NetBrain

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	NetBrain is a network automation technology. With NetBrain, users can prevent network outages by performing critical network tasks such as network topology mapping, documentation, troubleshooting diagnosis, and change verification. The TRM decisions in this entry only apply to technologies and versions owned, operated, managed, patched, and version-controlled by VA. This includes technologies deployed as software installations on VMs within VA-controlled cloud environments (e.g., VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC)). Cloud services provided by the VAEC, which are listed in the VAEC Service Catalog, and those controlled and managed by an external Cloud Service Provider (i.e., SaaS) are not in the purview of the TRM. For more information on the use of cloud services and cloud-based products within VA, including VA private clouds, please see the Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO) Portal at: https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/OITECSO
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology qualifies for a legally-defined Exception (Back Office) as determined by the Section 508 Office and will not need a 508 assessment prior to being available in the TRM. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v24.5
Decision Date:	05/08/2024 at 13:47:58 UTC
Aliases:	NetBrain Enterprise Suite
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	NetBrain

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
5.2.x	09/18/2014
5.4.x	12/17/2014
6.0.x	07/21/2015
6.1.x	03/21/2016
7.0.x	09/19/2017
IE 7.1x	06/07/2018
CE 6.2x	11/30/2016
IE 8.1	10/29/2019
10.x	03/26/2021

Current Decision Matrix (04/30/2024)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2016

CY2017

CY2018

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

5.2.x

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Divest
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Divest
[4, 5, 7]

Divest
[4, 5, 8, 9]

Divest
[5, 8, 10, 11]

Unapproved

5.4.x

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 7]

Divest
[4, 5, 8, 9]

Divest
[5, 8, 10, 11]

Divest
[5, 8, 11, 12]

Unapproved

6.0.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 7]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 8, 9]

Divest
[4, 5, 8, 9]

Divest
[5, 8, 10, 11]

Divest
[5, 8, 11, 12]

Divest
[5, 6, 11, 13, 14]

Unapproved

6.1.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 7]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 5, 8, 9]

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 8, 10, 11]

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 8, 11, 12]

Divest
[5, 6, 11, 13, 14]

7.0.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 6, 11, 13, 14]

IE 7.1x

Unapproved

CE 6.2x

Unapproved

IE 8.1

Unapproved

10.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	On July 16, 2014, the VA Enterprise Security Solutions Service did an Initial Product Review (IPR) and had the following recommendations because NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified: NetBrain should only be used when the VA approved network mapping tool does not meet the necessary requirements and the use for an alternative tool is warranted. A Risk Based Decision (RBD) must be in place and approved by the local ISO/CIO. Please see the IPR for additional considerations when considering and/or preparing an RBD for the use of this technology.

[2]	As of April 23, 2015, per the Deputy CIO of Architecture, Strategy and Design (ASD), all technologies in use by the VA require an assessment by the VA Section 508 office. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 is a federal law that sets the guidelines for technology accessibility. A VA Section 508 assessment of this technology has not been completed at the time of publication. Therefore, as of April 23, 2015 only users of this technology who have deployed the technology to the production environment, or have project design and implementation plans approved, may continue to operate this technology. In the case of a project that has implemented, or been approved for a specific site or number of users, and that project needs to expand operations to other sites or to an increased user base, it may do so as long as the project stays on the existing version of the technology that was approved or implemented as of April 22, 2015. Use of this technology in all other cases is prohibited.

[3]	On July 16, 2014, the VA Enterprise Security Solutions Service did an Initial Product Review (IPR) and had the following recommendations because NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified: NetBrain should only be used when the VA approved network mapping tool does not meet the necessary requirements and the use for an alternative tool is warranted. A Risk Based Decision (RBD) must be in place and approved by the local ISO/CIO. Please see the Initial Product Review (IPR) for additional considerations when considering and/or preparing a Reliability Based Design (RBD) for the use of this technology.

[4]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[5]	Use of this technology is limited to VA staff charged with ensuring the security of the VA network infrastructure. VA staff performing analysis with this technology need to work closely with system owners and agree on security scanning rules, such as the assets scanned, along the schedule and frequency of those scans.

[6]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[7]	On August 3, 2016 the VA Enterprise Security Solutions Service did an Initial Product Review (IPR) and had the following recommendations because NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified: NetBrain can only be used when the VA approved network mapping tool does not meet the necessary requirements and the use for an alternative tool is warranted. A Risk Based Decision (RBD) must be in place and approved by the local ISO/CIO.

[8]	On August 3, 2016 the VA Enterprise Security Solutions Service did an Initial Product Review (IPR) and had the following recommendations because NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified. The application must be installed on servers that adhere to hardening standards located in the VA Baseline Configuration Management website. The product must be tested to ensure the application can leverage the underlying infrastructure for FIPS 140-2 encryption. The user must sanitize the network data gathered and ensure it does not store VA sensitive data in the event the application cannot utilize the FIPS 140-2 encryption capability of the underlying infrastructure. NetBrain can only be used when the VA approved network mapping tool does not meet the necessary requirements and the use for an alternative tool is warranted.

