Network Appliance Security Systems and Tools
(IPS) intrusion prevention system: An IPS, or intrusion prevention system is used in computer security. It provides policies and rules for network traffic along with an intrusion detection system for alerting system or network administrators to suspicious traffic, but allows the administrator to provide the action upon being alerted. Some compare an IPS to a combination of IDS and an application layer firewall for protection.
(IDS) intrusion detection system: An intrusion detection system (IDS) inspects all inbound and outbound network activity and identifies suspicious patterns that may indicate a network or system attack from someone attempting to break into or compromise a system. An IDS evaluates a suspected intrusion once it has taken place and signals an alarm. An IDS also watches for attacks that originate from within a system.
(VPN) virtual private network: A network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For example, there are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
firewall: A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
antivirus scanning: A utility that searches a hard disk for viruses and removes any that are found. Most antivirus include an auto-update feature that enables the program to download profiles of new viruses so that it can check for the new viruses as soon as they are discovered.
content/spam filter: A pattern through which data is passed. Only data that matches the pattern is allowed to pass through the filter. In this case the filters would block based on a list of Web sites, blocking illegal, objectionable or non-business-related content.
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