Auditory Display as a Tool for Teaching Network Intrusion Detection

Abstract

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.