What is the primary function of an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)?

An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is primarily designed to detect and prevent identified threats and attacks in real time. It actively monitors network traffic and looks for patterns that indicate malicious activity or policy violations. When a potential threat is identified, the IPS takes immediate action to block or prevent the attack from succeeding, rather than just logging the event or alerting an administrator, which would be the function of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS).

This proactive capability ensures that systems are safeguarded against threats as they emerge, reducing the risk of data breaches or network compromises. While logging network traffic, cataloging vulnerabilities, and analyzing system performance can be relevant aspects of network security and monitoring, they do not define the primary function of an IPS. The key distinction of an IPS is its ability to block attacks in real-time, making it a critical component in a security architecture focused on active threat mitigation.