Updated on 2025-09-25 GMT+08:00

Configuring Basic IPS Protection

The rule library built in CFW can identify common network attacks, providing basic protection for your assets. You can change the IPS protection mode as needed.

Constraints

  • Intrusion prevention does not support decryption detection and defense for TLS- and SSL-encrypted traffic.
  • If custom IPS rules have been added, IPS basic protection cannot be disabled.
  • If IPS basic protection is disabled, the virtual patch, sensitive directory scan prevention, and reverse shell detection prevention functions will be disabled with it.

Impacts on Services

If IPS blocking is enabled, a range of possible threats and suspicious traffic will be blocked. To change the protection mode, you are advised to enable the Observe mode and check false alarms for a period of time and then switch to the Intercept mode.

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

IPS detects and defends against access traffic in real time based on the attack defense experience and rules accumulated over the years, blocking common network attacks and effectively protecting your assets.

IPS provides multiple types of rule libraries:
  • Basic protection: A built-in rule library. It covers common network attacks and provides basic protection capabilities for your assets. You can change the protection mode to change the protection status of the rule library. For details, see Adjusting the IPS Protection Mode to Block Network Attacks. For details about how to change the protection status of a single rule, see Changing the Protection Action of an Intrusion Prevention Rule.
  • Virtual patching: Hot patches are provided for IPS at the network layer to intercept high-risk remote attacks in real time and prevent service interruption during vulnerability fixing.

    Updated rules are added to the virtual patch library first. You can determine whether to add the rules to the basic protection library.

    To add defense rules, enable this function to apply virtual patch rules. The protection action can be manually modified.

  • Custom IPS signature (supported only by the professional edition): If the built-in rule library cannot meet your requirements, you can customize signature rules. For details, see Adding a Custom IPS Signature.

    Signature rules of the HTTP, TCP, UDP, POP3, SMTP and FTP protocols can be added.

Adjusting the IPS Protection Mode to Block Network Attacks

  1. Log in to the CFW console.
  2. Click in the upper left corner of the management console and select a region or project.
  3. (Optional) Switch to another firewall instance. Select a firewall from the drop-down list in the upper left corner of the page.
  4. In the navigation pane, choose Attack Defense > Intrusion Prevention.
  5. Ensure Basic Protection is enabled.
  6. In the Protection Mode area, select a protection mode.

    Table 1 Protection mode

    Protection Mode

    Description

    Observe

    Attacks are detected and recorded in logs but are not blocked.

    Intercept

    Attacks and abnormal IP address access are automatically blocked.

    • Intercept mode - loose: The protection granularity is coarse. In this mode, only attacks with high threat and high certainty are blocked.
    • Intercept mode - moderate: The protection granularity is medium. This mode meets protection requirements in most scenarios.
    • Intercept mode - strict: The protection granularity is fine-grained, and all attack requests are intercepted.
    NOTE:
    • You are advised to use the Observe mode for a period of time before changing to the Intercept mode. For details about how to view attack event logs, see Attack Event Logs.
    • If a rule blocks normal traffic, you can modify the action of the rule. For details, see IPS Rule Management.

    The Intercept status of a rule varies depending on the protection mode. For details, see Table 2. For details about how to modify an IPS rule, see Changing the Protection Action of an Intrusion Prevention Rule.

    Table 2 Default actions of rule groups in different protection modes

    -

    Observe

    Intercept mode - strict

    Intercept mode - medium

    Intercept mode - loose

    Observe rule group

    Observe

    Disable

    Disable

    Disable

    Strict rule group

    Observe

    Intercept

    Disable

    Disable

    Medium rule group

    Observe

    Intercept

    Intercept

    Disable

    Loose rule group

    Observe

    Intercept

    Intercept

    Intercept

Disabling IPS Basic Protection

  • If custom IPS rules have been added, IPS basic protection cannot be disabled.
  • If IPS basic protection is disabled, the virtual patch, sensitive directory scan prevention, and reverse shell detection prevention functions will be disabled with it.
  1. Log in to the CFW console.
  2. Click in the upper left corner of the management console and select a region or project.
  3. (Optional) Switch to another firewall instance. Select a firewall from the drop-down list in the upper left corner of the page.
  4. In the navigation pane, choose Attack Defense > Intrusion Prevention.
  5. Click next to Basic Protection to disable basic protection.

Follow-up Operations

For details about the protection overview, see Viewing Attack Defense Information on the Dashboard. For details about logs, see Attack Event Logs.

References

For details about how to handle incorrect IPS blocking, see What Do I Do If IPS Blocks Normal Services?.