
and installed Security Policy.
• Advanced - The Security Management Server is more advanced and up-to-date than the
standby server.
• Lagging - The Security Management Server was synchronized correctly.
• Collision - The active Security Management Server and its peer have different installed
policies and databases. The administrator must do manual synchronization and decide
which of the Security Management Servers to overwrite.
• Clients - The number of connected clients on the Security Management Server, the name of
the SmartConsole, the administrator that manages the SmartConsole, the name of the
SmartConsole host, the name of the locked database, and the type of SmartConsole
application.

SmartConsole Server
The number of licensed users that are currently connected.

Domain Log Server

Indicates the number of licensed users that are currently connected, and if the Security
Management Server is active or not. The Domain Log Server includes elaborate details about the
named connected client, the name of the administrator, managing the selected Domain Log
Server, the host of the Domain Log Server, and the name of the database if it is locked. The
Domain Log Server indicates the type of application that the Domain Log Server can track.

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SmartEvent Correlation Unit and the SmartEvent Server

SmartView Monitor reads statuses from the SmartEvent Correlation Unit and SmartEvent Server.
SmartEvent Correlation Unit status examples:
• Is the SmartEvent Correlation Unit active or inactive
• Is the SmartEvent Correlation Unit connected to the SmartEvent Server
• Is the SmartEvent Correlation Unit connected to the Domain Log Server
• SmartEvent Correlation Unit and Domain Log Server connection status
• Offline job status
• Lack of disk space status
SmartEvent Server status examples:
• Last handle event time
• Is the SmartEvent Server active or inactive
• A list of SmartEvent Correlation Unit the SmartEvent Server is connected to
• How many events arrived in a specified time period
Connect the SmartEvent Correlation Unit to the Log Server or the Domain Log Server to let it read
logs. Connect it to the SmartEvent Server to send events to it. If problems occur in the SmartEvent
Correlation Unit connection to other components (for example, SIC problems) the problems are
reported in the SmartEvent Correlation Unit status.
For the same reasons, the SmartEvent Server contains statuses that provide information about
connections to all Correlation Units.

Anti-Virus and URL Filtering

SmartView Monitor can now provide statuses and counters for gateways with Anti-Virus and URL
Filtering.
The statuses are divided into these categories:
• Current Status
• Update Status (for example, when was the signature update last checked)
Anti-Virus statuses are associated with signature checks and URL Filtering statuses are
associated with URLs and categories.
In addition, SmartView Monitor can now run Anti-Virus and URL Filtering counters.
For example:
• Top five attacks in the last hour
• Top 10 attacks since last reset
• Top 10 http attacks in the last hour
• HTTP attacks general info

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Multi-Domain Security Management

SmartView Monitor can be used to monitor Multi-Domain Servers. This information can be viewed
in the Gateway Status view. In this view you can see Multi-Domain Security Management counter
information (for example, CPU or Overall Status).

Starting and Stopping Cluster Members

To stop and start one member of a cluster from SmartView Monitor:
1. Open a Gateway Status view.
2. Right-click the cluster member and select Cluster Member > Start Member or Stop Member.

Monitoring Tunnels
Tunnels Solution
VPN Tunnels are secure links between Security Gateways. These Tunnels ensure secure
connections between gateways of an organization and remote access clients.
When Tunnels are created and put to use, you can keep track of their normal function, so that
possible malfunctions and connectivity problems can be accessed and solved as soon as possible.
To ensure this security level, SmartView Monitor constantly monitor and analyze the status of an
organization's Tunnels to recognize malfunctions and connectivity problems. With the use of
Tunnel views, you can generate fully detailed reports that include information about the Tunnels
that fulfill the specific Tunnel views conditions. With this information you can monitor Tunnel
status, the Community with which a Tunnel is associated, the gateways to which the Tunnel is
connected, and so on. These are the Tunnel types:
• A Regular tunnel refers to the ability to send encrypted data between two peers. The Regular
tunnel is considered up if both peers have Phase 1 and Phase 2 keys.
• Permanent tunnels are constantly kept active. As a result, it is easier to recognize
malfunctions and connectivity problems. With Permanent tunnels administrators can monitor
the two sides of a VPN tunnel and identify problems without delay.
Permanent tunnels are constantly monitored. Therefore, each VPN tunnel in the community
can be set as a Permanent tunnel. A log, alert or user defined action can be issued when the
VPN tunnel is down.
Permanent tunnels can only be established between Check Point gateways. The configuration
of Permanent tunnels takes place on the community level and:
• Can be specified for an entire community. This option sets every VPN tunnel in the
community as permanent.
• Can be specified for a specific gateway. Use this option to configure specific gateways to
have Permanent tunnels.
• Can be specified for a single VPN tunnel. This feature allows to configure specific tunnels
between specific gateways as permanent.
This table shows the possible Tunnel states and their significance to a Permanent or Regular
Tunnel.

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State Permanent Tunnel Regular Tunnel

Up The tunnel works and the data IDE SA (Phase 1) and IPSEC SA
can flow with no problems. (Phase 2) exist with a peer gateway.

Destroyed The tunnel is destroyed. The tunnel is destroyed.

Up Phase1 Irrelevant Tunnel initialization is in process

and Phase 1 is complete (that is,
IKE SA exists with cookies), but
there is no Phase 2.

Down There is a tunnel failure. You Irrelevant.

cannot send and receive data to
or from a remote peer.

Up Init The tunnel is initialized. Irrelevant.

Gateway not Responding The gateway is not responding. The gateway is not responding.

Tunnel View Updates

If a Tunnel is deleted from SmartConsole, the Tunnel Results View shows the deleted Tunnel for
an hour after it was deleted.
If a community is edited, the Results View shows removed tunnels for an hour after they were
removed from the community.

Running Tunnel Views

When a Tunnel view runs the results show in the SmartView Monitor client. A Tunnel view can
run:
• From an existing view
• When you create a new view
• When you change an existing view
A Tunnels view can be created and run for:
• Down Permanent Tunnels
• Permanent Tunnels
• Tunnels on Community
• Tunnels on Gateway

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Run a Down Tunnel View

Down Tunnel view results list all the Tunnels that are currently not active.

To run a down tunnel view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, click the Tunnels branch in the Tree View.
2. In the Tunnels branch (Custom or Predefined), double-click the Down Permanent Tunnel
view.
A list of all the Down Tunnels associated with the selected view properties shows.

Run a Permanent Tunnel View

Permanent Tunnel view results list all of the existing Permanent Tunnels and their current
status.
A Permanent Tunnel is a Tunnel that is constantly kept active.

To run a permanent tunnel view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, click the Tunnels branch in the Tree View.
2. In the Tunnels branch, double-click the Custom Permanent Tunnel view that you want to run.
A list of the Permanent Tunnels related to the selected view properties shows.

