The Port Scan Attack Detector psad is a lightweight system daemon written in is designed to work with Linux iptables/ip6tables/firewalld firewalling code to detect suspicious traffic such as port scans and sweeps, backdoors, botnet command and control communications, and more.
It features a set of highly configurable danger thresholds (with sensible defaults provided), verbose alert messages that include the source, destination, scanned port range, begin and end times, TCP flags and corresponding nmap options, reverse DNS info, email and syslog alerting, automatic blocking of offending IP addresses via dynamic configuration of iptables rulesets, passive operating system fingerprinting, and DShield reporting. In addition, psad incorporates many of the TCP, UDP, and ICMP signatures included in the Snort intrusion detection system. to detect highly suspect scans for various backdoor programs (e.g. EvilFTP, GirlFriend, SubSeven), DDoS tools (Mstream, Shaft), and advanced port scans (SYN, FIN, XMAS) which are easily leveraged against a machine via nmap. psad can also alert on Snort signatures that are logged via fwsnort, which makes use of the iptables string match extension to detect traffic that matches application layer signatures.
This is free and open source software.
Features include:
- Detection for TCP SYN, FIN, NULL, and XMAS scans as well as UDP scans.
- Support for both IPv4 and IPv6 logs generated by iptables and ip6tables respectively.
- Detection of many signature rules from the Snort intrusion detection system.
- Forensics mode iptables/ip6tables logfile analysis (useful as a forensics tool for extracting scan information from old iptables/ip6tables logfiles).
- Passive operating system fingerprinting via TCP syn packets. Two different fingerprinting strategies are supported; a re-implementation of p0f that strictly uses iptables/ip6tables log messages (requires the –log-tcp-options command line switch), and a TOS-based strategy.
- Email alerts that contain TCP/UDP/ICMP scan characteristics, reverse dns and whois information, snort rule matches, remote OS guess information, and more.
- When combined with fwsnort and the iptables string match extension,
psadcan generate alerts for application layer buffer overflow attacks, suspicious application commands, and other suspect layer 7 traffic. - Icmp type and code header field validation.
- Configurable scan thresholds and danger level assignments.
- Iptables ruleset parsing to verify “default drop” policy stance.
- IP/network danger level auto-assignment (can be used to ignore or automatically escalate danger levels for certain networks).
- DShield alerts.
- Auto-blocking of scanning IP addresses via iptables/ip6tables and/or tcpwrappers based on scan danger level. (This feature is NOT enabled by default.)
- Parsing of iptables/ip6tables log messages and generation of CSV output that can be used as input to AfterGlow. This allows iptables/ip6tables logs to be visualized. Gnuplot is also supported.
- Status mode that displays a summary of current scan information with associated packet counts, iptables/ip6tables chains, and danger levels.
Website: www.cipherdyne.org/psad
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: psad contributors
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
psad is written in Perl and C. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Return to Network Intrusion Detection Systems
| Popular series | |
|---|---|
 | The largest compilation of the best free and open source software in the universe. Each article is supplied with a legendary ratings chart helping you to make informed decisions. |
 | Hundreds of in-depth reviews offering our unbiased and expert opinion on software. We offer helpful and impartial information. |
 | The Big List of Active Linux Distros is a large compilation of actively developed Linux distributions. |
 | Replace proprietary software with open source alternatives: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Autodesk, Oracle, Atlassian, Corel, Cisco, Intuit, and SAS. |
 | Awesome Free Linux Games Tools showcases a series of tools that making gaming on Linux a more pleasurable experience. This is a new series. |
 | Machine Learning explores practical applications of machine learning and deep learning from a Linux perspective. We've written reviews of more than 40 self-hosted apps. All are free and open source. |
 | New to Linux? Read our Linux for Starters series. We start right at the basics and teach you everything you need to know to get started with Linux. |
 | Alternatives to popular CLI tools showcases essential tools that are modern replacements for core Linux utilities. |
 | Essential Linux system tools focuses on small, indispensable utilities, useful for system administrators as well as regular users. |
 | Linux utilities to maximise your productivity. Small, indispensable tools, useful for anyone running a Linux machine. |
 | Surveys popular streaming services from a Linux perspective: Amazon Music Unlimited, Myuzi, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal. |
 | Saving Money with Linux looks at how you can reduce your energy bills running Linux. |
 | Home computers became commonplace in the 1980s. Emulate home computers including the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, ZX81, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. |
 | Now and Then examines how promising open source software fared over the years. It can be a bumpy ride. |
 | Linux at Home looks at a range of home activities where Linux can play its part, making the most of our time at home, keeping active and engaged. |
 | Linux Candy reveals the lighter side of Linux. Have some fun and escape from the daily drudgery. |
 | Getting Started with Docker helps you master Docker, a set of platform as a service products that delivers software in packages called containers. |
 | Best Free Android Apps. We showcase free Android apps that are definitely worth downloading. There's a strict eligibility criteria for inclusion in this series. |
 | These best free books accelerate your learning of every programming language. Learn a new language today! |
 | These free tutorials offer the perfect tonic to our free programming books series. |
 | Linux Around The World showcases usergroups that are relevant to Linux enthusiasts. Great ways to meet up with fellow enthusiasts. |
 | Stars and Stripes is an occasional series looking at the impact of Linux in the USA. |