A network tap for enabling attached devices, such as an intrusion
detection system, to transmit information into a communication line of
the network without disrupting the network traffic on the communication
line. When the attached device is an intrusion detection device, the
network tap is connected to a firewall. An Ethernet switch or field
programmable gate array (FPGA) is incorporated in the network tap to
coordinate the transmission of device data to avoid data collisions with
data transmissions already existing in the communication line. The
network tap may be operated in various modes to accommodate different
capabilities of attached devices. In addition, the network tap has
various port configurations to allow a user to connect various attached
devices through a single cable or dual cables.