Run a Tunnels on Community View

Tunnels on Community view results list all the Tunnels related to a selected Community.

To run a tunnels on community view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, click the Tunnels branch in the Tree View.
2. In the Tunnels branch (Custom or Predefined), double-click the Tunnels on Community view.
A list of all Communities shows.
3. Select the Community whose Tunnels you want to monitor.
4. Click OK.
A list of all the Tunnels related to the selected Community shows.

Run Tunnels on Gateway View

Tunnels on Gateways view results list all of the Tunnels related to a selected Gateway.

To run tunnels on Gateway view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, click the Tunnels branch in the Tree View.
2. In the Tunnels branch (Custom or Predefined), double-click the Tunnels on Gateway view.
A list of the gateways shows.
3. Select the gateway whose Tunnels and their status you want to see.
4. Click OK.
A list of the Tunnels related to the selected gateway shows.

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Monitoring Traffic or System Counters

Traffic or System Counters Solution
SmartView Monitor provides tools that enable you to know traffic related to specified network
activities, server, and so on, and the status of activities, hardware and software use of different
Check Point products in real-time. With this knowledge you can:
• Block specified traffic when a threat is imposed.
• Assume instant control of traffic flow on a gateway.
• Learn about how many tunnels are currently opened, or the rate of new connections that pass
through the VPN gateway.
SmartView Monitor delivers a comprehensive solution to monitor and analyze network traffic and
network usage. You can generate fully detailed or summarized graphs and charts for all
connections intercepted and logged when you monitor traffic, and for numerous rates and figures
when you count usage throughout the network.

Traffic
Traffic Monitoring provides in-depth details on network traffic and activity. As a network
administrator you can generate traffic information to:
• Analyze network traffic patterns
Network traffic patterns help administrators determine which services demand the most
network resources.
• Audit and estimate costs of network use
Monitoring traffic can provide information on how the use of network resources is divided
among corporate users and departments. Reports that summarize customer use of services,
bandwidth and time can provide a basis to estimate costs for each user or department.
• Identify the departments and users that generate the most traffic and the times of peak
activity.
• Detect and monitor suspicious activity. Network administrators can produce graphs and charts
that document blocked traffic, alerts, rejected connections, or failed authentication attempts to
identify possible intrusion attempts.
A Traffic view can be created to monitor the Traffic types listed in the following table.

Traffic Type Explanation

Services Shows the current status view about Services used through the selected
gateway.

IPs/Network Shows the current status view about active IPs/Network Objects through the
Objects selected gateway.

Security Rules Shows the current status view about the most frequently used Firewall rules.
The Name column in the legend states the rule number as previously configured
in SmartConsole.

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Traffic Type Explanation

Interfaces Shows the current status view about the Interfaces associated with the selected
gateway.

Connections Shows the current status view about current connections initiated through the
selected gateway.

Tunnels Shows the current status view about the Tunnels associated with the selected
gateway and their usage.

Virtual Link Shows the current traffic status view between two gateways (for example,
Bandwidth, Bandwidth Loss, and Round Trip Time).

Packet Size Shows the current status view about packets according to the size of the
Distribution packets.

QoS Shows the current traffic level for each QoS rule.

Traffic Legend Output

The values that you see in the legend depend on the Traffic view that you run.
All units in the view results show in configurable Intervals.

System Counters
Monitoring System Counters provides in-depth details about Check Point Software Blade usage
and activities. As a network administrator you can generate system status information about:
• Resource usage for the variety of components associated with the gateway. For example, the
average use of real physical memory, the average percent of CPU time used by user
applications, free disk space, and so on.
• Gateway performance statistics for a variety of Firewall components. For example, the average
number of concurrent CVP sessions handled by the HTTP security server, the number of
concurrent IKE negotiations, the number of new sessions handled by the SMTP security
server, and so on.
• Detect and monitor suspicious activity. Network administrators can produce graphs and charts
that document the number of alerts, rejected connections, or failed authentication attempts to
identify possible intrusion attempts.

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Select and Run a Traffic or System Counters View

When a Traffic or System Counters view runs, the results show in the SmartView Monitor client. A
Traffic or System Counter view can run:
• From an existing view
• When you create a new view
• When you change an existing view

To run a Traffic or System Counters view:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, select the Traffic or System Counter branch in the Tree View.
2. Double-click the Traffic or System Counter view that you want to run.
A list of available gateways shows.
3. Select the gateway for which you want to run the selected Traffic or System Counter view.
4. Click OK.
The results of the selected view show in the SmartView Monitor client.

Recording a Traffic or Counter View

You can save a record of the Traffic or System Counter view results.

To record a traffic or counter view:

1. Run the Traffic or System Counters view.
2. Select the Traffic menu.
3. Select Recording > Record.
A Save As window shows.
4. Name the record.
5. Save it in the related directory.
6. Click Save.
The word Recording shows below the Traffic or Counter toolbar. The appearance of this word
signifies that the view currently running is recorded and saved.
7. To stop recording, open the Traffic menu and select Recording > Stop.
A record of the view results is saved in the directory you selected in step 3 above.

Play the Results of a Recorded Traffic or Counter View

After you record a view, you can play it back. You can select Play or Fast Play, to see results
change faster.

To play the results:

1. In the SmartView Monitor client, select Traffic > Recording > Play.
The Select Recorded File window shows.
2. Access the directory in which the recorded file is kept and select the related record.
3. Click Open.
The results of the selected recorded view start to run. The word Playing shows below the
toolbar.

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Pause or Stop the Results of a Recorded View that is Playing

• To pause the record select Traffic > Recording > Pause.
• Click Recording > Play to resume to play the Traffic or Counter view results recorded before.
• To stop the record select Traffic > Recording > Stop.

Monitoring Users
Users Solution
The User Monitor is an administrative feature. This feature lets you to keep track of Endpoint
Security VPN users currently logged on to the specific Security Management Servers. The User
Monitor provides you with a comprehensive set of filters which makes the view definition process
user-friendly and highly efficient. It lets you to easily navigate through the obtained results.
With data on current open sessions, overlapping sessions, route traffic, connection time, and
more, the User Monitor gives detailed information about connectivity experience of remote users.
This SmartView Monitor feature lets you view real-time statistics about open remote access
sessions.
If specific data are irrelevant for a given User, the column shows N/A for the User.

Run a Users View

When you run a Users view, the results show in the SmartView Monitor client:
• From an existing view
• When you create a new view
• When you change an existing view
A Users view can be created and run for:
• One user
• All users
• A specific gateway
• Mobile Access user

Run a User View for a Specified User

To run a user view for a specified user:
1. In SmartView Monitor > Tree View, click Users.
2. Click Get User by Name.
The User DN Filter window opens.
3. Enter the specified User DN in the area provided.
4. Click OK.
The view results show in the Results View.

