1. A method comprising: sending, by a network device, a request to a network policy engine to initiate collection of a first or a second data set from a plurality of network devices, the first data set indicative of the statuses of the plurality of network devices when a type of network attack is not present and the second data set indicative of the statuses of the plurality of network devices when the type of network attack is present; receiving, at the network device, an authorization from the network policy engine to begin collection of the first or second data set, the authorization based on an evaluation of an impact of collecting the first or second data sets on network traffic; in response to receiving the authorization from the network policy engine, receiving, at the network device, the first data set indicative of the statuses of the plurality of network devices when the type of network attack is not present; selecting, by the network device, at least one of the plurality of network devices to simulate the type of network attack by operating as an attacking node; and receiving, at the network device, the second data set indicative of the statuses of the plurality of network devices when the type of network attack is present based on the at least one of the plurality of network devices selected to simulate the type of network attack by operating as an attacking node; training a machine learning model using the first and second data set to identify the type of network attack; and identifying a real network attack using the trained machine learning model.