A closer look at Intrusion Detection System for web applications

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of web application intrusion detection systems, discussing their design challenges, comparing existing solutions, and proposing a conceptual framework for improved security mechanisms.

Contribution

It offers a detailed understanding of web IDS design, compares five existing systems, and introduces a conceptual framework for developing more effective web security solutions.

Findings

Identified key challenges in designing web IDS.

Compared features of five existing web IDS systems.

Proposed a conceptual framework for web IDS with prevention mechanisms.

Abstract

Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is one of the security measures being used as an additional defence mechanism to prevent the security breaches on web. It has been well known methodology for detecting network-based attacks but still immature in the domain of securing web application. The objective of the paper is to thoroughly understand the design methodology of the detection system in respect to web applications. In this paper, we discuss several specific aspects of a web application in detail that makes challenging for a developer to build an efficient web IDS. The paper also provides a comprehensive overview of the existing detection systems exclusively designed to observe web traffic. Furthermore, we identify various dimensions for comparing the IDS from different perspectives based on their design and functionalities. We also provide a conceptual framework of an IDS with prevention mechanism to offer a systematic guidance for the implementation of the system specific to the web applications. We compare its features with five existing detection systems, namely AppSensor, PHPIDS, ModSecurity, Shadow Daemon and AQTRONIX WebKnight. The paper will highly facilitate the interest groups with the cutting edge information to understand the stronger and weaker sections of the web IDS and provide a firm foundation for developing an intelligent and efficient system.