In the battle against cyber threats, a robust arsenal of tools is essential. Firewalls act as gatekeepers, blocking unauthorized traffic from infiltrating your network. Spam filters shield your inbox from unwanted emails, while antimalware tools safeguard your endpoints from malicious software. These defenses are standard across organizations of all sizes and industries. Equally critical is the network intrusion detection system (IDS), a nearly ubiquitous security measure. Here’s why a network IDS is indispensable for protecting your network and securing your data.
What Is an IDS?
IDS is an acronym for “Intrusion Detection System.” NIST defines IDS as a device “which detect attacks by capturing and analyzing network packets. Listening on a network segment or switch, one network-based IDS can monitor the network traffic affecting multiple hosts that are connected to the network segment.”
Unlike a firewall, which serves as a perimeter gatekeeper to filter incoming network traffic, an IDS dives deep into the internal network, actively monitoring for suspicious or malicious activity. By focusing on traffic within the network, an IDS can detect threats that bypass the firewall, including those launched from within the network itself. This heightened vigilance enables it to identify attacks that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Most IDS solutions employ a dual approach to threat detection. Signature-based detection compares network traffic against a database of known attack patterns, while anomaly-based detection identifies unusual or significantly deviant behavior from the norm. This combination ensures a comprehensive defense against potential threats.
Why You Need Network IDS
No firewall is foolproof, and no network is impenetrable. Attackers continuously develop new exploits and attack techniques designed to circumvent your defenses. Many attacks leverage other malware or social engineering to obtain user credentials granting them access to your network and data. A network intrusion detection system (NIDS) is crucial for network security as it enables you to detect and respond to malicious traffic.
The core strength of an IDS is its capacity to instantly alert IT teams to potential attacks or network breaches, providing a critical advantage in defense. A network IDS operates continuously, scrutinizing all inbound, outbound, and internal traffic, and monitoring data flows between systems. Upon detecting suspicious activity or known threats, the IDS immediately triggers alerts, enabling IT teams to act swiftly, investigate thoroughly, and take decisive action to block or neutralize the threat — preventing damage before it can escalate.
Learn More: Alert Logic Network IDS
Responding to Network IDS Alerts
False positives
Generally, signature-based threat detection is accurate. But when it comes to anomaly-based detection and identifying potentially suspicious or malicious activity, false positives are not uncommon. A false positive is when the network IDS flags normal activities or legitimate traffic as suspicious or malicious. The IDS needs to have a solid baseline of what normal traffic looks like and be tuned to ignore legitimate or allowed traffic.
False negatives
On the flip side, there’s the critical risk that suspicious or malicious activity may go undetected, especially with zero-day attacks or emerging threats that exploit new vulnerabilities and attack methods the IDS hasn’t yet identified. This gap in detection can leave systems vulnerable to unseen threats.
Network IDS Experts
With a network IDS, the biggest challenge — aside from false negatives and false positives — can be the sheer volume of alerts. When operating a network IDS, it’s critical your security personnel have the knowledge and skills to weed out false alarms and identify suspicious or malicious traffic the NIDS might have missed.
Attacks don’t have work hours — they occur around the clock. You need access to a security operations center (SOC) with security experts who can monitor alerts and analyze log data to identify and prioritize potential attacks and take the appropriate action to block the traffic or thwart the attack.
A network IDS is just one important element of an overall security strategy within managed security services solutions. With Fortra XDR and Fortra’s Alert Logic MDR, you gain unmatched protection with our industry-leading network IDS, securing hybrid, cloud, and on-prem environments. Our round-the-clock threat monitoring enables faster detection, reducing attacker dwell time and minimizing potential damage to your systems
