In a major IDS failure, what risk?

In a major IDS failure, what risk?

• A. The alarm will never trigger
• B. Patrols will not respond
• C. Intruder could gain access to a resource without crossing a line of detection
• D. System remains secure

Answer: (C)

When detection fails on a large scale, the biggest danger is a blind spot in the monitoring boundary that lets an intruder reach a protected resource without being detected. An IDS is meant to catch unauthorized access as it happens, but a major failure can break that line of sight—sensors go offline, rules misfire, or data paths don’t cover the critical path. In that case, an attacker could slip in and access a resource without triggering alarms, meaning security is compromised even though parts of the system might still be functioning. This isn’t simply about alarms failing in general or patrols not responding; those are different failure modes or responses. The core risk here is undetected access due to a lapse in the detection boundary.

When detection fails on a large scale, the biggest danger is a blind spot in the monitoring boundary that lets an intruder reach a protected resource without being detected. An IDS is meant to catch unauthorized access as it happens, but a major failure can break that line of sight—sensors go offline, rules misfire, or data paths don’t cover the critical path. In that case, an attacker could slip in and access a resource without triggering alarms, meaning security is compromised even though parts of the system might still be functioning.

This isn’t simply about alarms failing in general or patrols not responding; those are different failure modes or responses. The core risk here is undetected access due to a lapse in the detection boundary.