Enterasys Networks this week is expected to unveil a distributed intrusion prevention system (IPS) designed to detect and respond to threats across multivendor wired and wireless networks.

The Enterasys software, called Distributed IPS, extends IPS capabilities to every LAN edge access port and all WLAN 802.11 frequencies to detect threats, mitigate or stop any attack, and contain or remove the source of the threat from the network. The software works with switches and intrusion detection/prevention appliances from multiple vendors, Enterasys says, including Cisco, Foundry, HP ProCurve, Juniper and Nortel as well as its own switches.

Distributed IPS reconfigures network devices to prevent future access. Depending on the capabilities of existing switches, responses can range from throttling inappropriate traffic and/or blocking individual user/device access; assigning packets to a quarantine VLAN; or turning off the port.

Enterasys Distributed IPS can also assist in post-connect network access control for ongoing threat analysis, network behavioral analysis and deep packet inspection to help protect against data leakage, Enterasys says.

Distributed IPS is composed of Enterasys' Dragon IDS/IPS and NetSight Automated Security Manager software, which can be deployed as appliances or embedded inside the company's Matrix N-Series flow switch. Pricing starts at US$35,995 and it is available now.