Intrusion detection system and method having dynamically loaded signatures

A method for detecting an attack on a network, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing network data to an intrusion detection analysis engine;
• instanciating an analysis object with the network data;
• pre-compiling the analysis object;
• dynamically interfacing the analysis object with the intrusion detection analysis engine on a runtime basis;
• and
• detecting an attack on the network with the instance of the analysis object.

A method for detecting unauthorized use of a network, the method comprising the steps of:

• determining a signature associated with an attack on a network vulnerability;
• creating an analysis object, the analysis object for analyzing network data to detect the signature;
• dynamically providing the analysis object to an intrusion detection system through an application programming interface;
• and
• detecting an attack on the network vulnerability with the intrusion detection system using the analysis object to detect the signature.

A method for detecting an attack on a network comprising the steps of:

• collecting network data;
• providing the network data to an intrusion detection system;
• dynamically interfacing the intrusion detection system with an analysis object using an application programming interface;
• and
• detecting an attack on the network with the intrusion detection system and the analysis object.