Definition
A Network-Based Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) is a security system that inspects and analyzes network traffic for untrustworthy activity and alerts network administrators if it detects potential intrusion. It can be implemented as a software or hardware.
How NIDS Works
- Traffic monitoring and analysis: The NIDS system monitors and analyzes incoming and outgoing network traffic to identify suspicious activity or threats.
- Alert generation: The NIDS system alerts the security team if it detects something suspicious.
- Incident response: The security team analyzes the alerts and takes action, such as blocking suspicious traffic or investigating the incident further.
- Regular updates: The security team updates the NIDS regularly with new attack rules and patterns to ensure it can detect the latest threats.
- Reporting: The NIDS system offers complete reports and analysis to inform the security teams of network activity and potential vulnerabilities.
Examples of NIDS
- Snort is a popular open-source NIDS that offers real-time traffic analysis and packet logging.
- Suricata is another open-source NIDS that can identify and mitigate various security risks.
- IBM Security Network Intrusion Prevention System can identify and prevent various threats such as malware, botnets and network-based attacks.
NIDS Detection Methods
- Signature-Based Detection: This method compares network traffic against common attack patterns or signatures and alerts the administrator if the traffic matches a known signature.
- Anomaly-Based Detection: This approach detects traffic that deviates from the normal range and generates an alert.
- Hybrid Detection: This combines the signature-based and anomaly-based detection methods.