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Run a User View for all Users or Mobile Access Users

To run a user view for all users or Mobile Access users:
1. In SmartView Monitor > Tree View, click Users.
2. Click All Users or Mobile Access Users.
The view results show in the Results View.

Run a User View for a Specified Gateway

To run a user view for a specified Gateway:
1. In SmartView Monitor > Tree View, click Users.
2. Click Users by Gateway.
The Select Gateway window shows.
3. Select the gateway for which you want to run the view.
4. Click OK.
The view results show in the Results View.

Cooperative Enforcement
Cooperative Enforcement Solution
Cooperative Enforcement works with Check Point Endpoint Security Management Servers. This
feature utilizes the Endpoint Security Management Server compliance function to make sure
connections that come from different hosts across the internal network.
Endpoint Security Management Server is a centrally managed, multi-layered endpoint security
solution that employs policy based security enforcement for internal and remote PCs. The
Endpoint Security Management Server mitigates the risk of hackers, worms, spyware, and other
security threats.
Features such as policy templates, and application privilege controls enable administrators to
easily develop, manage, and enforce Cooperative Enforcement.
With Cooperative Enforcement, a host that initiates a connection through a gateway is tested for
compliance. This increases the integrity of the network because it prevents hosts with malicious
software components to access the network.
This feature acts as a middle-man between hosts managed by an Endpoint Security Management
Server and the Endpoint Security Management Server itself. It relies on the Endpoint Security
Management Server compliance feature. This feature defines if a host is secure and can block
connections that do not meet the defined prerequisites of software components.
A typical Cooperative Enforcement workflow:
1. A host opens a connection to the network through a Firewall gateway. The first packet from
the client to the server is allowed. The Cooperative Enforcement feature starts to perform on
the first server's reply to the client.
2. The Firewall checks for host compliance in its tables and queries the Endpoint Security
Management Server, if required.
3. A connection from a compliant host is allowed when a reply is received. But if the client is
non-compliant, the connection is closed, unless this Firewall feature is in Monitor-only mode.
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For more about the Endpoint Security client and Cooperative Enforcement, see the R77 Security
Gateway Technical Administration Guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=24836.

Enforcement Mode
In this mode, a non-compliant host connection is blocked by the Firewall Cooperative Enforcement
feature. If it is an HTTP connection, the host gets a notification page that indicates that it is not
compliant. The user can do the applicable actions to become compliant. For example, to become
compliant the user can upgrade the version of the Endpoint Security client.

Monitor Only Deployment Mode

In the Monitor Only Deployment Mode, hosts can connect while the Firewall gateway grants
authorization status. In addition, the Firewall generates logs for unauthorized hosts. The
administrator can add unauthorized hosts to the host's exception list or perform the appropriate
operations to make those hosts compliant.
See the logs generated for authorized and unauthorized hosts in SmartView Monitor.

Non-Compliant Hosts by Gateway View

The SmartView Monitor Non-Compliant Hosts by Gateway view lets you to distinguish between
Host IPs that have one of these Endpoint Security Management Server compliances:
• Authorized - enables access to the Internet. If a gateway has an Authorized status it does not
show in the SmartView Monitor Non-Compliant Hosts by Gateway view.
• Unauthorized obstructs access to the Internet.
• No Endpoint Security client indicates that the gateway is not related to an Endpoint Security
client.
In addition, the SmartView Monitor Non-Compliant Hosts by Gateway view provides information
about Host IPs with one of these modes.
• Monitor Only indicates that an Endpoint Security client has access to the Internet, if it is
authorized or not.
• Blocked mode obstructs access to the Internet.

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This figure illustrates Endpoint Security client (A) access from the internal network (B) to the
Internet (C) in association with the Gateway (D) and Endpoint Security Management Server (E).

Unauthorized

Authorized

Process:
1. An Endpoint Security client (A) in the internal network (B) opens a connection to the Internet
(C). The Internet is opened through a Security Gateway (D).
2. The Security Gateway checks for the client's compliance in its tables and queries the Endpoint
Security server (E) if necessary.
3. When a reply is received, a connection from a compliant host to the Internet is allowed. But if
the client is non-compliant, the connection is closed, unless Cooperative Enforcement is in
Monitor-only mode.

Running a Cooperative Enforcement View

To run and read a cooperative enforcement view.
1. In the Tree View select Cooperative Enforcement > Non-Compliant Hosts By Gateway.
The Select Gateway window shows.
2. Select the gateway or cluster that you want to review and select OK.
The information shows in the Cooperative Enforcement Results view.
3. To refresh the view select the round blue arrow on top of the Enforced On column.
The Cooperative Enforcement Results view contains this information:

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• Enforced On indicates the gateway related to the information provided.

• IP indicates the specified gateway host.
• Action indicates the gateway mode (that is, Monitor Only or Blocked).
• Reason indicates the hosts Endpoint Security server compliance (that is, Unauthorized or No
Endpoint Security client)

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CHAPTE R 7

Log and Event Storage Maintenance

In This Section:
Managing the Log and Event Database .....................................................................126
Minimum Disk Space ..................................................................................................126

This chapter covers Log and Event storage maintenance.

Managing the Log and Event Database

SmartEvent and Log Server use an optimization algorithm to manage disk space and other system
resources. When the Logs and Events database becomes too large, the oldest events are
automatically deleted to save space.

Minimum Disk Space

The Security Management Server or Log Server with log indexing enabled, creates and uses index
files for fast access to log file content. Index files are located by default at
$RTDIR/log_indexes.
To make sure that there is always sufficient disk space on the server, the server that stores the
log index deletes the oldest index entries when the available disk space is less than a specified
minimum. The default minimum value is 5000 MB, or 15% of the available disk space.
For more about the specified disk space for your environment, see the R80 Release Notes
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?ID=46538.

To change the minimum available disk space for Logs and indexes:
1. In SmartConsole, edit the Security Management Server or Log Server or SmartEvent network
object.
2. Open Logs > Storage.
3. Select When disk space is below <number> Mbytes, start deleting old log files.
4. Change the disk space value.
Note - In a Multi-Domain Security Management environment, the disk space for logs and
indexes is controlled by the Multi-Domain Server, and applies to all Domain Servers. Configure
the disk space on the Multi-Domain Server object.

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CHAPTE R 8

Third-Party Log Formats

In This Section:
Importing Syslog Messages .......................................................................................127
Importing Windows Events.........................................................................................128
Working with SNMP ....................................................................................................131

You can import these third-party log formats to a Check Point Log Server:
• Syslog messages.
• Windows Events.
• SNMP Traps.
The Log Server converts the third-party log messages to a Check Point log. The log is then
available for further analysis by SmartEvent.

