When it comes to protecting your network from attacks a good IPS (intruder prevention system) is needed. Be warned that many intrusion detection systems will try to pass them selves off as an IPS, even when they do not offer all the services of the IPS. Intrusion Detection Systems were the precursors to today's IPS's. Often old intrusion detection systems are exploited by attackers because they rely on out of date network technology. IPS is builds up the older technology and makes networks more secure from outside attacks.

The latest IPS's work by deeply analyzing network data packets as they pass through the network. This allows the IPS to monitor traffic and recognize patterns and importance of data. If an outside attack is perpetrated against the network, the IPS can identify it instantly and deny access to the attacker before any harm is done. The IPS can also help move the flow of traffic through the network and make sure that important applications do not fail. For example an IPS can give priority to financial transactions over regular web surfing.

There are two kinds of IPS's, one is called HIPS and the other it called NIPS. HIPS is an acronym which stands for Host Based Intrusion Prevention System. NIPS is an acronym which stands for Network Based Intrusion Prevention System. A host based IPS is usually software based and needs to be installed on every computer connected to the network. A network based IPS is hardware based and acts as both a monitor and protector of the network. It placed between network user computers and the internet so that when attack are carried out they can be stopped before reaching servers and computers where they can do major damage.