In this chapter, we looked at network security with Python. We used the Cisco VIRL tool to set up our lab with both hosts and network devices, consisting of NX-OSv and IOSv types. We took a tour around Scapy, which allows us to construct packets from the ground up. Scapy can be used in the interactive mode for quick testing. Once completed in interactive mode, we can put the steps into a file for more scalable testing. It can be used to perform various network penetration testing for known vulnerabilities.

We also looked at how we can use both an IP access list as well as a MAC access list to protect our network. They are usually the first line of defense in our network protection. Using Ansible, we are able to deploy access lists consistently and quickly to multiple devices.

Syslog and other log files contain useful information that we should regularly comb through to...