| Information flow control regulates where information is allowed to travel within a network and between interconnected networks. The flow of all network traffic must be monitored and controlled so it does not introduce any unacceptable risk to the network infrastructure or data. Sensors and agents monitor and analyze activity. The term sensor is typically used for the IDPS that monitor networks, including network-based, wireless, and network behavior analysis technologies. The term agent is typically used for host-based IDPS technologies. A management server is a centralized device that receives information from the sensors or agents and manages them. Some management servers perform analysis on the event information that the sensors or agents provide and can identify events that the individual sensors or agents cannot. Matching event information from multiple sensors or agents, such as finding events triggered by the same IP address is known as correlation. Management servers are available as both appliance and software-only products.
Some small IDPS deployments do not use any management servers, but most IDPS deployments do. In larger IDPS deployments, there are often multiple management servers, and in some cases there are two tiers of management servers. If the management console is placed on a user segment, management information may be intercepted. |
