IDS systems monitor network activity and alert security teams to potential threats. They can detect a range of malicious activities using techniques such as signature-based detection and anomaly-based detection. However, IDS can cause significant noise with false alarms that divert resources from addressing real issues. Fine-tuning IDS configurations and regularly updating its signature database can help reduce these false positives.
Detecting Threats
In the digital battlefield, detecting threats is the first line of defense. A network needs keen eyes to spot approaching danger. This is where the delicate interplay between intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) comes into play. IDS are watchful observers, analyzing network traffic for suspicious patterns, malware signatures, or unauthorized access attempts. They sound the alarm, alerting defenders to potential breaches. But unlike the passive scout, IPS takes a more proactive stance. They wield the power to immediately halt suspicious activity, acting as digital gatekeepers who slam shut the network upon sensing danger. This is the key difference between IDS and IPS: one detects, and the other intercepts. Both are crucial weapons in the network security arsenal, forming a layered defense that keeps systems safe. Unlike a firewall, a passive network monitoring solution that scans and reports on threats, an IPS goes one step further. An IPS is an intrusion detection system that detects suspicious activity within your network, such as a distributed denial-of-service attack or specific forms of malware. It scans wireless networking protocols and identifies security risks by comparing them to known attacks or behavior patterns. The IPS solution can either alert you to an incident or take automated action once it has detected a threat, such as blocking the traffic source address, dropping malicious packets or sending an alert to the security administrator. It also can perform a more accurate traffic inspection by applying anomaly detection or signature-based detection methods. Those methods examine the contents of packets and look for patterns that indicate vulnerabilities or exploitation attempts. However, they can be prone to false positives, so choosing a vendor that emphasizes maintaining a low false-positive rate is crucial. An IPS can also perform TLS decryption to inspect encrypted traffic streams more efficiently and ensure that attackers cannot hide their activities by spoofing or bouncing their addresses through proxy servers. It can also detect fragmentation attacks that split packets into smaller parts and then replace the original data to avoid detection.
Preventing Damage
The goal of an IDS is to detect an attack early. This enables an organization to take corrective action before the threat causes any damage. This can reduce the amount of downtime and data loss and minimize security risk. However, IDS solutions are often oversensitive to abnormal behaviors, generating many false positives. In addition, they require significant tuning and analysis to avoid blocking legitimate business transactions. These challenges have led some organizations to abandon IDS devices in favor of other protections. By contrast, an IPS is active and prevents attacks once detected. Depending on the solution, this can include closing a session, blocking traffic from a malicious source, dropping suspicious packets or resetting connections. An IPS can identify the attacker using either signature-based or statistical anomaly detection. Signature-based detection looks for known patterns in files and packages, such as byte sequences used by malware. Statistical anomaly detection collects random samples of network traffic and makes comparisons with pre-established baseline performance levels. Any deviations trigger a response from the IPS.
Managing Threats
While IDS focuses on monitoring a single endpoint for suspicious activity, an IPS monitors the entire network from a central location. An IPS can prevent attacks by dropping malicious packets, blocking traffic, and resetting connections. It can also correct cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors in defragment packet streams and mitigate TCP sequencing issues. An IPS can be deployed as a standalone solution or add-on feature within other security solutions. Like IDS, an IPS can spot threats by comparing current network activity to a library of attack patterns and signatures. Unlike IDS, however, an IPS can take immediate action against a threat without waiting for human administrators to respond. As a result, IPS solutions often outperform IDS tools in terms of the speed at which they detect and respond to potential threats. The fact that IPS tools can automatically block bad traffic reduces the workload for other security controls and appliances and improves overall network performance. Some IPS solutions utilize behavior analysis to identify new or emerging threats not captured by traditional signature-based detection strategies. For example, these systems may highlight non-malicious behavior, such as user activity outside business hours or multiple previously unknown IP addresses attempting to connect to the network. While these types of anomaly detection can sometimes cause false positives, an IPS can use a combination of behavioral and signature-based detection to provide superior threat protection.
Increasing Visibility
IDSs and IPSs bring increased visibility to your network to help stop attacks. These systems can detect phishing, ransomware download and distribution, man-in-the-middle attacks, zero-day attack penetration, denial of service (DOS), SQL injection and other threats by scanning for patterns in network traffic and comparing them to a database of known threat signatures. Some IDS and IPS manufacturers incorporate detection and prevention capabilities into one solution. IPS solutions can use a database of attack signatures or an ML-powered behavior model to identify cyberattacks and take action without human intervention. An IPS can be implemented behind the firewall and uses various methods to respond to threats, such as dropping suspect packets, blocking the source of an attack, resetting connections, and encrypting communications. IPSS must be updated with the latest vulnerability and threat intelligence, as attackers constantly develop new strategies and techniques. Choosing an IPS that offers frequent updates and the ability to inspect network packets with minimal false positives is key to enhancing your security.
