AIDE

AIDE, short for Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment, is an open-source host-based intrusion detection and file integrity monitoring project. It creates a trusted baseline database containing attributes of selected files and directories, then compares later system states against that baseline to identify unexpected changes. AIDE is primarily used on Linux and Unix-like systems where administrators need visibility into modifications to operating-system files, configuration files and other important data. The project is useful for detecting signs of tampering, unauthorized changes and configuration drift. Unlike a commercial cybersecurity vendor, AIDE is an open-source security utility rather than a company with a conventional corporate headquarters, employee count or commercial product portfolio. It is commonly incorporated into server-hardening and compliance workflows where file integrity monitoring is required. AIDE can be configured to monitor selected paths and file attributes and can produce reports showing differences between the trusted baseline and the current filesystem. Security teams may use those reports alongside logging, vulnerability management, endpoint protection and broader security monitoring controls. Because it is open source, organizations can inspect and adapt the software to their own environments. AIDE remains a practical lightweight tool for Linux integrity monitoring and host-based security.