Prevention is better than cure, and this adage certainly holds true for any aspect of network security. Every organization tries to ensure that intrusions are blocked before they attack networks and impede processes. And this is why an Intrusion prevention system (IPS) is a prerequisite for complete security in today’s business environment. Such a system monitors the network and takes necessary action whenever an intrusion occurs. Continuing the adage, we should therefore say that intrusion prevention is better than intrusion detection!
From network based IPS to host-based IPS, there are innumerable advantages of installing an IPS that is able to patch vulnerabilities like vulnerability scanning and respond promptly to intrusions. Invented in the late 1990’s to solve the issues that existed with intrusion detection systems, Intrusion prevention systems were seen as being more effective than Intrusion detection systems (IDS) as they were more proactive and capable of mitigating risks.
IPS has the ability to block intrusions like Code Red, SQL Slammer etc. It analyzes previous intrusions and takes measures to protect the system and thereby prevent similar or new intrusions in future. Because it proactively detects, identifies and prevents intrusions, it is also a rather cost-effective solution affordable to businesses of all sizes.
Here are the characteristics that make up for a good intrusion prevention system:
- Intrusion prevention systems are best when they can monitor intrusions right at the encryption stage using integrity checks. They should be able to detect intrusions across the network and react promptly by reporting it and consequently blocking it. In other words, it should have the in-line operation capabilities - only by operating in-line can an IPS device perform true protection, discarding all suspect packets immediately and blocking the remainder of that flow
- Real-time intervention and protection is what makes IPS proactive and really effective against intrusions.
- A good IPS has several layers of protection and inherently has the ability to protect the network server efficiently. It offers a reliable and steady platform for protection across the enterprise.
- It should be easy to deploy and use.
- Most importantly it should be cost-effective, and bring in better ROI by efficiently protecting the enterprises network applications.
- From a performance perspective, it should have reliability and availability, resilience, low latency, High Performance, unquestionable detection accuracy, fine-grained granularity and control.
Protecting against intrusion and ensuring security are on-going challenges. And therefore, simply having an IPS is not enough. There has to be a periodic review of security across all networks and applications. Only this can make IPS truly effective, and also bring about the desired results.
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