What does an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) aim to do?

An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is designed to actively monitor network traffic and prevent malicious activities from impacting the network. Its primary function is to stop or limit damage from attacks by analyzing traffic patterns and identifying potential threats. When the IPS detects suspicious activity, it can take immediate action, such as blocking malicious packets or terminating sessions that pose a risk to the integrity and availability of the systems. By taking proactive measures, an IPS helps to safeguard an organization's network environment from harm, reducing the potential impact of attacks.

While detection, reporting, and data encryption are important aspects of cybersecurity, they are not the primary objectives of an IPS. Detection alone would simply identify threats without taking further action, and reporting would inform administrators but would not prevent attacks. Encrypting data in transit is a separate function aimed at protecting confidentiality, which is not the role of an IPS. Thus, the focus of an IPS is on the active prevention and mitigation of threats to ensure network security.