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   Understanding how your network evolves is crucial, especially for spotting configuration changes and potential vulnerabilities. Forward Enterprise makes this process intuitive—even if many snapshots aren’t fully processed. Let’s walk through how to reveal changes and vulnerabilities without processing every snapshot. Step 1: Go to a processed snapshot in your network inventory.   Step 2: Find and select the device you’re interested in. Open its device card

Hi Team, Could you help me to understand how Forward Networks model the host ?

  The new ordered collections feature streamlines how you pull, organize, and present data from your inventory. It helps you quickly surface results—like the top 10 most vulnerable devices—organized the way you want, so you can act faster and share clearer insights with your team.Let’s walk through what ordered collections can do, when they’re most useful, and how to use the new syntax to save time and reduce manual filtering. Introduction: Why Ordered Collections MatterBefore ordered collections, finding and organizing your top results (say, the most vulnerable devices) meant extra filtering and sorting. Reports could show too many results, scattered by category, forcing you to click around or explain sorting steps to others. Now, ordered collections make it easy to: Limit results to exactly what you want (lik

Where My Network Survey Lessons Really Began: High-Security Environments I’ve spent years surveying some of the most complex, layered, and mission-critical networks in high-security environments. One of the most impactful experiences came from supporting the Air Force’s Base Infrastructure Management (BIM) initiative—a massive effort to modernize, standardize, and truly understand the state of base-area network (BAN).These networks weren’t designed once; they were designed over time—by different teams, different contractors, and different mission owners. Every environment had its own personality, its own quirks, and its own technical ghosts. And when BIM kicked off, it quickly

One of the greatest strengths of using a digital twin is being able to separate the routing and firewall behavior of a particular traffic flow.For example, suppose we have a web application that is not functioning properly because traffic from the Internet cannot reach a public virtual-ip that is mapped to private IP on a top-of-rack switch on port 80.We enter this path search in the Forward Network Search bar.We can see immediately that the traffic is being blocked on an edge firewall (atl-edge-fw01). However, we don’t know what would happen to the traffic if it is permitted through this firewall and continues along its path.Are all the routing protocols properly configured to deliver the traffic to its destination? Is there another firewall in the path that would block the traffic?We

In support of ongoing federal cybersecurity and supply-chain risk management initiatives, Forward Networks has developed a streamlined detection workflow for identifying devices manufactured by Huawei, ZTE, TP-Link or any other network device of concern that are within an enterprise or government environment.This proactive measure aligns with Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidance and the Federal Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) implementation goals outlined in OMB Memorandum M-22-09. This capability helps agencies rapidly locate unapproved or unmanaged devices—enhancing visibility, compliance, and operational integrity across complex network infrastructures. What’s Going OnBecause consumer network dev

The default number of results returned for an NQE query executed from the API is 1000 (returned as a list assigned to the key “items”)You can increase the limit to 10,000 items. For retrieving results of more than 10,000 items, you will need to use the limit and offset parameters as part of your script, and concatenate the results of multiple API calls within the script.Below is a simple script in Python that concatenates successive chunks of 10,000 items into a single output:import requestsdef nqe_query_with_offset(): my_result = [] limit= 10000 offset = 0 network_id = "101" url = "https://fwd.app/api/nqe?networkId=" + network_id total_extracted = False while total_extracted == False: payload ={"queryId": "FQ_ac651cb2901b067fe7dbfb511613ab44776d8029", "queryOptions": { "limit": limit, "offset": offset}} print(payload)

It always starts the same way. A team decides it’s time to get serious about network automation. They want to move fast, be resilient, eliminate toil, and reduce outages. Everyone’s on board. There’s talk of Python scripts, intent-based networking, even AI-powered predictions. But then someone finally asks the most basic question: “Do we actually know what IPs are in use?” Cue the awkward silence. Someone eventually mutters, “We’ve got a spreadsheet.”Honestly, I get it. I’ve been there. Most of us have. If you’ve got a few dozen devices and a small team, tracking IP allocations in Excel or Google Sheets might be enough. But once your environment scales—even modestly—that house of cards starts to wobble. Multiple admins start mak

Date: 10/14/2025Time: 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM Pacific (9:00 PM – 9:30 PM Eastern)Duration: Approximately 30 minutesForward Quest will undergo scheduled maintenance this evening to improve platform performance. During this time, the site may be temporarily unavailable.Please note: Avoid starting a new Quest challenge during the maintenance window. Any active sessions may be interrupted. Thanks for competing and leveling up in Forward Quest!

