Tools / Cyber Security Interview Questions
What is the difference between IDS and IPS?
| IDS | IPS |
| Monitors traffic and generates alerts | Monitors traffic and actively blocks malicious activity |
| Passive, sits out-of-line via a mirrored port | Inline, sits directly in the traffic path |
| No impact on traffic flow if it fails | Can become a bottleneck or single point of failure if it fails |
| Best for visibility and forensic analysis | Best for real-time prevention |
Many organizations deploy both together: the IDS gives full visibility for investigation, while the IPS blocks known-bad traffic automatically, cutting down the response window compared to relying on IDS alerts alone.
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