[9]	This technology should only be used when required by a Veterans Affairs (VA) business partner for an approved VA Project. Use of this technology must comply with ESCCB requirements which include: Signed Interconnection Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding agreements (MOU/ISA) with each external business partner, compliance with VA Handbook 6500, and must implement appropriate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) requirements for all devices interacting with this technology. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. As of January 27th, 2017, Risk-based Decisions (RBD) will be handled per VAIQ # 7769667. In cases where the technology is used for external connections, a full Enterprise Security Change Control Board (ESCCB) review is required in accordance VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517 and VA Directive 6513. The local ISO can advise on the ESCCB review process and ensure privacy of information compliance protections are in place.

[10]	This technology should only be used when required by a Veterans Affairs (VA) business partner for an approved VA Project. Use of this technology must comply with ESCCB requirements which include: Signed Interconnection Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding agreements (MOU/ISA) with each external business partner, compliance with VA Handbook 6500, and must implement appropriate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) requirements for all devices interacting with this technology. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. As of January 27th, 2017, Risk-based Decisions (RBD) will be handled per VAIQ # 7769667. In cases where the technology is used for external connections, a full Enterprise Security Change Control Board (ESCCB) review is required in accordance VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517 and VA Directive 6513. The local ISO can advise on the ESCCB review process and ensure privacy of information compliance protections are in place.

[11]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[12]	This technology should only be used when required by a Veterans Affairs (VA) business partner for an approved VA Project. Use of this technology must comply with ESCCB requirements which include: Signed Interconnection Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding agreements (MOU/ISA) with each external business partner, compliance with VA Handbook 6500, and must implement appropriate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) requirements for all devices interacting with this technology. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. As of January 27th, 2017, Risk-based Decisions (RBD) will be handled per VAIQ # 7769667. In cases where the technology is used for external connections, a full Enterprise Security Change Control Board (ESCCB) review is required in accordance VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517 and VA Directive 6513. The local ISO can advise on the ESCCB review process and ensure privacy of information compliance protections are in place.

[13]	On August 3, 2016 the VA Enterprise Security Solutions Service did an Initial Product Review (IPR) and had the following recommendations because NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified. The application must be installed on servers that adhere to hardening standards located in the VA Baseline Configuration Management website. The product must be tested to ensure the application can leverage the underlying infrastructure for FIPS 140-2 encryption. The user must sanitize the network data gathered and ensure it does not store VA sensitive data in the event the application cannot utilize the FIPS 140-2 encryption capability of the underlying infrastructure. NetBrain can only be used when the VA-approved network mapping technology does not meet the necessary requirements and the use for an alternative technology is warranted. If free trialware is utilized, the software must be purchased or removed at the end of the trial period.

[14]	Users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Office (ISO) or local OIT representative for permission to download and use this software. Downloaded software must always be scanned for viruses prior to installation to prevent adware or malware. Freeware may only be downloaded directly from the primary site that the creator of the software has advertised for public download and user or development community engagement. Users should note, any attempt by the installation process to install any additional, unrelated software is not approved and the user should take the proper steps to decline those installations.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 10.1 is the most current version and was released on 03/15/2022.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Systems Management Systems Management Tools	Monitoring
Systems Management Systems Management Tools	Network Performance Optimization

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Oracle Linux - Approved w/Constraints
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Elasticsearch
Microsoft Edge. - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)
MongoDB Enterprise Advanced
RabbitMQ
Redis Enterprise
Safari - (required for some configurations)

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This technology has a comprehensive set of documentation.
This technology may improve productivity for specific staff whose responsibilities include change verifications or diagnose on network systems.
At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.

Adoption Risks

The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
This technology is a scanning utility. Users must ensure scans comply with system owner guidance.
NetBrain Enterprise Server is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified, and it does not include a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic module to protect the Department of veterans Affairs (VA) sensitive data (e.g., network configuration, credentials, route tables) that it retrieves and stores on its server. Netbrain uses a proprietary algorithm to encrypt data stored on its server.
This technology can integrate with and alter database technologies.
Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
The technology requires the purchase of licenses from vendor, which could potentially lead to vendor lock-in.
System scans indicate that this technology is no longer in use within the VA network.
This technology can potentially use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), an unapproved protocol.

Architectural Benefits

This technology is compatible with virtual machines, therefore consistent with the enterprise Server Virtualize First Policy (VAIQ 7266972 08-27-2012).
This technology is portable as it runs on multiple TRM-approved operating systems.

Architectural Risks

This technology includes cloud-based functionality which has potential information security risks.
This technology does not use a VA-preferred database to store data.

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Current Decision Matrix (04/30/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

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Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (04/30/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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