HIDS vs NIDS —What’s the Difference and Why Should I Care?

Host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) and Network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDS) are both types of intrusion detection and protection systems (IDS).

According to an IDS market study by On-premise and SaaS for BFSI, Healthcare, IT & Telecom, Retail, Energy & Utilities, and Manufacturing from 2024 to 2034, the global IDS market value is estimated to be around 6.8 billion USD in 2024 with an estimated value reaching 19.2 billion USD by the end of 2034.⁵ That’s going to be a significant part of each company’s budget going forward, so knowing about these systems will be valuable knowledge.

Knowledge will allow the money to flow — NightCafe (by author)

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), HIDS is a program that monitors the characteristics of a single host and the events occurring within that host to identify and stop suspicious activity.³ On the other hand, NIDS is software that performs packet sniffing and network traffic analysis to identify suspicious activity and record relevant information.⁴ Below are some visual representations of them placed in a network.

Variation in placement of HIDS vs NIDs¹

Network vs Host -based intrusion detection systems²

Some key features of HIDS include:

• System log monitoring
• File integrity checking
• Process monitoring
• Rootkit detection⁶

HIDS’ advantages:

• In-depth monitoring and log analysis
• Being independent of network architecture
• File integrity monitoring
• Detecting local incidents
• Real-time alerts⁶

HIDS’ disadvantages:

• It can be resource intensive for hosts
• It can only monitor the host, not the whole network⁶

Some key features of NIDS include:

• Traffic analysis
• Real-time detection
• Stateful analysis⁶

NIDS’ advantages:

• Having broad coverage
• External threat detection
• Minimal host impact
• Network traffic monitoring
• Signature-based detection
• Anomaly-based detection⁶

NIDS’ disadvantages:

• Struggles with monitoring encrypted traffic
• Can affect network performance if not properly tuned
• It’s effective heavily depends on positioning in the network⁶

A NIDS guardian patrolling the network -NightCafe (by author)

The biggest differences between NIDS and HIDS:

• Focus and scope (HIDS focuses on individual hosts while NIDS monitors the whole network)
• Location and data collection (HIDS is installed on individual hosts and collects local logs while NIDS is deployed at a strategic point in the network to monitor outgoing traffic and look for anomalies)
• Detection techniques (HIDS uses signature-based detection while NIDS uses signature- & anomaly-based detection)
• Resource utilization and scalability (HIDS can be resource intensive on hosts while NIDS monitors centrally which reduces impact on individual hosts)⁶

As we can see, there are many differences with HIDS and NIDS, but they both protect our digital systems, so it’s advisable to use a combination of both to have the most secure defensive platform available. Combining local and network protection will maximize your security and minimize your risk. Having a multi-layered approach to security is best because sometimes systems fail, and if they are multiple obstacles for an attacker, the resources needed to succeed grow exponentially. If you work for a large company anywhere in the world, you should have an IDS installed on your network if you care about your cybersecurity.

Futuristic data facility — NightCafe (by author)

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References

(1) Abdel-Basset, M., Gamal, A., Sallam, K. M., Elgendi, I., Munasinghe, K., & Jamalipour, A. (2022). An Optimization Model for Appraising Intrusion-Detection Systems for Network Security Communications: Applications, Challenges, and Solutions. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 22(11), 4123. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22114123

(2) FineProxy. (n.d.). Media from Host-based solution. Retrieved on 6/9/2024 from https://fineproxy.org/wiki/host-based-solution/

(3) NIST. (n.d.). Glossary: host-based intrusion detection and prevention system. Retrieved on 6/9/2024 from https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/host_based_intrusion_detection_and_prevention_system

(4) NIST. (n.d.). Glossary: network intrusion detection and prevention system. Retrieved on 6/9/2024 from https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/host_based_intrusion_detection_and_prevention_system

(5) Fact Mr. (2024). Intrusion Detection & Protection System Market. (https://www.factmr.com/report/359/intrusion-detection-protection-system-market

(6) Neumetric. (n.d.). HIDS vs NIDS: Unravelling the Differences in Intrusion Detection Systems. Retrieved on 6/9/2024 from https://www.neumetric.com/hids-vs-nids/