9.11 The node menu

The popup menu allows several operations to act on a node:

• call up the vulnerability assessment window.

• label the node, using one of the 8 available labels.

• change the icon of the node, depending on the current icon set.

• For nodes that belong to a node class:

  • change the name of all nodes in the node class. Renaming a single member will make that node fall out of the node class. Use this menu item to rename all member nodes collectively.
  • change the suffix from the default of a single letter ('a', 'b', 'c', …) to something more meaningful, such as an abbreviation of the location of the component.
  • change the type of the node class from a single identical node into a collection of similar nodes, and vice versa (see Identical nodes).

• change the type of the node (e.g. from a wireless link into a cloud).

• duplicate the node. This will create a node class.

• delete the node.

Changing the node type can be used to correct a mistake, for example to convert an equipment item into a cloud, if you notice during your analysis that the situation is more complex than you previously thought. Note that the vulnerability assessments will not be preserved when changing the node type. Typically, it is not possible to preserve vulnerability assessments, as nodes of different types tend to have very different default vulnerabilities.