Transparent IDS Bridge

Project Summary

This aims at creating the equivalent of a ‘melting fuse’ for security in a network wire. The system is a machine with two network connections and can be placed on any network wire by simply cutting the wire in half and connecting both ends to the machine. The underlying technology uses an Ethernet Bridge combined with both an intrusion detection system and a firewall. Because the firewall is implemented on a bridge instead of on a router it will no longer be visible on the Internet, thus being immune to attacks. Basically each packet is copied back and forth through the machine until the IDS detects an attack signature. Then the firewall is instructed to block all the packets originating from the hostile address from that moment on. The IDS system is designed mainly to detect pre-attack probes coming from whatever part of the Internet. This system requires no maintenance.

• Project Leads: Vincent Berk, Robert Gray, Susan McGrath
• Documentation: Improved Network Security Through a Combined Ethernet Bridge, Firewall and IDS: A Design and Implementation