Roll up, Roll up, my Lords, Ladies and Gentleman, come see the bizarre and wondrous marvels that the Cirque de Vendeurs Sécurité has to offer. Tales of miracle machines that can see into the future and tell their masters of all the dangers they face. Devices so wise that they can see the very threats of tyrants and evil doers before they’ve even been thought of. Contraptions that possess a mystical sixth sense that can see every footstep and action a would be assailant takes before any deadly blow is delivered. These miracle machines that give defenders a suit of armour that mean the wearer needs no warrior skills in defending their castles. Come see for yourself, and purchase one of the miracle wondrous machines! Although the above sounds ludicrous and out of place, it isn’t that far fetched from a lot of the literature produced by Network Intrusion Prevention/Detection System vendors. This talk looks at the very long and fruitful history the world of network detection systems has to offer (you’ll be surprised they’re nearly 4 decades old). With a overview of just some of the failings these systems have had over the years, and how these failures shaped their development. At places this talk will be cynical and it won’t win any friends from vendors, but attendees will be given enough background information to understand why detection systems like IDS/IPS can work, but why they’re set to fail all at the same time.

Back to GrrCON 2014 video list