What is the primary purpose of a Host-Based IDS (HIDS)?

The primary purpose of a Host-Based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) is to look for suspicious activity on endpoints. HIDS operates directly on individual devices or hosts, monitoring their system logs, file access, and other critical activities to detect signs of potentially harmful actions or unauthorized access. By analyzing the activities and behavior occurring on a single host, HIDS can identify various forms of attacks, such as malware infections or attempts to exploit system vulnerabilities.

Monitoring network anomalies, analyzing traffic patterns, and encrypting sensitive data fall outside the scope of what a HIDS is designed to do. HIDS does not focus on network activities as a network-based intrusion detection system (NIDS) would; instead, it targets the integrity and security of the host itself.