Network automation

In large-scale environments with dynamic topologies — such as ISP operator networks, data centers, or hybrid infrastructures — manual traffic management and incident response become an operational bottleneck. Sycope enables a transition from a reactive model to semi-automated or fully automated control of selected aspects of network operations, using real-time traffic analysis as a source of events triggering actions.

Automation architecture

The foundation of automation in Sycope is an integration layer based on REST API and event export mechanisms (Syslog, SNMP Trap, Webhook). This allows the system to integrate with both traditional NMS/SIEM environments and modern SOAR or SDN platforms.

In a typical architecture:

• Sycope collects NetFlow/sFlow/IPFIX data from routers, firewalls, and load balancers

• traffic is analyzed for anomalies, policy violations, and behavior patterns

• events are forwarded to supervisory systems or directly to execution components (firewalls, NAC, access management systems)

As a result, Sycope acts as Network Detection and Response (NDR) integrated with a control loop.

API integration — automation in practice

Sycope REST API enables bidirectional communication:

• retrieving traffic, session, top talker, and anomaly data

• creating and modifying rules, alerts, and traffic profiles

• remotely triggering actions and workflows

Typical use cases include:

• automatic generation of detection rules after infrastructure changes (e.g., deployment of a new application),

• event synchronization with Zabbix or other NMS platforms to correlate with infrastructure metrics,

• forwarding signals to Suricata or SIEM systems to correlate with application-layer and host-layer data.

For DevNetOps teams, the API enables treating detection and response policies as code (policy-as-code).

Traffic profiles as a policy control mechanism

Traffic rule profiles allow formal definition of permitted communication patterns between network segments. These are not classic ACL rules, but logical models of traffic behavior.

A profile may include, among others:

• communication sources and destinations (subnets, VLAN, ASN, geolocation),

• protocols and ports,

• session volumes and frequency,

• traffic direction and symmetry.

Based on this, Sycope compares real traffic with the reference model, identifies deviations (e.g., unauthorized administrative access, lateral movement, unplanned application dependencies), and generates policy violation or anomaly events.

In practice, profiles serve as a dynamic continuous compliance layer for network traffic.

Reactive actions and orchestration

Sycope enables linking events with execution actions through:

• REST calls to SOAR systems or directly to devices,

• publishing events to message brokers,

• generating SNMP Traps or Syslog messages consumed by NMS or SIEM systems.

Typical scenarios include:

• automatic addition of an IP address to a firewall blacklist after scanning is detected,

• dynamic bandwidth limitation or QoS class change for anomalous traffic,

• host isolation via NAC after detecting unusual lateral traffic.

As a result, Sycope becomes part of the control loop rather than just a passive observer.

Syslog and CEF — universal integration with the security ecosystem

Sycope does not operate in isolation but as part of a broader ecosystem of security and operational tools. A key integration mechanism is event export via Syslog in Common Event Format (CEF), enabling transmission of alerts, metrics, and events to SIEM, NMS, SOAR, or log management platforms without requiring dedicated integrations.

What is sent to Syslog

Sycope exports structured events enriched with full context:

• security alerts with MITRE ATT&CK mapping, IP reputation, and geolocation

• compliance policy violations (unauthorized protocols, communication with prohibited segments)

• performance anomalies (L4–L7 threshold exceedances, response time degradation)

• operational events (detection of new assets, topology changes)

Flexibility and control

Administrators can precisely control export through:

• filtering by severity, event type, or network segment

• directing different event types to different receivers (SIEM, NMS, SOAR)

• format selection (CEF, RFC 5424, custom templates)

• encrypted transport via TLS for environments with high security requirements

Typical scenarios

• Correlation in SIEM — network-layer visibility correlated with system and application logs

• SOAR orchestration — automated playbooks triggered by events from Sycope

• Central management in NMS — network anomalies visible in the same console as infrastructure alerts

• Audit and compliance — recording all network events for NIS2, GDPR, PCI-DSS purposes

As a result, organizations gain a unified flow of event information without tool fragmentation, reducing response time and simplifying operational processes.

Operational support for SOC and NOC

From an operational perspective, Sycope provides ready-made views and predefined scenarios mapping typical network events to specific response steps. This is crucial in 24/7 environments, where reducing MTTR without increasing staff numbers and ensuring consistent response quality regardless of the operator’s experience are key.

Business value

What individual roles gain

What the organization gains

From a company perspective, automation based on Sycope translates into:

• faster incident response and reduced downtime,

• lower operational costs thanks to reduced manual work and human errors,

• greater operational resilience and process repeatability,

• better control over risk and compliance with security policies,

• business scalability without linear growth of IT teams.