A probe attached to a customer's network collects status data and other
audit information from monitored components of the network, looking for
footprints or evidence of unauthorized intrusions or attacks. The probe
filters and analyzes the collected data to identify potentially
security-related events happening on the network. Identified events are
transmitted to a human analyst for problem resolution. The analyst has
access to a variety of databases (including security intelligence
databases containing information about known vulnerabilities of
particular network products and characteristics of various hacker tools,
and problem resolution databases containing information relevant to
possible approaches or solutions) to aid in problem resolution. The
analyst may follow a predetermined escalation procedure in the event he
or she is unable to resolve the problem without assistance from others.
Various customer personnel can be alerted in a variety of ways depending
on the nature of the problem and the status of its resolution. Feedback
from problem resolution efforts can be used to update the knowledge base
available to analysts for future attacks and to update the filtering and
analysis capabilities of the probe and other systems.