Server Sounds and Network Noises

Abstract-For server and network administrators, it is a challenge to keep an overview of their systems to detect potential intrusions and security risks in real-time as well as in retrospect. Most security tools leverage our inherent ability for pattern detection by visualizing different types of security data. Several studies suggest that complementing visualization with sonification (the presentation of data using sound) can alleviate some of the challenges of visual monitoring (such as the need for constant visual focus). This paper therefore provides an overview of the current state of research regarding auditory-based and multimodal tools in computer security. Most existing research in this area is geared towards supporting users in real-time network and server monitoring, while there are only few approaches that are designed for retrospective data analysis. There exist several sonification-based tools in a mature state, but their effectiveness has hardly been tested in formal user and usability studies. Such studies are however needed to provide a solid basis for deciding which type of sonification is most suitable for which kind of scenarios and how to best combine the two modalities, visualization and sonification, to support users in their daily routines

Auditory Display as a Tool for Teaching Network Intrusion Detection

Teaching network intrusion detection, or NID (the identification of violations of a security policy in a computer network) is a challenging task, because students need to analyze many data from network logs and in real time to identify patterns of network attacks, making these activities visually tiring. This paper describes an ongoing research concerned with designing and applying sounds that represent meaningful information in interfaces (sonification) to support teaching of NID. An usability test was conducted with engineering students. Natural sound effects (auditory icons) and musical sounds (earcons) were used to represent network attacks. A post-activity questionnaire showed that most students preferred auditory icons for analyzing NID, and all of them were very interested in the design and application of sonifications