A Lightweight Intrusion Detection Framework for Small and Medium Enterprises in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper proposes an open-source, low-cost intrusion detection architecture combining Wazuh, Suricata and MITRE ATT&CK mapping, evaluated on a simulated SME network.

Methodology

The study follows a reproducible pipeline with publicly documented datasets and open-source tooling. Full experimental details, code and evaluation notebooks are available on request from the authors.

Key Findings

• Practical, low-cost approaches can match or exceed commercial baselines in the local context.
• Reproducibility and documentation significantly improve adoption by practitioners.
• Results are integrated into the ITA Academia curriculum as case studies.