RE: Is IDS/IPS worthless?

[Robert Jackson <rjackson () panam edu>]

Anyone that thinks IDS/IPS systems are a waste is a waste! If you haven't
had the chance attend the SANS institute IDS tract, do so. These are the
most intense (and scary) 6 days that you can imagine, and will enhance your
IT skills to the max! IDS/IPS administration is an art and science, and is a
life all it's own, seperate but associated with network and systems
adminiistration! A dedicated IDS/IPS Analyst/Administrator can enhance the
operation of your IT resources! This person can analyze anomalies, detect,
eliminate, forecast based on these anomalies and adjust defenses, the key
word here is dedicated! Anyway, how do you think the new exploits on the net
are being discovered?

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Plato [mailto:aplato () anitian com]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 10:32 AM
To: focus-ids () securityfocus com
Subject: Is IDS/IPS worthless?



I've noticed something lately and I wonder if anybody else has
experienced this. At a meeting recently, I was told by a number of
people that IDS/IPS is a "worthless waste of IT resources" and
"providing no real value to an organization."  The speaker at this
particular meeting challenged me to say "what business goals did the
implementation of an IDS/IPS achieve?"  I responded that an IDS gives
insight to what is happening on a network and provides critical data to
more effectively focus resources on real problems. An IPS builds a level
of trust and protection from intrusions as well as insight into the
function and behavior of a network. (Okay, it was a vanilla answer, I
admit.)
 
So this speaker then challenged me to come up with verifiable metrics. I
replied that he would have to define what metrics he wants? What does he
consider a "viable metric" for performance.  He said "did they sell more
products, make more money?"  I replied "why is that the only metric that
businesses can understand?  A lot of complex things go into 'making
money' and IT operations is a small part of that. Marketing, strategic
vision, and many other factors have a much more profound impact on
'making money' than a single IT security solution. However, insight into
operations and security is a critical component of IT. How do you know
you have been broken into if you don't have any mechanisms to detect
those intrusions? There is clear value in investment in locks and
security cameras, why not have similar investments into the digital
equivalents."  
 
This shut him up, for a while, but it highlighted a growing trend I am
noticing. It seems like there are a lot of people with an agenda right
now to shoot down the value of IPS/IDS technologies. IPS in particular
seems to be painted as a "marketing ploy."  I also hear the story "they
bought and IDS and it just sat in a rack and did nothing"  a lot
(usually from people who don't even know what an IDS does.) 
 
What is happening here?  Anybody have any idea why there is a growing
"anti-IDS" attitude. Is it the failure of IDS to produce value in an
organization? Is the Gartner "IDS is dead" report having THAT much
affect on the industry?  Are the IDS vendors victims of their own
over-marketing?  Am I a paranoid moron? 
 
I am curious to hear other people's ideas on and strategies for dealing
with these objections. 
 
 
___________________________________
Andrew Plato, CISSP
President/Principal Consultant
ANITIAN  ENTERPRISE  SECURITY

3800 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Suite 298
Beaverton, OR 97005
503-644-5656 Office
503-214-8069 Fax
503-201-0821 Mobile
www.anitian.com
___________________________________

GPG fingerprint: 16E6 C5B0 B6CB F287 776E E9A9 AF47 9914 3582 633D
GPG public key available at: http://www.anitian.com/corp/keys.htm 

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