An Intrusion Detection System is composed of which components?

• A. A firewall and antivirus integrated system.
• B. Sensors, a monitoring console, and a central engine that records events.
• C. A switch, router, and load balancer.
• D. A mail server and DNS server.

Answer: (B)

An intrusion detection system hinges on collecting data from multiple sources, analyzing it centrally, and presenting it to operators for action. Sensors placed on networks or hosts gather traffic and log data, feeding the central engine that analyzes events, applies detection rules, and stores records. The monitoring console provides the human interface—dashboards, alerts, and investigative tools—to monitor activity and respond. This combination—sensors, a central processing engine, and a monitoring console—captures the core architecture of an IDS.

The other choices describe components that aren’t part of the IDS structure: a firewall with antivirus represents a different security solution; switches, routers, and load balancers are basic network infrastructure devices; mail and DNS servers are services, not IDS components.