IDS Helps Keep the Bad Guys Out

How network intrusion-detection systems (IDS) work.

By Enterprise Networking Planet Staff | Sep 27, 2011
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It started with an IDS alert and ended up with the discovery of a problem on a corporate firewall. In this IT Business Edge article, security manager "J.F. Rice" provides an example of how a new network intrusion-detection system (IDS) can help secure the network.

"The firewall was configured with several ip-any-any rules. That means, for several computers on our internal network, any computer on the Internet could connect using any protocol - in other words, the firewall was wide open for about 16 computers on my company's network. With an ip-any-any rule, you essentially have no firewall at all, because it's allowing all the same traffic you would get from directly connecting a network cable.

"If you're familiar with firewalls, you probably know the sensation of horror I felt. If not, I'm not sure I can really describe it -- but it's basically my worst nightmare. My network had a huge hole that hostile attackers were exploiting. It was like emptying out a cupboard in your kitchen and finding a hole in the wall that nasty critters were using to get at your food."

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