Why Network Monitoring Alone Misses Application Attacks

TL;DR Network security monitoring excels at traffic analysis and perimeter defense, yet research shows WAF alerts generate overwhelming noise with minimal correlation to actual exploit attempts. The gap exists because network tools operate at the packet level or network edge, while application attacks exploit vulnerabilities during code execution. Runtime application security through Application Detection and Response (ADR) complements network monitoring by adding visibility into application-layer attacks that bypass perimeter defenses.