Re: IDP/IDS products

["Greene, Chip" <cgreene2 () RICHMOND EDU>]

We are a complete Cisco shop so our decision was based on past history
with Cisco products and our teams current training.  Having the Cisco
6500 on the edge we installed two IDSM-2 blades.  We have also been on
the phone with TAC and have an open case with them almost constantly
with various issues.  It may have been just the way we implemented the
IDSMs and our configurations, but we successfully identified almost
every critical bug known to these devices.  The support has been
OUTSTANDING, but a little frustrating having to troubleshoot constantly.
We are currently waiting for the release of the new code before we place
them back in-line as the new fix has been added to this code.  Cisco
Connection Online (CCO) is what we use to view documentation and bugs
for these devices

These two blades are used primarily to drop packets and log signature
hits that we have determined are a detriment to our network. Not all
standard signatures are still active, and some that are rated as low in
the industry are rated high on our campus. 

If it is determined there is a false positive, or something is being
dropped that shouldn't be we (keeping it simple)
1. determine the source application
2. study the traffic flows of the application/server in question
3. make a decision as to if we adjust the signature, modify the
application, continue to support or replace the application

We have also deployed 3 Cisco IPS-4240 appliances to monitor only our
PCI VLANS. These devices are used only to monitor traffic and report on
intrusions as per the PCI Compliance requirements. We have had no issues
with these devices and have deployed the new Cisco IPS Manager Express
software to manage these. All of our Cisco Security devices are also
managed with the Cisco Security Manager.  We have had no problems with
these devices.  

Hope this helps, feel free to contact me if you have any other
questions.

Chip Greene
Senior Network Specialist, CCSP
University of Richmond
     

-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Robert Riley
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 3:05 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: [SECURITY] IDP/IDS products

We are seeking peer feedback on the use of Intrusion
Detection/Prevention systems.

If your organization has deployed an enterprise IDP/IDS, are you:

1. Using the product inline or in bypass mode?
2. Are you using the product to shun hosts?
3. How are you managing false positives?
4. Which product do you use and what was your selection criteria?
5. Have you documented any known issues with the product?

Please feel free to contact me offlist if you prefer.

Thank you.
--
Robert Riley
Information Security Professional
University of Notre Dame