Which security appliance or software analyzes data from a packet sniffer to identify traffic that violates policies or rules?

Which security appliance or software analyzes data from a packet sniffer to identify traffic that violates policies or rules?

• A. Intrusion detection system (IDS)
• B. Snort
• C. Intrusion prevention system (IPS)
• D. Next-generation firewall (NGFW)

Answer: (A)

An intrusion detection system monitors network traffic and analyzes data captured by packet sniffers to spot patterns that violate policies or indicate attacks. It looks at captured packets, headers, and payloads, comparing them against known policy rules and attack signatures, and then raises alerts when something suspicious is detected. This is a passive detection role rather than enforcement—it identifies issues but doesn’t automatically block traffic. In this scenario, the emphasis is on analyzing the packet data to determine policy violations, which aligns with IDS behavior. An intrusion prevention system would block traffic in real time, and a next-generation firewall performs broader enforcement and advanced inspection, not just detection from packet captures. Snort is an IDS/IPS engine capable of performing this analysis, but the general concept described is intrusion detection system functionality.

An intrusion detection system monitors network traffic and analyzes data captured by packet sniffers to spot patterns that violate policies or indicate attacks. It looks at captured packets, headers, and payloads, comparing them against known policy rules and attack signatures, and then raises alerts when something suspicious is detected. This is a passive detection role rather than enforcement—it identifies issues but doesn’t automatically block traffic.

In this scenario, the emphasis is on analyzing the packet data to determine policy violations, which aligns with IDS behavior. An intrusion prevention system would block traffic in real time, and a next-generation firewall performs broader enforcement and advanced inspection, not just detection from packet captures. Snort is an IDS/IPS engine capable of performing this analysis, but the general concept described is intrusion detection system functionality.