We need to talk about IDS signatures
Kirill Shipulin · Network Security · 2018
The names Snort and Suricata are known to all who work in the field of network security. Web application firewall (WAF) and intrusion detection system (IDS) are two classes of security systems that analyse network traffic, parse top-level protocols and signal the presence of malicious or unwanted network activity. Whereas WAF helps web servers detect and avoid attacks targeted only at them, IDS detects attacks in all network traffic. Many companies install an IDS to control traffic inside the corporate network. The deep packet inspection (DPI) mechanism lets them collect traffic streams and identify activity by malware. At the heart of the most common systems are signature sets used for detecting known attacks, developed by network security experts and companies worldwide. However, as Kirill Shipulin of Positive Technology demonstrates, there are ways of disrupting the operation of some IDS systems and then hiding all traces of such activity.