As part of my onboarding with Forward Networks, I’ve been exploring its native dashboarding capabilities. While the built-in dashboards offer useful insights, I’m not fully convinced they’ll meet the specific reporting needs of our leadership team.To address this, I’m evaluating two integration options:SharePoint: Using the Forward API to retrieve and transform data, then render dashboards tailored to our requirements directly within SharePoint. Grafana Cloud: If SharePoint proves limiting, I’ll explore leveraging our existing Grafana Cloud instance for more flexible visualization.Has anyone integrated Forward with either platform? I’d really appreciate any experiences, suggestions, or recommendations.Below is the format I think supports the SLT teams requirements.

The Framework Regional Variations Determining a Device’s Region Changing Variables Based on Region Knowing the Collection State Anatomy of a test Imports Pattern Matching Function Exceptions

You may often want to find all pattern matches within the device configuration and filter the results based on a regular expression.The following NQE query uses a regex filter as part of a two step process in the getMatch(device) function.First, we find peer-group names in a Cisco BGP configuration and stores each match in a string called groupName by matching on the pattern defined at the top of the query.Second, we iterate through each each pattern match and filter the groupName based on the regex `^PUBLIC.*(?:-4|-X)$`The regex matches a string that starts with the word “PUBLIC” and end with either “-4” or “-X”.The main foreach loop at the bottom of the query applies the function getMatch to output a list of devices along with all the matching peer group names pattern = ```router bgp {number} neighbor {groupName: string} peer-group```;

Just posting up a simple Python script that allows you to make API calls from behind a proxy that also requires authentication.I have capitalised things that you need to customise.  Of course it isn’t good practice to have usernames and passwords in your script so this is just for illustrative purposes.import requestsimport base64api_user = "YourApiUser"api_pass = "YourApiPassword"api_creds = api_user + ":" + api_passapi_bytes = api_creds.encode("ascii")api_encoded = base64.b64encode(api_bytes)print(api_encoded)api_string = api_encoded.decode("ascii")proxies = { "http": "http://YourProxyUser:YourProxyPassword@ProxyServerIp:ProxyPort", "https": http://YourProxyUser:YourProxyPassword@ProxyServerIp:ProxyPort",}try: response = requests.get("https://fwd.app/api/networks", proxies=proxies, headers={"Authorization"

CISA just issued Emergency Directive 25‑03 mandating actions to identify and mitigate a campaign exploiting zero‑day vulnerabilities in Cisco ASA / Firepower devices. While the directive is written for federal agencies, the threat is relevant to any organization using those platforms. Below is a summary, risk assessment, and recommended mitigations — along with what Forward Networks is doing to support customers. What’s Going OnCampaign targets Cisco ASA and Firepower / FTD appliances Exploits include unauthenticated RCE and privilege escal

You can use the NQE group function to collapse rows that have multiple matching columns.In the following example, we make a list of all devices in the network (and store in a list called data), and group all the devices in data together that have matching values for Vendor, Model, OS, and OS Version. The matching values are grouped by attributes.Note that list stored in data just has device names. We don’t actually list all the device names within the select statement. The device is the identifier for each unique element that is hidden when you use the group function. We access the list of devices in each group (within the list data) with a foreach loop in order to count the unique items and provide a total in the last column./** * @intent List devices grouped by matching Vendor, Model, OS, and Version and the to

Flagging an important warning from the FBI / IC3, and sharing resources to help you assess and reduce risk. Alert Number: I-082025-PSA - Russian Government Cyber Actors Targeting Networking Devices, Critical Infrastructure The High-LevelThe FBI is alerting that Russian FSB cyber actors (aka Center 16 / “Berserk Bear” / “Dragonfly”) are actively exploiting a known vulnerability in Cisco Smart Install (SMI) — CVE-2018-0171 — to target networking devices globally. These actors are using SNMP (especially older/insecure versions v1 and v2) and unpatched / end-of-life devices to:Collect configuration files. Modify configs to insert or enable unauthorized access. Do reconnaissance inside victim networks, with particular int

