Welcome to Algo

AlgoSec Algo is your personal security policy management assistant. Algo provides quick and easy access to core ASMS functionality from the comfort of your organization's existing chat platforms, including Desktop, Web, or Mobile options. Algo is supported on Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex.

Chat with Algo

Chat with Algo to run traffic simulations, submit change requests, analyze application impact, and more!

  • Use Algo commands to get information about:

    • The status of a change request

    • The connectivity status of an application

    • Owners of an application

    • Associated applications

    Or do actions like:

    • Make a change request

    • Perform a traffic check

  • Enter @algobot help to view a full list of available commands and requests.

    Tip: You can edit the set of available Algo commands by following the instructions in this KB article: How to customize the set of available Algobot commands.

  • Send direct messages to Algo from your chat platform. If there are more than the two of you in the chat, use the @algobot prefix so that Algo knows you're talking to it.
  • Language support: If you’re typing in English, German, French, or Portuguese, Algo will attempt to recognize the language and reply in kind. By default, Algo replies in English. See on this page Select the Algo default Language: English, German, French or Portuguese.

  • Invite Algo to any of your Slack channels. Once invited, Algo listens to all commands you send to @algobot.

Note: Make sure that you have run an analysis in AFA before using Algo. Algo needs AFA data to be able to help you!

Here are some examples using Algo:

Deploy Algo

To deploy Algo, first install Algo on your chat platform, and then configure it on your ASMS server.

Algo prerequisites and deployment configurations

As a Chat Bot, Algo has to be notified of any new messages that the users may send over one of the supported chat platforms. To integrate Algo with your organization's chat platforms, your system must meet the following prerequisites:

Internet access

The ASMS server must be able to access the internet and the chat platform servers.

Verify also that you have the following connectivity:

Unauthenticated proxies are supported if needed.

For details, see the diagrams below: Algo with no proxy | Algo with a proxy

Permissions You must have administrator privileges and access to authorize Algo on your chat platform.
DNS The ASMS Central Manager must be configured with DNS. See Configure DNS Server.

Install Algo on your chat platform

Follow these instructions to install Algo on your chat platform.

Configure AlgoBot on the ASMS server

After installing Algo on your chat platform, configure Algo on your ASMS server.

You can configure Algo either using the ASMS user interface or using the algosec_conf menu.

Algo Logs and configuration files

Algo log files are created in /data/ms-algobot/logs.

A set of log and configuration files are saved for each chat platform, with the platform name, for example slack, as part of the filename.

Each set includes the following files:

algobot-<platform>.conf The configuration data generated as part of the installation and configuration process.
algobot-<platform>.log

General logs, commands, and errors. If you need to contact AlgoSec support in reference to Algo, support may request this file.

utilization-<platform>.log A synthesized, clear log of the commands used in Algo for analytics purposes.