Host-Based Vs Network-Based Intrusion Detection Systems

About 45 incursions per minute occur in the United States. 45 cyber-attacks to corporations, systems, and personal devices — and the mind-blowing caveat? Those are just the ones that are detected and/or reported. Statistically speaking, a ballpark number, one that truly encapsulates how vulnerable most systems are to attack and how often they occur, would have to take that figure and at least multiply it by 10. That’s why it’s crucial for most corporations, businesses, and basically, anyone that values their data to understand what is an intrusion detection system. What types are there in the market? And which ones adapt to our framework. The question is no longer whether or not you need an intrusion detection system — but which one to get.

What Is an Intrusion Detection System? 

An IDS or Intrusion Detection System is a system or series of tools that monitor a network’s traffic for suspicious activities, red-flag events, malicious issues, and all types of pokes from outside intruders. It is a software/application that scans a network, a platform, or a digital system for harmful activity or policy breaching explosions. 

Any activity, a violation of system policy and beachheads, is normally detected and reported to an administrator or in other cases to a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) System. The latter is a complementary software that combines the output of multiple systems and sources and uses preprogrammed filtering techniques to distinguish between a small hiccup, a false alarm, and something to worry about. 

The scope of Intrusion Detection Systems varies from small to gigantic — from a single computer to a large network of them. 

How Do Intrusion Detection Systems Work?

At their most basic, at their core, IDS are nothing more than alarms – like the type you place on your home’s windows, or on your door. The system is deployed all across your network’s infrastructure, at specific points – either entry points or strategic places your network might be a bit weak. These points are previously detected by your team due to their vulnerability or their exposure — the more exposure the greater the risk to an attack. The Intrusion Detection System, its digital alert bells, are then activated. They monitor your entire inbound and outbound traffic. They analyze how that traffic operates, whether it sets off any alarms, and informs your administrator or SIEM when one gets tripped. 

In a sense, it is a sort of passive network monitoring. Why? Traffic is simply examined at all levels and results of that analysis are logged. These results will later have to be examined by an intrusion PREVENTION system and correlated. That system catalogs worrisome patterns, troublesome hits and prepares proactive action to fend off a possible breach. 

These types of systems use two methods of detection:

• One is based on behavior — it detects anomalies in the way your system is acting. This type of detection is based on machine learning patterns and algorithms. The system learns as it is deployed, it gets a blueprint of your infrastructure and creates a framework on how it should behave, anything outside those parameters gets flagged. 
• Signature detection — takes data activity and compares it to a database of malicious activity. It is a limited sort of detection because it bases its alerts on things that have been logged in a record. If something new pops up, like new malicious activity, it ignores it.

Network And Host Based Intrusion Detection Systems 

There are many options available in the IDS market, but the most common of them – the ones you’re most likely going to stumble on are: 

• Network-Based Intrusion Detection Systems
• Host-Based Intrusion Detection Systems

Let’s examine each one.

Network-Based Intrusion Detection System

A network-Based Intrusion Detection System or NIDS operates at a network level. This type of system monitors all the devices going in and out of your network. 

Like all Intrusion Detection systems, NIDS operates by performing analysis on the traffic flow and detecting triggers, like anomalies or abnormal patterns, and a warning is sent. 

For example, if someone scans your ports, or a larger traffic load hits your network, a warning is sent out. 

The main advantage of these systems is that they can be easily introduced and adapted into an existing network, within disruptions. These types of Intrusion Detection systems don’t need any downtime to be assimilated. Another great advantage is that in many cases they are undetectable by cybercrooks and attackers. 

Nevertheless, you should consider that NIDS sometimes cannot handle late traffic volumes, nor can they analyze incepted data or fragments. 

Host-Based Intrusion Detection System

Host-Based Intrusion Detection Systems or HIDS work at a host level. Unlike NIDS, which monitors the entire network, this type of system only protects an individual host. HIDS are more behavioral. They take a snapshot of the system, they incorporate the original designs, and if a change occurs – outside these criteria – an alert is raised. They analyze any little change in how a system operates. This includes changes in systems files, logs, software, as well as add-ons or new configurations. 

Let’s look at some of the benefits of a host-based Intrusion Detection System:

Unlike NIDS, which are more strict and less elastic, HIDS can access encrypted data packets and can, over time, detect all manner of attacks no matter how elusive or sneaky they are. These attacks, these new incursions are then logged into a database and folks can have easy access to them

Like everything in life, there are some drawbacks. These types of systems are out in the open, which makes them vulnerable to direct attacks. Another rather damming disadvantage is that they take a large amount of disk space. 

Host-Based Vs Network-Based Intrusion Detection System

Intrusion Detection Systems are a must-have for anyone — at least anyone whose company, business, or system are exposed to internet traffic. If you receive inbound traffic or have a steady outbound traffic flow, if you deal in sensitive data – personal client data, financial information, etc – then it really doesn’t matter which system you employ just as long as you employ one. The bigger your operation, the more private the data you have, the better the system. Both systems have their drawbacks, in many cases, some clients like to employ – based on previous breaches – the pair at a time. It gives them redundancy and peace of mind.