Hello and welcome to Chesapeake Digital Technology´s blog. We’re an information technology firm in Maryland. We provide two primary services, Internet Marketing / SEO and Technical Support for business.
Picture your corporate network. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Fortune 500 company or a medium sized business. You have a network with computers, printers, etc all coming together to make your business function well. You have some important stuff on there, right? Client lists, pricing, billing info, etc. Well, there are people out there who want your data and they will take it by force. Among the arsenal at your disposal for defense are an IPS and an IDS. Here’s how they break down.
IDS – Intrusion Detection System
An IDS monitors network traffic. It can be hardware or software based, but regardless, it scans all the data that goes in and comes out of your network. The big thing here is logging. An IDS is not designed to stop attackers or suspicious data packets from entering your network. Rather, it is designed to track them and let you know where they came from, where they were delivered, and plenty more information.
Open Source Options
AIDE
Bro NIDS
OSSEC HIDS
Prelude Hybrid IDS
Snort
Suricata
IPS – Intrusion Prevention System
An IPS, or Intrusion Prevention System, is a great start to network defense. An IPS employs several methods for protection, but the key difference here from an IDS is that the IPS will analyze all relevant data AND keep the packets out of your network. They key is placement on your network. An IPS setup in the DMZ (demilitarized zone – special area between the Internet and your local network) can work wonders for network security.
Solutions
Cisco Security Agent (originally by Okena formerly named StormWatch Agent)
Denyhosts
Fail2ban
Mcafee Entercept
So there it is. Talk about these options with your IT people and see if they are right for you. Remember, an IPS will cost you more, but it will also take care of some of your security concerns.
-Josh
Hello and welcome to 
