What is a common tool used for incident detection in networks?

An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is specifically designed for monitoring network traffic to identify suspicious activities and potential security breaches. It analyzes patterns and behaviors within the traffic to detect any anomalies or known attack signatures. This capability makes an IDS a crucial tool for incident detection as it continuously observes the network environment, alerts administrators about potential threats, and enables timely responses to incidents.

While firewalls serve as a barrier to restrict unauthorized access to networks, their primary function is not to detect but rather to prevent unauthorized traffic. Network Access Control (NAC) primarily focuses on enforcing security policies to ensure that only authorized devices can connect to the network. Antivirus software, on the other hand, is typically used for protecting individual systems from malware rather than monitoring network-wide activities. Therefore, an IDS stands out as the most suitable tool for identifying and detecting incidents in a network environment.