Network Intrustion Detection Systems (NIDS)

Due to the rising number of attacks on critical government and commercial networks, most organizations are increasingly investing in sophisticated Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) to assist in keeping them apprised of security-related incidents.

An organization may establish excellent security policies, procedures and technologies, but may have no idea as to their efficacy. A Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) will constantly monitor network traffic and report anomalous or security-compromising activities, permitting the administrator to gain a better sense of what is really going on over the network. Moreover, a full-featured NIDS should, at a minimum, provide the following services:

• Monitoring and analysis of network traffic and activities;
• Analysis of network vulnerabilities;
• Assessment of network integrity;
• Analysis of abnormal activity patterns;
• Recognition of patterns that are typical of network-based attacks; and
• Tracking of user network security policy violations.