<!-- Copyright (c) 2026 defconxt. All rights reserved. -->
<!-- Licensed under AGPL-3.0 — see LICENSE file for details. -->
---
name: implementing-suricata-rule-engineering
description: >-
  Author, test, tune, and deploy Suricata IDS/IPS rules for network threat detection including protocol analysis, flow tracking, and performance optimization.
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: detection-engineering
tags:
  - suricata
  - ids-ips
  - network-detection
  - rule-engineering
  - protocol-analysis
  - traffic-inspection
version: "1.0"
author: defconxt
license: AGPL-3.0
metadata:
  mitre-attack: ["T1071"]
---

# Implementing Suricata Rule Engineering

## Overview

Suricata rule engineering enables network-level threat detection through
protocol-aware signatures, flow analysis, and content matching.
Covers rule syntax, multi-pattern matching, Lua scripting, and threshold tuning.

## Prerequisites

| Requirement | Purpose |
|---|---|
| suricata | `apt install suricata` |
| suricata-update | Rule management tool |
| pcap samples | Network captures for rule testing |

## Key Concepts

### Advanced Suricata Patterns

```
alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"ET MALWARE Cobalt Strike C2 Beacon Activity";
    flow:established,to_server;
    http.method; content:"GET";
    http.uri; content:"/api/v1/"; startswith;
    http.header; content:"Cookie:"; content:"SESSIONID=";
    pcre:"/SESSIONID=[A-Za-z0-9+/]{32,}/";
    flowbits:set,cobaltstrike.beacon;
    classtype:trojan-activity;
    sid:2026001; rev:1;
    metadata:attack_target Client_Endpoint,
             mitre_attack_tactic Command_And_Control,
             mitre_attack_technique T1071_001;
)
```

## Workflow

1. **Identify threat traffic** — Define network behavior to detect
2. **Analyze protocol** — Understand protocol fields and flow patterns
3. **Author rule** — Write Suricata rule with content matches and flow logic
4. **Test with pcap** — Replay captured traffic to validate detection
5. **Tune thresholds** — Adjust rate limits and suppress noisy alerts
6. **Performance test** — Verify rule does not degrade throughput
7. **Deploy to sensors** — Push to production IDS/IPS infrastructure

## Detection

```yaml
title: Suricata Rule Engineering Detection
id: ab98fb7a-d563-4525-bb6c-ff845ec9d087
status: experimental
description: Detects suspicious activity related to implementing suricata rule engineering techniques in detection engineering context
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    CommandLine: "*implementing*suricata*"
  condition: selection
level: medium
tags:
  - attack.t1071
  - attack.defense_evasion
falsepositives:
  - Detection rule testing in staging SIEM environment
```

## Verification

| Check | Method |
|---|---|
| Workflow completed | All steps executed and documented |
| Output validated | Results match expected format and content |
| Quality assured | Peer review or automated validation passed |

## References

- [NIST Cybersecurity Framework](https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework)
- [MITRE ATT&CK](https://attack.mitre.org/)
