(ISC)2 Certified in Cybersecurity Practice Exam

True or False: In-band IPS deployment mode intercepts traffic as it flows between the sender and receiver.

1. True

2. False

The correct answer is: True

The statement is true. In-band Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) operate by being placed directly in the path of network traffic between the sender and receiver. This allows the IPS to actively monitor, analyze, and, if necessary, modify or drop malicious traffic before it reaches its intended destination. This deployment mode effectively enables the IPS to take immediate action against threats, providing a proactive security measure by preventing attacks in real-time. In contrast, other modes of IPS deployment, such as out-of-band (also known as passive mode), do not sit in the live traffic path; instead, they monitor traffic indirectly and are useful for data analysis and alerts but do not directly interfere with the traffic flow. This fundamental distinction reinforces why in-band deployment is characterized by its ability to intercept and respond to threats in real-time.