This NQE extracts the config for each ACL, accounting for all syntaxes used in Cisco devices. The order is determined by the line number, which is used to compare the line of the deny statement with the last line of the ACL config and returns the failures by device and ACL name.standard(config) = foreach match in patternMatches(config, `access-list {aclName:string} {!"remark"}`) group match.line as config by match.data.aclName as name select { name, config };nested(config) = foreach match in patternMatches(config, `ip access-list {string} {name:string}`) let config = (foreach line in match.line.children where !hasMatch(line.text, re`.*remark.*`) select line) select { name: match.data.name, config };foreach device in network.devicesforeach acl in standard(device.files.config) + nested(device.files.config)let maxLine = max(foreach line in acl.config

Hello:   Hopefully this isnt a repeat as i couldn’t find the answer on here so I wanted to post it.  im trying to match against “tags” within  the application, and everything I am tying, regarding the ‘where matches” command is used, isnt working.  This is in the regular inventory so i have the statement “foreach device in network.devices” list as well above where i think the match line should go.  I can it list the tags, just not match/filter on tags.

 In this video, I demonstrate how Forward Enterprise replaces Infoblox NetMRI, which has now reached its Last Order Date (April 30, 2025) and will go end of support in April 2027. Many teams are looking for a solution that not only replaces NetMRI but also takes them far beyond its limitations — and that’s exactly what Forward provides. Here are a few highlights from the video:A true network digital twin: Forward mathematically models your entire environment — devices, topology, and paths — so you can validate intent, detect drift, and troubleshoot with precision.  

We’re excited to announce the launch of the newly reinvented Forward Quest — a monthly interactive challenge designed to put your Forward Networks skills to the test. Play Forward Quest What is Forward Quest?Forward Quest is an online game experience built around real-world network engineering scenarios. Each challenge is timed, and your results are added to a community leaderboard where you can see how you stack up against other Forward users. Why play?Forward Quest is more than just a game — it’s a fun way to:

Avoiding device management being exposed on interfaces to the internet is something that we all want to avoid, but if such an exposure was to occur wouldn’t you want to know?This query inspects all interfaces and specifically checks whether http, https, fgfm (FortiManager), snmp, and SSH are enabled via the set allowaccess command.  To run this check you’ll need to configure a custom command.Custom Command Required.show system interfacesThe Query:/** * @intent Do not present fgfm, SSH, HTTPS on the internet ports * @description Check all interfaces that face the internet to ensure * "SSH","HTTPS" and "fgfm" are not present. Example Interface: edit "mgmt1" set vdom "root" set ip 169.254.255.2 255.255.255.255 set allowaccess ping https ssh snmp set status down set type phy

This is to discuss a common practice with the use of the interface Description field.It is really common to look at CDP or LLDP and find the neighbor device name, then put that remote device name into the interface Description of the interface that connects these two devices together.  It is also common to add the remote device interface as well./** * @intent Verify if the interface description includes the device name of the linked device * @description Use the Link element of the data model to determine the device name and interface * of a networking device that is connected to this interface. * Verify that the remote device name and remote interface an included in the interface Description. */export getL3Interfaces(device: Device) =  foreach iface in device.interfaces  where length(iface.links) > 0  foreach ifaceIpInfo in getSvis(iface) + getSubIfaces(iface)  sele

If you’ve ever waded into the world of cybersecurity, you’ve probably run across the acronyms CWE, CVE, and KEV. They sound similar, and they’re all related to security flaws — but each serves a different purpose. Here’s a clear breakdown: CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration)Think of CWE as a blueprint of mistakes. Maintained by MITRE, CWE is a catalog of weakness types — ways that software or hardware can go wrong. A CWE is not tied to a single product; instead, it describes a class of design or coding errors. CWEs can be abstract (like “improper input validation”) or very specific (like “integer overflow in arithmetic operations”). Example: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), which outlines the general problem of failing to correctly enforce privilege levels.

Chinese state-sponsored threat actors are targeting network infrastructure worldwide, leveraging compromised routers and edge devices to establish long-term persistence and exfiltrate sensitive data. A recent joint cybersecurity advisory from NSA, CISA, FBI, and international partners highlights the scale of this threat and provides detailed mitigation guidance.At Forward Networks, we’ve created a purpose-built NQE query to help customers quickly identify two of the most common risks associated with this campaign:Known exploited vulnerabilities