This paper conducts a comparative analysis of conditional random fields (CRFs) for intrusion detection systems (IDS), addressing challenges in accuracy and efficiency when detecting malicious activities. It explores various IDS methodologies, highlighting the strengths of hybrid systems that combine both signature-based and anomaly-based detection techniques for improved performance. The authors propose a layered approach to leverage CRFs for better detection rates while managing false alarms and the complexity of data in network security.