Cisco Unveils Next-Gen Intrusion Prevention SystemCisco Unveils Next-Gen Intrusion Prevention System

Cisco on Tuesday introduced its highest-performing intrusion prevention system, which is designed for media-rich and transaction-heavy networking environments.

The Cisco IPS 4270 offers up to 4Gbits per second performance for Web-based content and video. For e-commerce, point-of-sale, instant messaging, and Internet telephony, the new appliance provides up to 2Gbits per second of throughput and supports as many as 20,000 transactions per second.

In general, Cisco's IPS devices help IT teams detect security vulnerabilities and exploits, and apply corporate policies for preventing threats from entering the network. Competitors in the market include Check Point and TippingPoint

Other features of the IPS 4270 include the ability to run inspection and policy data in a virtualized environment, which makes it possible to weave intrusion prevention services into the overall data center system, Cisco said. The appliance also has redundant, hot-swappable power options and a scalable interface that accommodates high-density copper and fiber Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The new device also integrates with Cisco's IPS Device Manager for standalone management. For multi-unit deployments, the appliances can be integrated with the Cisco Security Manager and the Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System. "Cisco has made a conscientious effort to design a flexible, powerful and virtualization-friendly IPS device that meets the critical needs of high-traffic environments," Mick Scully, VP of product management for Cisco's Security Technology Group, said in a statement.

The IPS 4270 is available today. Pricing was not disclosed.

In February, Cisco unveiled a strategy of expansive security data communication, in particular among intrusion prevention systems. Cisco IPS 6.0, in conjunction with Cisco Security Agent 5.2, Cisco Security MARS 4.3, and Cisco Security Manager 3.1, represented a systemized approach to self-defending networks, the company said.