How to Schedule a Simulation

Product Team
Updated 4 months ago

What is a DDoS Simulation in RADAR?

In RADAR, a DDoS simulation is a controlled, nondisruptive test designed to safely evaluate your environment’s resilience to DDoS attacks. The platform generates simulated attack traffic that does not impact your production systems, allowing you to observe how your mitigation layers respond and identify potential gaps in protection.

What You'll Learn On This Page

In this section, you’ll learn how to schedule a DDoS simulation event in the RADAR platform, including selecting Targets, Attack Vectors, and defining the event timing and duration.

Scheduling a Simulation

Follow these steps to add a Simulation in the RADAR platform:

  1. In the left-hand navigation menu, click Simulations.
  2. Select Scheduler.
  3. Click the "Add Event" button.
  4. The event creation wizard includes 3 configuration steps:
    1 - Event Details
    2 - Coverage
    3 - Schedule    
    Each step is explained in detail below.

Step 1: Event Details

On the Event Details tab, enter the basic information for your simulation event. This helps identify the simulation and determine its purpose.

  1. Enter Event Information
    Fill in the following fields:
    • Event Name
    • Description (optional)
    • Event Type
  2. Choosing an Event Type
    • Standard Assessment
      Best for a full visibility check. It simulates attacks across all targets and vector combinations in your selected scope. This option is ideal for initial evaluations or regular assessments to measure DDoS resilience and spot vulnerabilities in your environment.
    • Remediation Session
      Designed for real-time testing and validation. It keeps attack nodes active so you can re-run the same simulation as many times as needed. To queue an attack, go to the Simulation Results page, locate your target, and click “Re-simulate.”
  3. Once you’ve completed this section, click Next to continue to the Coverage configuration.

Step 2: Coverage

On the Coverage tab, select which Profile, Targets and Attack Vectors will be included in the simulation.

  1. Choose the Mitigation Profile you want to apply for this DDoS simulation. This profile defines how traffic is collected and how protection effectiveness is evaluated.
  2. Choose a Target Selection Type.
    Under Target Selection Type, select one of the following options based on how you want to define your simulation scope:
    • Targets
    • Target Groups
    • Networks
  3. Based on your selection, choose the relevant Targets, Target Groups, or Networks from the list.
  4. Choose Attack Vectors.
    Under Attack Vectors, select how you’d like to filter the attack vectors for this simulation. You can choose by:
    • Coverage Groups
    • Category
    • Status
    • Specific Attack Vectors
  5. Based on your selection method, choose the relevant Coverage Groups, Categories, Statuses, or Specific Attack Vectors to include in the simulation.

Step 3: Schedule

On the Schedule tab, configure when and how often the simulation should run.

  1. Set Time & Duration
    Choose the start time and duration for the DDoS simulation.
  2. Choose Recurrence
    Select how often you want the simulation to run:
    • One-Time – The simulation will run once at the scheduled time.
    • Recurring – The simulation will repeat based on the recurrence settings you define.
  3. Click Create to schedule the simulation event.
Note

After saving your first simulation, the event will appear on the Scheduler page. Click the Details button to view real-time and historical simulation information.

Advanced Tab

The Advanced tab allows you to configure additional settings for both Standard Assessment and Remediation Session events.

Genaral

1. Simulation Duration

This setting defines the duration, in minutes, of each simulation within the cycle.

2. Resimulate

This setting allows you to include simulations that are marked for Re-simulate in the upcoming scheduled event. These simulations are prioritized and executed first in the event queue.

Attack Simulation Behavior

3. Target Order:

This setting allows you to control the execution order of the scheduled event using the Target Order option. It defines how RADAR determines the sequence in which Targets are processed during the planned simulation cycle.

  • Random – RADAR processes Targets in a randomized order.

  • Sequential – RADAR processes Targets in a predefined sequential order.

  • AI-Driven Priority (SmartCycle)– RADAR prioritizes Targets based on AI recommendations, focusing first on those with the highest predicted likelihood of vulnerability.

4. Attack Vector Order:
This setting allows you to control the execution order of the scheduled event using the Attack Vector Order option. It defines how RADAR determines the sequence in which Attack Vectors are processed during the planned simulation cycle.

  • Random – RADAR applies Attack Vectors in a randomized order for each Target.

  • Sequential – RADAR applies Attack Vectors in a defined order for each Target.

  • AI-Driven Priority (SmartCycle) – RADAR prioritizes Attack Vectors based on AI recommendations, focusing first on those with the highest predicted likelihood of vulnerability.

Iterations

5. Number of Iterations:

Controls the number of repeated simulations run at an incrementally increasing rate.

Below this setting, the Iteration Rate Increase Type drop-down menu allow you to determine how traffic volume changes between iterations:

  • Additive – Increases the simulated attack traffic rate by incrementally adding the initially configured rate to the current rate on each iteration. As a result, the traffic rate grows linearly across iterations.

  • Multiples – Increases the simulated attack traffic rate exponentially by multiplying the configured rate by the value selected in the Iteration Rate Increase drop-down menu on each subsequent iteration.

Auto Vendor Report

This setting allows you to automatically receive a Vendor Report when the event completes. The checkbox is clear by default. Select it if you want the report to be sent automatically.

Under Recipient Email(s), enter the email addresses to which the report should be sent, then press Enter to add each address. You can specify up to 5 recipient email addresses.

You can also include chart screenshots in the report by enabling the option below.

Click Save to apply the Advanced settings and return to the event configuration. After selecting the required parameters, click Next to proceed with scheduling the event.

What's Next

Now that you’ve added a Simulation, proceed to How to View Live Simulation to set up your Targets and run your first simulation.

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