Network Security Monitoring Tools

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There are numerous network security devices and tools available to aid in computer network defense, and these tools are often relied upon for protecting against increasingly sophisticated, stealthy, and damaging attacks. When acting alone, the current generation of security devices has an exceedingly difficult time providing an effective defense against such threats, and the situation is particularly grim for targeted or novel attacks.

It has been demonstrated that a number of interoperable systems must be implemented to fully protect a network; a strategy known as Defense in Depth. Due to the multitude of security devices and device categories available, it can be very difficult to identify the correct tools for meeting security goals. Using the Defense in Depth strategy will require an understanding of the interactions between devices occuring within the network.

Due to their complexity and importance to information security, two security systems, Network Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (NIDPS) and Security Information and Event Management systems (SIEM), will be explored in this paper. Both have multiple functionalities, including threat-detecting capabilities, and are widely considered essential tools for adequate network defense, particularly in the goal of fortifying valuable assets in the face of an advanced threat. Understanding these systems is vital for any security operation tasked with defending significant networks.

2 Network Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems

2.1 IDPS Definitions

Although Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) have been grouped together here (IDPS), there are distinctions between them. On the most basic level, both will monitor the network...

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If the alert is made when there is actually no security incident, it is known as a false positive. Because these systems are often automated, they must be tuned to decrease false positives. It is often necessary to have many false positives in order to avoid not detecting a real incident (known as a false negative). This leads into a major shortcoming of IPSs: because IPSs are intended to operate inline with the network and drop malicious packets, if they issue a false positive it means that the system is dropping legitimate traffic. The network will be DoS-ing itself.

The play-off between security and usability is evident in pure IDS as well; desensitizing the IDS will allow incidents to go unnoticed, yet too many false positives will cloud the system (or the system administrators). Therefore it is important to understand how the detection mechanisms work.

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