What advantage does an IPS provide compared to an IDS?

An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is designed to actively monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and take action to block or mitigate potential threats in real-time. This active response capability distinguishes it from an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), which primarily functions to alert administrators about suspicious activities but does not take direct action to prevent them.

The ability of an IPS to actively block malicious activities provides a critical layer of security, allowing organizations to not only detect threats but also respond to them immediately, thereby reducing the potential impact of an attack. This proactive nature is essential in environments where timely responses to security incidents are crucial for maintaining the integrity and availability of critical infrastructure.

In contrast, other options represent characteristics that do not align with the primary function of an IPS. For instance, while an IDS may generate alerts, it is the IPS that takes decisive action, making the ability to block threats a key advantage of the IPS over the IDS.