Both programs monitor network traffic, discovering anomalies that may signal security risks. The difference is that IPS takes action to prevent damage when it spots these issues.
Typically, these systems log information about detected threats and send notifications to administrators. They also close sessions, block IP addresses and strengthen firewalls.
Cost
Depending on an organization’s budget, the choice between IDS and IPS should be based on the required capabilities. A robust solution combining both tools is a great option for larger enterprises. These tools combine detection and response capabilities to offer a more complete cybersecurity tool. Some solutions also allow you to select anomaly-based or signature-based detection strategies to optimize the tool for your needs.
An IDS system is designed to detect a potential attack by monitoring the traffic of an endpoint and comparing it against built-in profiles that identify known threats. This approach can lead to false positives, and the system must be tuned regularly to ensure it recognizes all possible malicious activities. A network-based IDS monitors all traffic across the entire network and may require configuration to identify potential threats properly.
While IDS systems can be very effective at detecting various attacks, they often cannot prevent these threats from causing damage or gaining access to the organization’s data. One of the main reasons is that they rely on a signature-based analysis of each packet that comes into the network. This type of analysis can result in a significant lag between when the attack is first discovered and when its signature is added to the IDS database. Additionally, IDS systems can be tripped up by attacks based on poor password security and need help processing encrypted packets.
Capabilities
Using detection and response capabilities together reduces bad actors’ dwell time, minimizing their impact on your business. This allows you to stop attacks before they cause damage and minimizes the financial cost of a cyberattack. IDS vs IPS solutions are the tools that can help you spot attacks and respond quickly.
IDS systems scan networks for cyber threats and alert when one is detected. However, they cannot prevent threats independently and require a human to intervene once they detect an attack.
An IPS has more agency and can respond to a threat once detected by closing a session, terminating the attacker account or IP address, or blocking access to the attached file or service. The IPS can also reconfigure other security controls, such as firewalls, to block the attack and strengthen the system’s defenses.
IPS solutions use either a signature- or behavior-modeling approach to detect cyber threats and then take action in real-time. They can also monitor for malicious byte sequences and identify files and other content that have been compromised or tampered with. It is important to remember that IPS and IDS are not foolproof, so you need to spend time configuring these security solutions to avoid false positives. A good way to do this is to find a solution that offers both IPS and IDS capabilities or a hybrid.
Availability
IDS and IPS are powerful tools designed to help businesses protect against cyber threats. They monitor network traffic and analyze individual packets, checking them against a database of known attacks to flag offending ones. They also alert security personnel when they detect malicious activity.
The key difference between these two tools is that IPS solutions can also stop the flow of unauthorized traffic once detected. This means they can prevent bad actors from accessing valuable data, stealing confidential information, or compromising your business’s operations.
This makes them ideal for systems that must remain online at all times, such as ICS and other critical infrastructure. IDS solutions will only alert security personnel to suspicious traffic and won’t block it. This allows human operators to evaluate the situation and decide whether to take further action.
However, this level of automation comes with a price. False positive and false negative observations can restrict legitimate traffic or even enable serious threats to get through, so it’s important to have a team of security professionals ready to respond quickly to any alerts. For this reason, many organizations choose to deploy IDS and IPS as part of a comprehensive security platform that can handle all kinds of detection and response activities. It’s also common for these tools to be offered as a component of larger cybersecurity solutions such as unified threat management (UTM) or firewalls.
Performance
IDS and IPS solutions are hardware-based or software-based systems that monitor network data. These tools run scans against known threats and raise the alarm when a threat is detected. They also can take further automated actions without human intervention based on configured rules and policies. The performance of these systems largely depends on the up-to-dateness of their threat database. Therefore, it’s important to make regular updates available for these systems.
Unlike IDS, an IPS solution has response capabilities, which means it takes action upon detecting potential attacks or malicious behavior. Depending on the solution, it may use signature, anomaly, or hybrid detection methods. Unlike IDS, an IPS can block or remediate threats, making it a better choice for businesses that can’t afford a disruption in their operations.
However, it is worth noting that IPS cannot protect against all types of attacks. This is because it relies on a database of signatures to identify threats. This could lead to a lag between discovering an attack and creating a signature for it, which can leave your organization unprotected in the meantime. IPS solutions don’t always process encrypted packets, meaning some malicious traffic could pass undetected.
