Untangle Intrusion Prevention Overview:
Untangle Intrusion Prevention blocks hacking attempts
before they reach internal servers and desktops. Untangle’s
pre-configured signature-based IPS makes it easier for
administrators to:
- Provide 24/7 network protection from hackers
- Minimize annoying false positives
- Ensure that signatures are always current with
automatic updates
Most hackers are looking for computer networks that
they can hijack and exploit. They cast wide nets using
automated programs that sniff out exposed networks.
This makes small businesses, with more limited IT budgets,
particularly vulnerable.
Our Intrusion Prevention software intercepts attacks
in their tracks. Working transparently on your network,
this innovative application uses thousands of signatures
to detect, block and log intrusion attempts, using industry-standard
rules.
Plus, we simplify the process by setting reasonable
defaults for you on thousands of signatures—or you can
change defaults and add new rules based on your company’s
specific needs.
Key Features:
- Open source & Free under the GNU General Public
License (GPL)
- Thousands of signatures for a variety of attacks
- Carefully selected defaults continually tuned
by Untangle Operations Center
- New attack signatures atomically downloaded
to your server

Technical Specifications:
Intrusion Prevention is an ID (Intrusion Detection)
system that intercepts all traffic and detects malicious
activity on either the network or individual computers
or both. To detect malicious activity, Intrusion Prevention
uses signature detection, a method that draws upon a
database of known attack patterns.
Intrusion Prevention's interception of malicious
activity does not have any impact on system performance
and is transparent to users, with the exception of the
malicious user. If Intrusion Prevention detects malicious
activity, Intrusion Prevention terminates the session
for that activity.
Intrusion Prevention is pre-configured with default
settings custom-tuned by Untangle. Therefore, Intrusion
Prevention does not require much customization, though
you can change these defaults or add your own rules.
Under The Hood
Intrusion Prevention uses an open source tool, Snort
, to identify these known patterns. The Snort community
maintains information about known exploits, and produces
lists of signatures from this information. The Untangle
Server software keeps these signatures up-to-date.
What It Does
Provides network intrusion detection and prevention
How It Does It
Uses Snort signatures with a custom Untangle scanning
engine, pre-tuned default settings and updates
Controls
- Specific signatures can be set to be blocked
and/or logged
- New signatures can be created using custom rules
and variables
Intrusion Prevention FAQs:
Why aren't most of Intrusion Prevention's rules
blocked by default?
Because most of the rules can block non-malicious
traffic in addition to malicious exploits. To make
things easy for you, Untangle evaluated each rule
and numerous networks, and determined the appropriate
default settings for each rule using the following
criteria:
- If the rule is always known to block
malicious exploits, Intrusion Prevention blocks
and logs this rule by default.
- If the rule is sometimes known to
block malicious exploits, Intrusion Prevention
logs this rule by default.
- If the rule is never known to block
malicious exploits, Intrusion Prevention neither
blocks nor logs this rule by default.
To change the defaults, go to Blocking or Logging
an Intrusion Prevention Rule.
Hardware Requirements:
- The Untangle Server requires a dedicated PC
installed at the gateway to your network.
- Your hardware does not need an operating system
- the Untangle Server installs its own operating
system.
- The Untangle Server software completely erases
any content or data that may exist on your PC hard
drive.
Sizing Guidance
Recommended Configurations (New Hardware)
When purchasing new hardware, spending a couple of
extra dollars to meet the following recommended configurations
provides the best value.
|
Resource |
Up to 50 Users |
Up to 100 Users |
Up to 300 Users |
| Intel/AMD-compatible
Processor |
Pentium 4
equivalent or greater |
Dual Core |
Dual Core |
| Memory |
1 GB |
1 GB |
2 GB |
| Hard Drive |
80 GB |
80 GB |
80 GB |
| NIC's |
2 (3 for
DMZ) |
2 (3 for
DMZ) |
2 (3 for
DMZ) |
Verified Configurations (Trials, Refurbished or
Repurposed Hardware)
These are the lowest verified hardware configurations
that provide reliable — albeit sometimes slower — performance
in production. However, it may be possible for organizations
with lower than average network traffic or organizations
that do not wish to use all of the modules to run Untangle
on smaller systems.
|
Resource |
Up to 50 Users |
Up to 100 Users |
Up to 300 Users |
| Intel/AMD-compatible
Processor |
800 MHz |
1.2 GHz |
1.6 GHz |
| Memory |
512 MB |
1 GB |
2 GB |
| Hard Drive |
20 GB |
30 GB |
40 GB |
| NIC's |
2 (3 for
DMZ)Z) |
2 (3 for
DMZ) |
2 (3 for
DMZ) |