What is the primary role of an intrusion detection system (IDS)?

The primary role of an intrusion detection system (IDS) is to monitor for malicious activities. An IDS serves as a critical component of network security, designed to detect and respond to potential threats and breaches in real time. It achieves this by analyzing patterns and data from network traffic and system logs to identify signs of unauthorized actions or anomalies that may indicate an intrusion.

By focusing on monitoring rather than actively blocking or managing traffic, an IDS provides alerts to security personnel when suspicious behavior is detected, allowing for prompt investigation and response. This proactive approach helps organizations safeguard their systems from cyber threats while maintaining overall visibility into their network activity.

In contrast, the other choices involve different aspects of network security. Encrypting sensitive data focuses on protecting information by transforming it into an unreadable format to prevent unauthorized access, while filtering internet traffic is concerned with controlling the flow of data based on predetermined rules. Managing user authentication entails verifying the identities of users attempting to access a system or application, ensuring that only authorized individuals gain access to sensitive resources. Each of these functions plays an important role in a comprehensive security strategy, but they do not encapsulate the primary function of an IDS.