Importing Syslog Messages

Many third-party devices use the syslog format for logging. The Log Server reformats the raw data
to the Check Point log format to process third-party syslog messages.
The Log Server uses a syslog parser to convert syslog messages to the Check Point log format.
To import syslog messages, define your own syslog parser and install it on the Log Server.
SmartEvent can take the reformatted logs and convert them into security events.

Generating a Syslog Parser and Importing syslog Messages

To import syslog messages from products and vendors that are not supported out-of-the-box, see
sk55020 http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk55020. This shows you how to:
1. Import some sample syslog messages to the Log Parsing Editor.
2. Define the mapping between syslog fields and the Check Point log fields.
3. Install the syslog parser on the Log Server.
After you imported the syslog messages to the Log Server, you can see them in SmartConsole, in
the Logs & Monitor > Logs tab.
Note - Make sure that Access Control rules allow ELA traffic between the Syslog computer and
the Log Server.

Configuring SmartEvent to Read Imported Syslog Messages

After you imported the syslog messages to the Log Server, you can forward them to SmartEvent
Server (and other OPSEC LEA clients), as other Check Point logs. SmartEvent convert the syslog
messages into security events.

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To configure the SmartEvent Server to read logs from this Log Server:
1. Configure SmartEvent to read logs from the Log Server (see "Configuring Dedicated
Correlation Units" on page 20).
2. In SmartEvent or in the SmartConsole event views, make a query to filter by the Product Name
field. This field uniquely identifies the events that are created from the syslog messages.

Importing Windows Events

Check Point Windows Event Service is a Windows service application. It reads events from the
Windows server and other configured Windows computers, converts them to Check Point logs,
and places the data in the Check Point Log Server. The Log Server processes this data. The
process can only be installed on a Windows computer, but it does not have to be the computer that
runs Log Server. Therefore, Windows events can be processed even if the Log Server is installed
on a different platform.

How Windows Event Service Works

To convert Windows events into Check Point logs:
1. Download the Windows Event Service agent WinEventToCPLog from the Check Point
Support Center.
2. Install the service agent on a Windows server.
An administrator user name and password are necessary. The administrator name is one of
these:
• A domain administrator responsible for the endpoint computer
• A local administrator on the endpoint computer
3. Create SIC between the Windows server and the management.
4. Configure the Windows server to collect Windows events from required computers.

Administrator Support for WinEventToCPLog

WinEventToCPLog uses Microsoft APIs to read events from Windows operating system event
files. To see these files, use the Windows Event Viewer.
WinEventToCPLog can read event files on the local machine, and can read log files from remote
machines with the right privileges. This is useful when you make a central WinEventToCPLog
server that forwards multiple Window hosts events to a Check Point Log server.
To set the privileges, invoke WinEventToCPLog -s to specify an administrator login and
password.
These are the ways to access the files on a remote machine:
• To define a local administrator on the remote machine that their name matches the name
registered with WinEventToCPLog.
• To define the administrator registered with WinEventToCPLog as an administrator in the
domain. This administrator can access all of the machines in the domain.

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Sending Windows Events to the Log Server

This shows how to send Windows events to the Log Server. For advanced Windows event
configuration, see sk98861 (http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk89961).

Creating an OPSEC object for Windows Event Service

In SmartConsole, create an OPSEC object for Windows Event Service.

To create an OPSEC object for windows event service:

1. From the Object Explore, click New > Server > OPSEC Application > Application.
The OPSEC Applications Properties window shows.
2. Enter the name of the application that sends log files to the Log Server.
3. Click New to create a Host.
4. Enter an object name and the IP address of the machine that runs WinEventToCPLog.
5. Click OK.
6. Below Client Entities, select ELA.
7. Select Communication.
8. Enter an Activation Key, enter it again in the confirmation line, and keep a record of it for later
use.
9. Click Initialize.
The system must report the trust status as Initialized but trust not established.
10. Click Close.
11. Click OK.
12. Click Publish to save the database.
Note - Make sure that Access Control rules allow ELA traffic between the Windows computer
and the Log Server.

Note - Make sure that Access Control rules allow ELA traffic between the Windows computer and
the Log Server.

Configuring the Windows service

On the Windows host, configure the Windows service to send logs to Log Server.

To configure the Windows service:

1. Install the WinEventToCPLog package
http://supportcenter.checkpoint.com/file_download?id=7200 from the Check Point Support
Center.
2. When the installation completes, restart the computer.
3. Open a command prompt window and go to this location:
C:\Program Files\CheckPoint\WinEventToCPLog\R65\bin
On 64 bit computers the path starts with C:\Program files (x86).
4. Run: windowEventToCPLog -pull_cert
a) Enter the IP address of the management server.

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 Third-Party Log Formats

b) Enter the name of the corresponding OPSEC Application object that you created in
SmartConsole for the Windows events.
c) Enter the Activation Key of the OPSEC object.
5. Restart the Check Point Windows Event Service.

Establishing Trust
Establish trust between the Security Management Server and the windows host.

To establish trust:
1. Edit the OPSEC Application that you created in SmartConsole for the Windows events.
2. Select Communication.
3. Make sure that the trust status is Trust Established.
4. Click Publish to save the database.

Configuring the Windows Audit Policy

On each machine that sends Windows Events, configure the Windows Audit Policy.

To configure the windows audit:

1. From the Start menu, select: Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local
Security Policy > Local Policies > Audit Policy.
2. Make sure that the Security Setting for the Policy Audit Logon Events is set to Failure. If not,
double-click it and select Failure.
3. Open a command prompt window and go to this path:
C:\Program Files\CheckPoint\WinEventToCPLog\R65\bin.
On 64 bit computers, the path starts with C:\Program files (x86).
4. Run these commands:
windowEventToCPLog -l <ipaddr>, where <ipaddr> is the IP address of the Log Server that
receives the Windows Events.
windowEventToCPLog -a <ipaddr>, where <ipaddr> is the IP address of each machine that
sends Windows Events.
windowEventToCPLog -s, where you are prompted for an administrator name and the
administrator password that to be registered with the windowEventToCPLog service.
The administrator that runs the windowEventToCPLog service must have permissions to
access and read logs from the IP addressed defined in this procedure. This is the IP address of
the computer that sends Windows events.
5. When you configure windowEventToCPLog to read Windows events from a remote machine,
log in as the administrator. This makes sure that the administrator can access remote
computer events.
6. Use the Microsoft Event Viewer to read the events from the remote machine.

