You are monitoring the network of your organizations. You notice that: 1. There are huge outbound connections from your Internal Network to External IPs 2. On further investigation, you see that the e

Blocking IPs at the firewall only addresses network communication and does not remove the malware from infected hosts, leaving the root cause and potential for re-infection intact.

Updating IDS/IPS signatures improves detection capability for future traffic but does not actively block the ongoing C&C communication or remove the malware already present on hosts.

Cleaning the malware removes the infection on the endpoint but does not block the blacklisted IPs at the network level, leaving other potentially compromised hosts unprotected.

Blocking blacklisted IPs at the firewall stops active and future C&C communication at the network perimeter, preventing data exfiltration and command receipt. Cleaning the malware eliminates the root cause on infected hosts. Neither action alone is sufficient - without firewall blocking, other hosts remain at risk, and without malware removal, the threat persists on the endpoint and may seek new C&C channels.