What should he do to effectively correlate all incidents that pass through these security controls?

Rick has implemented several firewalls and IDS systems across his enterprise network.

What should he do to effectively correlate all incidents that pass through these security controls?
A . Use firewalls in Network Address Transition (NAT) mode
B . Implement IPsec
C . Implement Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
D . Use Network Time Protocol (NTP)

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation:

To effectively correlate incidents across various security controls like firewalls and IDS systems, it is essential to ensure that the timestamps of logs and events are synchronized. This is where Network Time Protocol (NTP) comes into play. NTP ensures that all devices on the network are on the same time setting, which is crucial for event correlation. Without synchronized time settings, it would be challenging to establish a timeline of events and understand the sequence in which they occurred, making incident response and forensic analysis more difficult.

Reference: The importance of using NTP for incident correlation is well-documented in network security best practices and is also highlighted in the EC-Council’s Certified Network Defender (CND) course materials. The CND course emphasizes the role of NTP in maintaining accurate time stamps across network devices for effective security incident management and analysis.