Endpoint Security - Breaches & Attacks | Endpoint Management

Within an enterprise network, any unprotected device can put the company at serious risk of reputation damage. Threats can emerge from unauthorized access, and the entry of viruses and malware. More recently, companies also fear ransomware and worms. Endpoint security pertains to various endpoints on a network, such as tablets, smart phones, laptops, PCs and servers.

Why now?

There is growing importance on organizations embracing the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) culture. It is not just for saving money, but accepting a new style of work, which is app based, mobile oriented, less intrusive and more transparent. Thus, endpoint security has never been more important.

What immediate action you can take:

Revise your device-management strategy from time to time
Come up with a ‘what-if’ response plan to resolve threats
Strategize how to reduce the response time (between detecting an intrusion and resolving the effects)
Make sure your response plan is flexible enough to evolve as your needs change

What business leaders feel

An organization's network should offer the safest environment, where devices are protected from external attacks. However, it all boils down to the dozens, often thousands of user devices that are used to log in to the enterprise network every day.

The management of such user devices has to be well defined, as the massive scale of today's infrastructure brings challenges in designing and executing security solutions.

Breaches can cause considerable loss of money and reputation. Avoiding them is vital, but if a breach has already happened, you should be ready to take the right steps.

Comprehensive response readiness assessment

Employees have mobile devices and laptops. But they also access enterprise portals through home PCs. That brings the possibility of severe intrusion risks increasing proportionally as the user set is not always well defined. In such cases, is a centralized security solution the right answer? The security landscape is fast changing and brings about the need for additional protection outside the realm of centralized protection. The focus on points of entry beckons keen attention.

One of the ways adequate protection can be achieved is mandating endpoint devices to meet security standards. Before the device user is permitted access to the enterprise network, the endpoint (device) has to be brought under a protocol, by which the device bears major responsibility for its own security from threats. A company must also have a policy to ensure a more robust control over the increase in the number of access points. Endpoint security tools, as opposed to anti-virus software in the endpoint framework, is increasingly being considered.

What endpoint security products offer:

• Prevention of data loss
• Application isolation and control
• Insider threat protection
• Memory encryption
• Encryption of devices and messaging tools
• Access and privileged-user control

Understanding the implementation

Although the idea of endpoint security may allude to security governance from the devices themselves, it takes a dynamic approach. Software to maintain security may be installed on a central server, but equally important is the need to install software on individual devices. A less complex security implementation may also be classified as "endpoint security", as it has been in the past years. However, a more modern approach to describing endpoint security includes advanced techniques. Identifying a threat based on the digital behavior of devices (and their users) and one needs to detect whether authorized users are responsible, or if it is some kind of intrusion.

Although it may be the "endpoint", an endpoint security implementation always involves the installation of a centralized software. Administration of the security protocols is also enabled from a centralized unit.

The enterprise of tomorrow is driven by easier and simpler techniques to maintain individual accountability. It can only happen if devices are closer and more personal to the worker, with a device-agnostic framework being implemented across the board. Thus, endpoint security management are a must have in the industry, while complex installations are bound to take place as mobile phones evolve into implants and wearables. With technology comes the responsibility to mitigate risks, and ensure that a security solution is capable of scaling and evolving with the times.