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 Third-Party Log Formats

Working with SNMP

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is an Internet standard protocol. SNMP is used to
send and receive management data, protocol data units (PDUs), to network devices.
SNMP-compliant devices, called agents, keep data about themselves in Management Information
Bases (MIBs) and resend this data to the SNMP requesters.
Network management applications use SNMP and the supported MIB to query a management
agent. The Check Point SNMP implementation lets an SNMP manager monitor the system and
modify selected objects only. You can define and change one read-only community string and one
read-write community string. You can set, add, and delete trap receivers and enable or disable
various traps. You can also enter the location and contact strings for the system.
Check Point platforms support SNMP v1, v2, and v3. An SNMP manager use GetRequest,
GetNextRequest, GetBulkRequest, and a specified number of traps to monitor a device. The
Check Point implementation supports SetRequest to change these attributes: sysContact,
sysLocation, and sysName. You must configure read-write permissions for set operations to
work.

SNMP Best Practices Guide

The SNMP Best Practices Guide
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/documentation_download?id=31396 covers these topics:
• Recommendations about how to implement SNMP for Check Point Security Gateways and
Security Management Servers
• Procedures that tell how to configure SNMP counters and traps for Check Point operating
systems
• A list of commonly used OIDs for the Check Point MIB. These are some of the categories for
the OIDs:
• System - CPU, memory, hard disk
• Appliance hardware monitoring
• Network activity
• Check Point Software Blades

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 131

APPENDIX A

Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Many third-party devices use the syslog format to log. The Log Server reformats the raw data to
the Check Point log format to process third-party syslog messages. SmartEvent can take the
reformatted logs and convert them into security events.
You can use the Log Parsing Editor to make a parsing file ("Generating a Syslog Parser and
Importing syslog Messages" on page 127). As an alternative you can manually create a parsing
file. This section shows you how to do that.

Warning - Manual modifications to out-of-the-box parsing files cannot be preserved

automatically during an upgrade. Mark your modifications with comments so you can
remember what changed.

In This Appendix
Planning and Considerations .....................................................................................132
The Parsing Procedure ..............................................................................................133
Manual Syslog Parsing ...............................................................................................133
The Free Text Parsing Language ...............................................................................134

Planning and Considerations

1. Learn the accurate structure of the logs the device generates with these guides.
a) The vendor logging guide, or other documentation that specifies the logs the device can
generate and their structure. Documentation is important to make sure that you found all
possible logs. Usually it is sufficient to write the parsing file.
b) Log samples, as many as possible. Use logs generated from the actual devices to be used
with SmartEvent. Samples are important to examine the parsing file and to tune it
accordingly.
2. Learn and know the Free Text Parsing Language ("The Free Text Parsing Language" on page
134) and the necessary parsing files and their location on the Log Server ("The Parsing
Procedure" on page 133).
3. Compare existing parsing files of an equivalent product.
4. Select the fields to extract from the log. The fields to extract are different from one device to
another. But devices of the same category usually have equivalent log fields. For example:
Typical Log Fields
Device Type

Firewall, router and other devices that send connection source IP address, destination IP address, source port,
based logs destination port, protocol, accept/reject indication

IDS / IPS, application Firewall and other devices that attack name/ID
send attack logs

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

The Parsing Procedure

The procedure occurs on the Log Server and starts with the syslog daemon. The syslog daemon
that runs on the Log Server receives the syslogs and calls for their parsing. The parsing involves
many parsing files, which contain the different parsing definitions and specifications, and can be
found in $FWDIR\conf\syslog\. In these files there are the device-specific parsing files, which
define the actual parsing and extraction of fields, according to each device specific syslog format.
The parsing starts with the syslog_free_text_parser.C file. This file defines the different
dictionaries (see "Dictionary" on page 143) and parses the syslog. The file extracts fields which are
common to all syslog messages (such as PRI, date and time), and the machine and application
that generated the syslog.
syslog_free_text_parser.C uses the allDevices.C file (which refers to two files:
UserDefined/UserDefinedSyslogDevices.C and CPdefined/CPdefinedSyslogDevices.C). The first
(UserDefined/UserDefinedSyslogDevices.C) contains the names of the devices parsing files that
the user defines. The second (CPdefined/CPdefinedSyslogDevices.C) contains devices parsing
files that Check Point defines. allDevices.C goes over the device parsing files, and tries to match
the incoming syslog with the syslog format parsed in that file.
After the parsing-file succeeds in the preliminary parsing of the syslog (that is, it matches the
syslog format and is therefore the syslog origin), the remaining of the syslog is parsed in that file.
If a match is not found, the file will continue to go over the Check Point device parsing files until it
finds a match.

Manual Syslog Parsing

To parse a syslog file:
1. Create a new parsing file called <device product name>.C.
2. Put this file in the directory $FWDIR/conf/syslog/UserDefined on the Log Server.
3. On the Log Server, edit the file
$FWDIR/conf/syslog/UserDefined/UserDefinedSyslogDevices.C to add a line that includes
the new parsing file. For example:

: (
:command (
:cmd_name (include)
:file_name ("snortPolicy.C")
)
)

4. Optional: If required:
a) Create a new dictionary file called <device product name>_dict.ini (see "Dictionary" on
page 143).
b) Put it in the directory $FWDIR/conf/syslog/UserDefined on the Log Server.
A dictionary translates values with the same meaning from logs from different devices into
a common value. This common value is used in the Event Definitions.
c) Edit the file $FWDIR/conf/syslog/UserDefined/UserDefinedSyslogDictionaries.C on the
Log Server.
d) Add a line to include the dictionary file. For example:
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 133
 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

:filename ("snort_dict.ini")

5. To examine the parsing, send syslog samples to a Check Point Log Server.

To send syslog samples:

1. To configure the Log Server to accept syslogs, connect to the Security Management Server
with SmartConsole.
2. In Logs and Masters > Additional Logging Configuration, enable the property Accept Syslog
messages.
3. Edit the Log Server network object.
4. Run the commands cpstop & cpstart, or fw kill fwd & fwd –n.
The fwd procedure on the Log Server restarts.
5. Send syslogs from the device itself, or from a syslog generator.
For example: Kiwi Syslog Message Generator, available at
http://www.kiwisyslog.com/software_downloads.htm#sysloggen.

Troubleshooting:
If SmartConsole does not show the logs as expected, there can be problems with the parsing files:
• If there is a syntax error in the parsing files, an error message shows. To read a specified error
message, set the TDERROR_ALL_FTPARSER value to 5 before you run the procedure fwd -n.
• If the syslogs show in SmartConsole with 'Product syslog', the log was not parsed properly,
but as a general syslog.
• If the Product field contains another product (not the one you have just added) this means
there is a problem with the other product parsing file. Report this to the Check Point
SmartEvent team.
• If the product reports correctly in the log, look for all the fields you extracted. Some of them
are in the Information section. Some fields can be seen only when you select More Columns.

