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Thread: Antivirus on IDS Sensors

  1. #1
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    Antivirus on IDS Sensors

    Do we need an antivirus to be installed on the networ & host IDS sensor machines?
    Please guide us through....

  2. #2
    Master-Jedi-Pimps0r & Moderator thehorse13's Avatar
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    The answer to a question with absolutely no detail will always be, "It depends."

    Are your IDS sensors appliances? If so, then the answer is no. More than likely, it has a hardened unix OS running on it and additional add on software is not necessary. Then again, you've provided 0 detail here so don't take this as an absolute.

    If you have a host based console (i.e. running on Win2k or the like) then yes, the console is like any other host on your wire. It needs to be protected. If you have host based IDS software on workstations then you should also look at layering defenses and of course add the necessary protections such as AV.

    --TH13
    Our scars have the power to remind us that our past was real. -- Hannibal Lecter.
    Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. -- John Wooden

  3. #3
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    One IDS Sensor on a machine with hardended windows OS and two ethernet cards.

    Other one is a host based IDs, we have an antivirus running on it.
    Thank you for the reply.

  4. #4
    Master-Jedi-Pimps0r & Moderator thehorse13's Avatar
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    Well, I would certainly check with the vendor before adding anything that might void your support contract.

    Also consider that realtime AV on an IDS will certainly increase the overhead needed to keep up with high traffic loads and may cause the box to drop packets (again, there are many facts here that I don't have, such as horsepower of the box, so this is a generalized statement). This of course is not a desireable side effect.
    Our scars have the power to remind us that our past was real. -- Hannibal Lecter.
    Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. -- John Wooden

  5. #5
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    Thanks for your opinion.
    Def. I will check with my IDS Vendor.

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