Re: Vulnerability vs. Exploit signatures and IPS??

Matt.Carpenter_at_alticor.com
Date: 05/18/05

  • Next message: Jason Anderson: "RE: Vulnerability vs. Exploit signatures and IPS??"
    To: jctx09@yahoo.com
    Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 14:00:16 -0400
    
    

    The vulnerabilities often can take many shapes, with arbitrary selections
    which "work" but are not mandated.
    Exploits like those found in worms and hacker tools will have a particular
    signature. Since other code can exploit the same vulnerability but look
    different on the wire, each exploit requires its own signature.

    Signatures based on exploits must first have known exploits to identify,
    making them a strictly reactive defense.

    Signatures based on the vulnerabilities only require intimate knowledge of
    the vulnerabilities. They can be developed prior to any known exploits,
    allowing them to be proactive. This method, done well, is likely to pick
    up exploits before they are publicly available. Unfortunately, due to the
    increased vagueness of the signature, this method can also lead to more
    false-positives unless the sig-developer has intimate knowledge of the
    protocol as well. More knowledge is required, often more value is
    delivered.

     
    Matthew Carpenter
    IT Security Specialist
    Alticor Corporation
    Phone: 616-787-0287
    Email: matt.carpenter@alticor.com
    Page Me (230 characters Max)
    Email ITSS On-Call Account

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    Jacob Winston <jctx09@yahoo.com>
    16/05/2005 22:57

    To
    focus-ids@securityfocus.com
    cc

    Subject
    Vulnerability vs. Exploit signatures and IPS??

    Can someone explain to me the difference in writing signatures based on
    Vulnerabilities versus writing signatures based on Exploits? TippingPoint
    makes a claim that their IPS is better because they write signatures based
    on Vulnerabilities and not exploits. I don't quite understand this.

    Thank you,

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  • Next message: Jason Anderson: "RE: Vulnerability vs. Exploit signatures and IPS??"

    Relevant Pages

    • RE: CVE selection for IDS/IPS signature rules
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    • Re: IDS vs. IPS deployment feedback
      ... I'd be very interested to know how you would know this, since their "signatures" are proprietary. ... ISS can protect against the ... I use both snort and TP daily. ... I suspect the folks at VRT would be highly offended by the implication that they're not professional enough to recognize vulnerabilities, but I'll let them defend themselves. ...
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    • Re: IDS vs. IPS deployment feedback
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      (Focus-IDS)
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