The Free Text Parsing Language

The free text parsing language enables to parse an input string, extract information, and define
log fields. These log fields which show as part of the Check Point log in the Log Server. They are
used in the definition of events. Each parsing file contains a tree of commands. Each command
examines or parses part of the input string (sometimes it adds fields to the log as a result), and
decides if to continue to parse the string (according to the success/failure of its execution).

The Commands
Each command consists of these parts:
• cmd_name - the name of the command.
• command arguments - arguments that define the behavior of the command.
• on_success (optional) - the next command executed if the current command execution
succeeds.
• on_fail (optional) - the next command executed if the current command execution fails.

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Sample

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:try_arguments
.
.
:on_success (
:command()
)
:on_fail (
:command()
)
)

Try
The try command matches a regular expression against the input string.

Try Command Parameters

Argument Description
parse_from start_position - run the regular expression from the start of
the input string.
last_position - run the regular expression from the last
position of the previous successful command.

regexp The regular expression to match.

add_field One or more fields to add to the result (only if the regular
expression is successful).

Try Command Sample

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (start_position)
:regexp ("([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)")
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (Src)
:field_type (ipaddr)
:field_index (1)
)
)

In the above example, we try to match the regular expression

([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+) that looks at the entire log (parse_from
(start_position)) - parse from the start of the log). If the regular expression is matched, we
add a source field.

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Group_try
The command group_try executes one or more commands in one of these modes:
• try_all tries all commands in the group, and ignores the return code of the commands.
• try_all_successively tries all the commands in the group, and ignores the return code of
the commands.
Each command tries to execute from the last position of the earlier successful command.
• try_until_success tries all the commands until one succeeds.
• try_until_fail tries all the commands until one fails.
The command group_try is commonly used when it parses a "free-text" piece of a log, which
contains a number of fields we want to extract. For example:
%PIX-6-605004: Login denied from 194.29.40.24/4813 to
outside:192.168.35.15/ssh for user 'root'
When you look at see this section of the log, you can use this structure:

Group_try Command Sample 1

:command (
:cmd_name (group_try)
:mode (try_all_successively)
:(
# A "try" command for the source.
:command ()
)
:(
# A "try" command for the destination.
:command ()
)
:(
# A "try" command for the user.
:command ()
)
.
.
.
)

In this example, the first try command in the group_try block (for the source) is executed.
If the source, destination and user are not in a specified sequence in the syslog, use the try_all
mode instead of try_all_successively.

Group_try Command Sample 2

In this example, the regular expressions in the different commands try to match more specified
logs. At most, one command in the group_try block will be successful. When it is found, it is not
necessary to examine the others:

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

:command (
:cmd_name (group_try)
:mode (try_until_success)
:(
:command (
.
.
.
:regexp ("(\(|)(login|su)(\)|).* session (opened|closed) for
user ([a-z,A-Z,0-9]*)")
)
)
:(
:command (
.
.
.
:regexp ("(\(|)su(\)|).* authentication failure;
logname=([a-zA-Z0-9]*).*
user=([a-zA-Z0-9]*)")
)
)
.
.
.
)

Note - When you add a new device, the first try command in the parsing file must use the try
until success parameter:
:cmd_name (group_try)
:mode (try_until_success)
: (
….
)

Switch
This command enables to compare the result of a specified field against a list of predefined
constant values.

Switch Command Parameters

Parameter Description

field_name The field name whose value is checked.

case One or more case attributes followed by the value with which to compare.

default Execute only if no relevant case is available. The default value is optional.

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Switch Command Sample

:command (
:cmd_name (switch)
:field_name (msgID)
:(
:case (302005)
:command ()
)
:(
:case (302001)
:case (302002)
:command ()
)
:default (
:command()
)
)

Unconditional _try
This command is an "empty" command that allows to add fields to the result without any
conditions.

Unconditional _try Command Sample 1

:command (
:cmd_name (unconditional_try)
:add_field (
:type (const)
:field_name (product)
:field_type (string)
:field_value ("Antivirus")
)
)

A common usage of unconditional_try is with the switch command. In example 2, each

message ID is attached with its corresponding message field which denotes its meaning.

Unconditional _try Command Sample 2

:command (
:cmd_name (switch)
:field_name (msgID)
(
:case (106017)
:command (
:cmd_name (unconditional_try)
:add_field (
:type (const)
:field_name (message)
:field_type (string_id)
:field_value ("LAND Attack")
)
)

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

)
:(
:case (106020)
:command (
:cmd_name (unconditional_try)
:add_field (
:type (const)
:field_name (message)
:field_type (string_id)
:field_value ("Teardrop Attack")
)
)
)
.
.
.
)

Include
This command enables the inclusion of a new parsing file.

file_name The full path plus the file name of the file to be included.

Include Command Sample

:command (
:cmd_name (include)
:file_name ("c:\freeTextParser\device\antivirusPolicy.C")
)

add_field
Each add_field has some parameters:
• Type - The type of the add_field command. This parameter has these possible values:
• Index - Part of the regular expression will be extracted as the field. The field_index
value denotes which part will be extracted (see field_index bullet).
• Const - Add a constant field whose value does not depend on information extracted from
the regular expression. See field_value bullet.
Field_name - the name of the new field. There are some fields, which have corresponding
columns in SmartConsole Logs & Monitor > Logs. This table shows the names to give these fields
to show in their Logs & Monitor > Logs column (and not in the Information field, where other
added fields appear):

Field Name to be Given Column in Logs & Monitor > Logs

Src Source

Dst Destination

proto Protocol

s_port Source Port

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Field Name to be Given Column in Logs & Monitor > Logs

product Product

service Service (when resolved includes the port

and protocol.)

Action Action

ifname Interface

User User

When you name the above fields accordingly, they are placed in their correct column in Logs &
Monitor > Logs. This enables them to participate in all filtering done on these columns. These
fields automatically take part in existing event definitions with these field names.
Field_type - the type of the field in the log. This table shows the possible field types.

Field Type Comment

int

uint

string

ipaddr For IP addresses used with the Src and Dst fields.

pri Includes the facility and severity of a syslog.

timestmp Includes the date and time of the syslog. Supports the format 'Oct 10 2004
15:05:00'.

time Supports the format '15:05:00'.

string_id For a more efficient usage of strings. Used when there is a finite number of
possible values for this field.

action Supports these actions: drop, reject, accept, encrypt, decrypt, vpnroute, keyinst,
authorize, deauthorize, authcrypt, and default.

ifdir 0 - inbound
1 - outbound

ifname For an interface name (used with the "ifname" field).

protocol The field name should be "proto".

port For "service", "s_port" or "port" fields.

