An IPS stands for "Intrusion Prevention System." It is a crucial tool in the field of cybersecurity, used to protect computer networks or individual devices (endpoints) from various types of cyberattacks.
Imagine you have a house with valuable things inside, and you want to keep intruders from breaking in and stealing your stuff. An IPS is like a smart security guard for your computer network or device. It keeps an eye on all the data coming in and going out, just like a security guard monitors who enters and leaves your property.
The main role of an IPS is to detect and stop cyberattacks before they can cause harm. It does this by watching for suspicious behavior and patterns that match known attack signatures (like a unique pattern left by a specific type of intruder). If the IPS identifies any malicious activity, it takes immediate action to block the attack and prevent it from reaching its target.
For networks, an IPS is like a gatekeeper that examines all the data packets passing through it and only allows the safe ones to continue on their journey while blocking harmful ones.
For individual devices (endpoints), like laptops or smartphones, an IPS helps protect them from malware, viruses, and other threats that could try to exploit vulnerabilities in their software.
Example: Let's say you have a school network with lots of computers connected to the internet. The IPS installed in the network's main gateway acts like a vigilant security guard. One day, a cyberattacker tries to sneak in by sending harmful data packets to one of the computers, attempting to steal sensitive information or disrupt the network. The IPS quickly recognizes the malicious pattern in these packets and immediately stops them from reaching the computer, protecting it and the rest of the network from harm.