Identification and Prevention of Brute Force Attacks

The best defense against unauthorized access to a computer is to use a password as soon as a user logs in. Only those with permission can access the system and its resources. The major challenge here is network security. A strong password is necessary to access any web-based service, such as email and database storage. A brute force attack is the most frequent and susceptible type of attack on any computer network system. In this type of attack, the hacker uses any password-cracking tool to attempt to guess the password. The attacker may or may not alter the system files and its functions after gaining the password. After obtaining the password, the attacker may or may not change the system files and its operations. The attacker is using the system's data passively up until the user becomes aware of the attack. It belongs to the class of passive attacks as a result. Because there are no indications that the system or its networks are being tampered with, passive attacks are difficult to identify. This study utilizes the decision tree algorithm to identify brute force attacks against Linux systems from the data logs using Python coding. Additionally, prevention and protection strategies are highlighted.