HIPS, Host Intrusion Prevention System

A host intrusion prevention system allows a user to stop malware and other viruses from being installed onto a PC. Once HIPS is activated, a user receives a warning of every unknown executable file that attempts to run a command. If that file or program is not listed as being safe, the user will be notified and can then choose to block the file from running. A user can also submit questionable files for analysis; this is very useful for filtering out false positives. Unlike the basic anti-virus tools, a host intrusion prevention system isn’t required to constantly scan a user’s PC. Instead, it creates one database, checking to see if executable files are listed there or not. Suspicious files that may or may not be infected can be easily blocked from running on the system. It also differs from typical anti-virus software because it doesn’t require daily updates and runs on less memory.