SNORT
Snort is a free and open source network intrusion prevention system (NIPS) and network intrusion detection system (NIDS), created by Martin Roesch in 1998. Snort is now developed by Sourcefire, of which Roesch is the founder and CTO. In 2009, Snort was named one of the ‘greatest open source software of all time.’
Uses
Snort’s open source network-based intrusion detection system (NIDS) has the ability to perform real-time traffic analysis and packet logging on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Snort performs protocol analysis, content searching, and content matching. The program can also be used to detect probes or attacks, including, but not limited to, operating system fingerprinting attempts, common gateway interface, buffer overflows, server message block probes, and stealth port scans.
Snort can be configured in three main modes: sniffer, packet logger, and network intrusion detection.
In sniffer mode, the program will read network packets and display them on the console. In packet logger mode, the program will log packets to the disk. In intrusion detection mode, the program will monitor network traffic and analyze it against a ruleset defined by the user. The program will then perform a specific action based on what has been identified.
There are several third party tools interfacing Snort for administration, reporting and log analysis:
See also
- Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
- Intrusion Prevention System
- Network Intrusion Detection
- Metasploit Project
- nmap
- Snort
- Wireshark