<s>
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
European	O
network	O
monitoring	O
system	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
passive	O
monitoring	O
of	O
traffic	O
on	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
functions	O
were	O
to	O
gather	O
traffic	O
information	O
as	O
a	O
basis	O
for	O
improving	O
internet	O
performance	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
detect	O
security	B-Application
incidents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
develop	O
novel	O
performance	O
and	O
security	B-Application
monitoring	O
applications	O
,	O
enabled	O
by	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
the	O
passive	O
network	O
monitoring	O
infrastructure	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
appropriate	O
data	O
anonymisation	O
tools	O
for	O
prohibiting	O
unauthorised	O
access	O
or	O
tampering	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
traffic	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
was	O
funded	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Commission	O
and	O
ceased	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
36	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
sensors	O
were	O
deployed	O
in	O
nine	O
countries	O
across	O
Europe	O
by	O
several	O
organisations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
any	O
one	O
time	O
the	O
system	O
could	O
monitor	O
traffic	O
across	O
2.3	O
million	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
claimed	O
that	O
more	O
than	O
400,000	O
Internet	O
attacks	O
were	O
detected	O
by	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
was	O
based	O
on	O
passive	O
network	O
traffic	O
monitoring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
passive	O
monitoring	O
applications	O
running	O
on	O
the	O
sensors	O
were	O
developed	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
MAPI	B-Protocol
(	O
Monitoring	O
Application	O
Programming	O
Interface	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
expressive	O
programming	O
interface	O
for	O
building	O
network	O
monitoring	O
applications	O
,	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
the	O
SCAMPI	O
and	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MAPI	B-Protocol
enables	O
application	O
programmers	O
to	O
express	O
complex	O
monitoring	O
needs	O
,	O
choose	O
only	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
information	O
they	O
are	O
interested	O
in	O
,	O
and	O
therefore	O
balance	O
the	O
monitoring	O
overhead	O
with	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
the	O
received	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
MAPI	B-Protocol
gives	O
the	O
ability	O
for	O
building	O
remote	O
and	O
distributed	O
passive	O
network	O
monitoring	O
applications	O
that	O
can	O
receive	O
monitoring	O
data	O
from	O
multiple	O
remote	O
monitoring	O
sensors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
sensors	O
operated	O
by	O
the	O
various	O
organisations	O
monitored	O
the	O
network	O
traffic	O
using	O
different	O
measurement	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
applications	O
were	O
developed	O
within	O
the	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
project	O
using	O
MAPI	B-Protocol
,	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
each	O
organisation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ABW	O
,	O
an	O
application	O
written	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
LOBSTER	B-Protocol
DiMAPI	O
(	O
Distributed	O
Monitoring	O
Application	O
Interface	O
)	O
and	O
tracklib	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