The field type of the field names in this table must be as mentioned:

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Field Name Field Type

Src ipaddr

Dst ipaddr

proto protocol

s_port port

service port

Action action

ifname ifname

• field_index or field_value - The parameter used depends on the value of the "type"
field. If it is index, field_index shows. If it is const, field_value shows.
field_index denotes which part of the regular expression is extracted, according to the
grouping of the patterns. To make this grouping, write a certain expression in brackets. In this
expression, the number in field_index denotes the bracket number whose pattern is taken
into account.

Add_field Command Sample

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (last_position)
:regexp ("Failed password for ([a-zA-Z0-9]+) from
([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+) port ([0-9]+)")
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (User)
:field_type (string)
:field_index (1)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (Src)
:field_type (ipaddr)
:field_index (2)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (port)
:field_type (port)
:field_index (3)
)
)

The pattern for the User, [a-zA-Z0-9]+, is located in the first pair of brackets. Therefore, the
field_index is one. The pattern for the Source address,
[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+, is located in the second pair of brackets. Therefore, the
index is two. The pattern for the port is in the third pair of brackets.
In each parsed regular expression the maximum number of brackets must be up to nine. To
extract more than nine elements from the regular expression, break the expression into two
pieces. The first regular expression contains the first nine brackets. The remaining of the regular
expression is in the on_success command.
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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (start_position)
:regexp ("access-list (.*) (permitted|denied|est-allowed)
([a-zA-Z0-9_\([a-zA-Z0-9_\\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)\(([0-9]*)\) -> ")
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (listID)
:field_type (string)
:field_index (1)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (action)
:field_type (action)
:field_index (2)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (proto)
:field_type (protocol)
:field_index (3)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (ifname)
:field_type (ifname)
:field_index (4)
)
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (Src)
:field_type (ipaddr)
:field_index (5)
)
:on_success (
:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (last_position)
:regexp
("([a-zA-Z0-9_\\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)\(([0-9]*)\) hit-cnt ([0-9]+) ")
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (destination_interface)
:field_type (string)
:field_index (1)
)
)
)
)

field_value is the constant value to be added.

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (last_position)
:regexp ("%PIX-([0-9])-([0-9]*)"))
:add_field (
:type (const)
:field_name (product)
:field_type (string_id)
:field_value ("CISCO PIX")
)
)

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 Appendix: Manual Syslog Parsing

Dict_name is the name of the dictionary to use to convert the value. If the value is not found in
the dictionary, the value is the result. See Dictionary (on page 143).

Dictionary
The free text parser enables us to use dictionaries to convert values from the log. These
conversions are used to translate values from logs from different devices, with the same meaning,
into a common value, which is used in the event definitions.
Each dictionary file is defined as an .ini file. In the ini file the section name is the dictionary
name and the values are the dictionary values (each dictionary can include one or more sections).
[dictionary_name]
Name1 = val1
Name2 = val2
cisco_action] [3com_action]
permitted = accept Permit = accept
denied = reject Deny = reject

Dictionary Sample
The reference to a dictionary in the parsing file is shown in this table:

Dictionary Command Sample 2

:command (
:cmd_name (try)
:parse_from (start_position)
:regexp ("list (.*) (permitted|denied) (icmp)
([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+) -> ([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*
packet")
:add_field (
:type (index)
:field_name (action)
:field_type (action)
:field_index (2)
:dict_name (cisco_action)
)
)

Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide R80 | 143

 Configuring the SmartEvent components in the
First Time Configuration Wizard • 17

Index Configuring the Windows Audit Policy • 129

Configuring the Windows service • 128
Connecting SmartEvent Components to a
A Multi-Domain Server • 19
Connecting the SmartEvent Components to a
add_field • 138 Security Management Server • 18
Adding a Logo to Reports • 37 Cooperative Enforcement • 7, 121
Adding and Customizing • 41 Cooperative Enforcement Solution • 121
Adding Network and Host Objects • 89 Correlation Unit • 7
Administrator • 7 Creating a Block Event Activity Reaction • 73
Administrator Permission Profiles • 23 Creating a Block Source Reaction • 73
Administrator Support for WinEventToCPLog • Creating a Custom Counters View • 106
127 Creating a Custom Gateway Status View • 105
AMON • 98 Creating a Custom Traffic View • 105
Anti-Virus and URL Filtering • 113 Creating a Custom Tunnel View • 107
Appendix Creating a Custom Users View • 107
Manual Syslog Parsing • 131 Creating a Mail Reaction • 72
Assigning an Automatic Reaction to an Event • Creating a New Event Definition • 80
74 Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule • 95
Audit Log • 7 Creating a Suspicious Activity Rule from
Automatic Reactions • 71 Results • 96
Automatic Report Updates • 37 Creating a User-Defined Event • 80
B Creating an Administrator • 23
Creating an Event Candidate • 77
Boolean Operators • 53 Creating an External Script Automatic Reaction
Browse Time • 66 • 73
Creating an OPSEC object for Windows Event
C
Service • 128
Catalog of Views and Reports • 29 Creating an SNMP Trap Reaction • 72
Check Point Security Management • 112 Creating Automatic Reactions • 72
Choosing Rules to Track • 46 Creating Custom Queries • 49, 61
Cluster • 7 Creating Event Definitions (User Defined
Cluster Member • 7 Events) • 75
ClusterXL • 112 Criteria Values • 50
Common Events by Service • 83 Custom Queries • 60
Completing the Configuration • 103 Custom Report • 7
Configuration Procedures • 101 Custom View Example • 108
Configure • 7 Customization • 32, 35
Configure Alert Destinations • 102 Customizing a Report • 35
Configure Global Alert Settings • 102 Customizing Query Filters • 60
Configure Thresholds • 103 Customizing Results • 105
Configuring a Security Gateway to Save Logs Customizing the Results Pane • 48
Locally • 14
Configuring Dedicated Correlation Units • 20 D
Configuring Email Settings for Reports • 40 Database • 7
Configuring Event Definitions in the SmartEvent Defining Status Fetch Frequency • 98
Policy Tab • 68 Defining the Internal Network • 90
Configuring Logging • 12 Deploying a Dedicated Log Server • 12
Configuring SmartEvent to read External Logs • Deploying a Dedicated SmartEvent Server • 17
22 Deploying Logging • 12
Configuring SmartEvent to Read Imported Deploying Monitoring • 94
Syslog Messages • 126 Deploying SmartEvent • 15
Configuring SmartEvent to use a Non-Standard Deploying Views and Reports • 28
LEA Port • 21 Details Tab • 66
Configuring SmartView Monitor • 99 Dictionary • 142
Configuring SNMP Monitoring • 101 Dictionary Sample • 142
Disabling Log Indexing • 13
Displaying Gateway Data • 109 How Windows Event Service Works • 127
DLP • 7
Domain Log Server • 112 I
Immediate Actions • 93
E
Important Information • 3
Editing a Custom View • 105 Importing Log Files from SmartEvent Servers •
Editing IPS Protection Details • 67 27
Eliminating False Positives • 82 Importing Offline Log Files • 26
Enabling Log Indexing • 13 Importing Syslog Messages • 126
Enabling SmartEvent on the Security Importing Windows Events • 127
Management Server • 16 Include • 138
Enforcement Mode • 122 Installation • 17
Establishing Trust • 129 Internal Network • 7
Event • 7 Investigating Events • 67
Event Analysis • 54 IP Addresses • 50
Event Analysis with SmartEvent • 54 IPS • 7
Event Correlation • 7
Event Definition Parameters • 70 L
Event Definitions and General Settings • 69 Locally Managing the Administrator • 24
Event Details • 65 Log • 7
Event List • 62 Log Analysis • 44
Event Policy • 7 Log and Event Storage Maintenance • 125
Event Queries in SmartEvent • 59 Log Server • 7
Event Query Properties window - Actions • 60 Log Server High Availability • 91
Event Query Results in SmartEvent • 62 Logging • 44
Event Statistics pane • 65 Logging and Monitoring Clients • 10
Event Threshold • 70
Exceptions • 75 M
Export and Import • 33, 37 Management Server • 7
Exporting a Custom View • 108 Managing Suspicious Activity Rules • 97
Exporting Events to a File • 64 Managing the Log and Event Database • 125
External Network • 7 Manual Syslog Parsing • 132
F Manually Entering Query Criteria • 50
Matching a Log Against Each Event Definition •
Field Keywords • 52 76
Filtering Events • 63 Matching a Log Against Global Exclusions • 76
Filtering Reports by User Groups • 36 Minimum Disk Space • 125
Filters • 43 Modifying Event Definitions • 69
Firewall • 110 Monitor Only Deployment Mode • 122
Monitoring and Handling Alerts • 94
G
Monitoring Gateway Status • 109
Gateway Status • 109 Monitoring SNMP Thresholds • 103
Generating a Network Activity Report • 39 Monitoring Suspicious Activity Rules • 95
Generating a Predefined Report in the Monitoring Traffic and Connections • 92
SmartEvent GUI Client • 38 Monitoring Traffic or System Counters • 117
Generating a Report • 37 Monitoring Tunnels • 114
Generating a Syslog Parser and Importing Monitoring Users • 120
syslog Messages • 126 Multi-Domain Security Management • 24, 114
Getting Started • 10
Group_try • 135 N
Grouping Events • 63 Network • 8
Non-Compliant Hosts by Gateway View • 122
H
NOT Values • 51
High Level Overview of Event Identification • 75
How Are Logs Converted to Events? • 54 O
How it works • 91 Offline Work For Correlated Events • 26
How SmartView Monitor Works • 97 Opening the SmartEvent GUI Client • 59

