The reach of internet has today expanded well inside enterprise networks and they are carrying large volumes of confidential data that are accessed by thousands of employees. This increasing connectivity has raised some serious security threats. This calls for software and devices that can identify the security threats and unauthorized network activity in time. In addition to the enterprise networks It security departments, law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies too require the capability to look into the data passing through network. It is for this reason DPI is necessary.
Deep packet inspection is an advanced technology that helps in packet filtering at the basic level of OSI. DPI devices can be integrated with a network and can identify specific communication content at full packet rates from multiplexed data streams in real time. these devices not only monitor high speed networks but also prevent network intrusion attempts and filter unauthorized and harmful content such as viruses and spam. DPI enables a network operator to look inside individual packets of data to examine the contents and understand the makeup of their network traffic and to plan their resources likewise.
Different ways to collect packets for Deep Packet Inspection
- Port Mirroring– this is one of the best mechanisms that inspects each layers of the OSI model and then delivers the targeted info to the network agent . according to the name, it creates a mirror of all the layers and data refining is done from the layers at the top.
Optical Splitter-DPI can collect packet info from this way also and it is delivered to the network agent who has authorization for this data. Filtering system of info from the network enables advanced level network management, security, data mining and user service. Classified packet can be blocked, redirected and reported to the network agent. It secures the internal network structure. Large scale internet service providers apply for this technology to improve the service.
Advantages of Deep Packet Inspection
Finding, identifying, classifying, rerouting or blocking or the code payloads which the cannot be detected by the regular packet filtering.
- Communication service providers can allocate available resources to streamline traffic flow with DPI.
- It can be used for throttled data transfer to prevent peer to peer abuse, thus improving network performance for most subscribers.
Disadvantages of Deep Packet Inspection
- It can create new vulnerabilities as well as protect against existing ones.
- This can be exploited to facilitate attacks in some categories.
- It adds complexity and unwieldy nature to existing firewalls and other software related to security.
- It can reduce computer speed as it increase the burden of the processor.
Though DPI has some disadvantages, they are outnumbered by the advantages and so numerous companies such as Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Symantec, Nokia etc are aggressively marketing DPI technology as components of hardware and software firewalls.
If privacy and network security is your main concern then you definitely require DPI technology to upgrade your network system and thus safeguard your network information. So what are you waiting for? Protect your confidential information now.
