How can intrusion-detection systems combat computer crime?

Answer 1

Passwords help to combat computer crime by placing another layer of protection against immediate access. Depending on the complexity of the password, a password may prevent access to a computer thereby preventing a crime for days or even weeks while attempts are made to crack the password.

Answer 2

Encryption protects data by obscuring the real (so-called plaintext) data with a cypher such that only authorised people or machines, those in posession of the encrpytion key, can convert the cypher back to plaintext.

This combats computer crime by protecting the plaintext data.

For example, if a criminal organization or government would intercept electronic communications without express permission, it could not generally decipher the encrypted plaintext.

Answer 3

An IDS can combat computer crime in two ways - prevention and detection. When an IDS lights off an alert that a suspected intrusion is occuring, a user or system administrator can start taking actions to counteract the intrusion - severing the connection, diverting it, backing up files, changing security settings etc. Logs from an IDS can also identify areas where security needs to be improved in order to better protect a system.

The logs from an IDS can also provide valuable information that may be used to track back to the miscreant who launched the attack or comitted the crime and thus bring them to justice. Making use of the logs may require considerable sophistication and skills.