Building a Management System for Security Data

Tom was initially overwhelmed with all the data from these systems. However, he set up a database and used several programs to manage the output from his security programs. One called Analysis Console for Intrusion Database (ACID) helped him sort and interpret his NIDS data (Chapter 8). A program called Nessus Command Center (NCC) imported all his Nessus security scan data into a database and ran reports on it (Chapter 8). Tom also had a program called Swatch keeping an eye on his log files for any anomalous activity (Chapter 8). These programs allowed him to view the reports from a Web page, which consolidated all his security monitoring jobs into a half-hour a day task. For a guy like Tom, who was wearing many hats (technical support, programmer, and of course security administrator), this was a crucial time saver.