Abstract
Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) are the latest in a line of products created to counter network attacks. This thesis has explored the history of products manufactured to protect network systems from attacks. An experiment was conducted to find out what an attack on a systems looked like and to gauge the success of current IPS software. Results indicated that current IPS were reasonably effective and that the methodology of attacking a system was predictable, allowing administrators scope for putting methods in place to counter attacks.