Most if not all of the organizations around the world are using computer systems for their own specific purposes. Some use it for managing their files, some for their inventory, some use it for their sales tracking and the list goes on. And most of these computer systems employed by different organizations worldwide, whatever their purposes may be connected to the internet.
Being connected to the internet has its obvious benefits. A few examples of benefits of being connected to the internet is that company can provide their services to their clients over the internet, an organization can make themselves more accessible via emails and a business can advertise their product offerings by having a website.
Being connected to the internet or any form of a computer network and increasing reliance on such networked computer systems however do posses some risks. Be being connected to a network is something comparable to having a door in a house or a building, it can serve as an entry point for an intruder we normally call a hacker to do damage to a computer systems infrastructure or to steal confidential files from a server. And with that being said, there is definitely a need for security measures when working with computer systems.
One of the best device or software to have as far as computer networks are concerned is an Intrusion Detection System (IDS). The way IDSes work is somehow similar to the burglar alarm we are familiar with. IDSes monitor the network for possible malicious traffic. These IDSes, should they detect harmful traffic in the network can generate reports with crucial information that can be of help to the security analysts like the affected computers involved in the attack the source of the attack and so on, these information then can help with generating a proper response to prevent or mitigate the damages that might entail the security event.
IDSes can not only scan the network but I can also monitor individual computers for malicious activity. This feature can greatly help in monitoring the employees' use of Information Technology (IT) facilities as it can detect possible violations of internal rules and policies with regards to the usage of IT infrastructure in an organization.
With an ever growing reliance of different organizations to IT, there should be a premium put on information security. Security in terms of the network the computer systems is connected to and security of the individual computing devices themselves. And one of the best things to be deployed in such security measures is an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) such that there is some sort of intruder alarm that can quickly inform the people in charge of the security such that a timely and effective response can be generated. Likewise, information from the reports generated by IDSes can help security analysts apply patches to vulnerabilities that may be exploited in their system.