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OPSEC • 112 Sending an Event • 64
Sending Windows Events to the Log Server •
P 128
Packet Capture • 67 Services that Generate Events • 82
Pause or Stop the Results of a Recorded View Setting Your Default View • 109
that is Playing • 120 Severity • 70
Permissions for Monitoring, Logging, Events, Showing Query Results • 48
and Reports • 24 SmartConsole • 8
Planning and Considerations • 131 SmartConsole Server • 112
Play the Results of a Recorded Traffic or SmartEvent Correlation Unit • 57
Counter View • 119 SmartEvent Correlation Unit and the
Policy • 8 SmartEvent Server • 113
Policy Tab • 68 SmartEvent Correlation Unit High Availability •
Predefined Queries • 60 91
Predefined Report • 8 SmartEvent High Availability Environment • 91
SmartEvent Licensing • 15
Q SmartEvent Reports-Only Permission Profile •
QoS • 111 25
Query Language Overview • 50 SmartEvent Server • 8
SmartView Monitor Features • 92
R SmartView Monitor scenarios • 93
SNMP Best Practices Guide • 130
Recording a Traffic or Counter View • 119
Software Blade • 8
Refreshing Views • 109
Sorting and Searching Events • 63
Remote Access VPN • 8
Starting and Stopping Cluster Members • 114
Report • 8
Summary Tab • 66
Reports • 34
Switch • 136
Revert Changes • 69, 89
System Administration • 89
Run a Down Tunnel View • 116
System Alert Monitoring Mechanism • 95
Run a Permanent Tunnel View • 116
System Alerts and Thresholds • 99
Run a Tunnels on Community View • 116
System Counter • 8
Run a User View for a Specified Gateway • 121
System Counters • 118
Run a User View for a Specified User • 120
System Data • 109
Run a User View for all Users or Mobile Access
System Requirements • 15
Users • 121
Run a Users View • 120 T
Run Tunnels on Gateway View • 116
Running a Cooperative Enforcement View • 123 The Commands • 133
Running Queries • 47 The Event Analysis Architecture • 56
Running Tunnel Views • 115 The Free Text Parsing Language • 133
The Need for Suspicious Activity Rules • 95
S The Parsing Procedure • 132
The SmartEvent GUI • 58
Sample Application & URL Filtering Event
The SmartEvent Solution • 56
Analysis • 55
The SmartView Web Application • 59
Sample Log Analysis • 44
Third-Party Log Formats • 126
Save As PDF • 33
To Start the Monitoring Views • 93
Save Event Policy • 69, 89
Tracking Event Resolution using Tickets • 67
Saving Logs on Security Gateways • 14
Tracking Options • 46
Scheduling a Report • 38
Traffic • 8, 117
Searching the Logs • 47
Traffic Legend Output • 118
Security Cluster • 8
Traffic or System Counters Solution • 117
Security Gateway • 8
Try • 134
Security Management Server • 8
Tunnel View Updates • 115
Security Policy • 8
Tunnels Solution • 114
Select and Run a Traffic or System Counters
Types of Alerts • 100
View • 119
Selecting Criteria from Grid Columns • 49 U
Selecting Query Fields • 49
Unconditional _try • 137
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Understanding Logging • 11
Users Solution • 120
Using Custom Commands • 68
Using the Log View • 45
Using Wildcards with IP Addresses • 51

V
View Settings • 32
Viewing Alerts • 94
Viewing Rule Logs • 47
Views • 31
Views and Reports • 28
Virtual Private Networks • 110
VPN • 8
VPN Tunnel • 8

W
Welcome • 9
What is an Event? • 54
When a Candidate Becomes an Event • 79
Widgets • 41
Wildcards • 51
Working Hours • 75
Working with Logs • 46
Working with Queries • 59
Working with SmartEvent • 59
Working with SNMP • 130
Working with SNMP Monitoring Thresholds •
100

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