Testing Automation for an Intrusion Detection System

Intrusion detection systems are used in computer networking and other applications to detect and respond to attempts to compromise computers, servers, firewalls and other network resources. As intrusion detection systems move beyond providing simple pattern recognition capabilities for known attack types, the ability to test these systems with conventional techniques (or use formal or other similar methods) becomes extremely limited. Environmental factors and other considerations present numerous scenarios that cannot be exhaustively identified, much less fully tested. This paper presents the use of an adaptive and automated testing paradigm to more fully validate intrusion detection systems that cannot be effectively fully tested by other means.