4.3 INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEMS

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are a hot topic in security circles today. These security devices are designed to monitor networks for suspected malicious activity. Once this activity is detected , the device sends an alert to an administrator and in some cases can even respond to the event based on pre-configured options. With major players like Cisco, ISS and Symantec providing IDS solutions, the cost for a commercial Intrusion Detection System can be considerable. This cost factor has influenced many small companies and some larger companies to implement an open source IDS solution known as SNORT. SNORT is a lightweight intrusion detection system that provides many of the same features as commercial IDSs. The security community has also developed many open source add-ons, such as management consoles and reporting tools, for SNORT. Because of this, SNORT can perform just as well as any commercial system while providing considerable cost savings. Some IDS solutions that run on the Linux platform include:

ISS Realsecure “ http://www.iss.net
Enterasys Dragon “ http://www.enterasys.com
SNORT “ http://www.snort.org