Why IPS Matters
A firewall blocks what you tell it to. An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) blocks what it learns is malicious. With modern exploits riding on “legitimate” ports like 443, IPS is critical.
Practical Options
- Fail2ban: Lightweight, bans brute force sources based on log patterns.
- Suricata: Full IDS/IPS with deep packet inspection.
- Snort: Classic IDS/IPS, widely used and community-driven.
- Integration: Tie alerts into Wazuh/ELK for visibility.
Applied Example
- SSH brute-force attack: fail2ban triggers after 5 failed attempts → blocks attacker at iptables/nftables level.
- Suricata identifies C2 beacon traffic over HTTPS → blocks session in real time.
Why Clients Care
- Prevention: stops attacks before compromise.
- Compliance: many frameworks (PCI, NIS2) require IPS.
- Cost saving: fewer incidents escalate into full breaches.
Security gaps in Linux and cloud systems risk downtime, data compromise, lost business — and compliance failures.
With 20+ years’ experience and active UK Security Check (SC) clearance, I harden Linux and cloud platforms for government, corporate, and academic sectors — ensuring secure, compliant, and resilient infrastructure.