What is one common attribute of all IPS technologies?

One common attribute of all Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) technologies is their inability to provide completely accurate detection. Unlike idealized systems, IPS solutions operate based on heuristics, signatures, and anomaly detection techniques, which may lead to both false positives and false negatives. This intrinsic limitation arises because, while an IPS strives to identify malicious activity or security breaches accurately, the complex nature of network traffic, the variability of attack techniques, and the potential for legitimate traffic to resemble malicious behavior complicate this task.

The lack of perfect detection accuracy is a noteworthy theme in cybersecurity. Attackers continuously adapt their methods to evade detection, and as a result, an IPS can miss some threats (false negatives) or mistakenly flag legitimate activity as malicious (false positives). Consequently, organizations implementing an IPS must understand that while these systems are essential for security, they should not be relied upon as an infallible solution.

This concept also helps in grasping why the other characteristics listed do not universally apply across IPS technologies. Attributes like the need for human monitoring or complete detection accuracy would not apply to every IPS implementation, just as distinctive protocol recognition may vary based on the specific design of an IPS solution.