What is the purpose of an intrusion detection system (IDS)?

An intrusion detection system (IDS) serves the primary function of monitoring and analyzing network traffic to identify suspicious activities, potential threats, or policy violations. Its role is to watch over systems and networks, collecting data regarding both normal and abnormal activities. By doing so, it can detect and alert security personnel about potential intrusions, which helps organizations respond to threats proactively.

The distinct focus of an IDS on monitoring and analyzing traffic differentiates it from other security technologies, like firewalls or encryption tools, which serve different security purposes. For example, while a firewall primarily focuses on controlling traffic based on predefined rules, and encryption ensures that sensitive data is kept confidential, an IDS is specifically designed to observe traffic patterns to identify potential breaches or attacks.

Additionally, an IDS does not take action to prevent an intrusion; its primary role is detection and alerting. Hence, while managing user permissions or encrypting data are important cybersecurity tasks, they do not align with the specific purpose of an intrusion detection system.