Endpoint Security – What Is It?
Endpoint security, or endpoint protection, is a cybersecurity strategy for fighting against malicious behaviour on endpoints — such as PCs, laptops, and mobile devices.
Gartner defines an endpoint protection platform (EPP) as a solution that “prevents file-based malware assaults, detects malicious activity, and provides the investigation and remediation capabilities necessary to respond to dynamic security incidents and alarms.”
What qualifies as an endpoint?
Any device that connects to the business network from outside its firewall is considered an endpoint. Endpoint devices include the following:
- Laptops
- Tablets
- portable devices
- Devices connected to the internet of things (IoT)
- POS (point-of-sale) systems
- Switches
- Printers that print digitally
- Additional devices that connect to the central network
Why Is Endpoint Security Critical?
An endpoint security approach is critical because each remote endpoint can serve as an entry point for an attack, and the number of endpoints is growing exponentially as a result of the rapid shift to remote work caused by the pandemic. A Gallup Poll found that a majority of US jobs were remote in 2020, with 51% remaining remote in April 2021. Endpoint threats and their associated sensitive data are a persistent problem.
Endpoint security is continually evolving, and businesses of all sizes are attractive targets for assaults. This is universally recognised, especially among tiny enterprises. According to a Connectwise study done in 2020, 77% of 700 SMB decision makers surveyed are concerned about being the target of an attack in the next six months.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, they received 300,000 additional complaints last year, totaling over $4.2 billion in alleged losses. According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, “Servers continue to dominate the asset landscape due to the ubiquity of online applications and email services that are engaged in incidents.” And as social attacks continue to corrupt people (they have now penetrated user devices), we are witnessing the rise of phishing emails and websites that deliver malware used for fraud or espionage.”
According to Ponemon’s “Cost of a Data Breach Report 2020,” each data breach costs an average of $3.86 million globally, with the United States costing an average of $8.65 million per breach (Commissioned by IBM). According to the survey, the most significant financial impact of a breach is “lost business,” which accounts for over 40% of the average cost of a data breach.
Endpoint protection is difficult because endpoints exist where humans and machines interact. Businesses strive to safeguard their systems without interfering with their workers’ authorised operations. And, while technology solutions can be quite effective, the likelihood of an employee falling victim to social engineering can be reduced but never eliminated totally.
Endpoint Protection in Action
Endpoint protection, endpoint protection platforms (EPP), and endpoint security are all names that refer to centrally managed security solutions that companies use to safeguard endpoints such as servers, workstations, mobile devices, and workloads against cybersecurity threats. Endpoint protection solutions detect and quarantine suspicious or malicious files, programmes, and system activity.
Endpoint protection solutions provide a single management console from which administrators can monitor, protect, investigate, and respond to issues on their company network. This is performed through the use of on-premise, hybrid, or cloud-based solutions.
The term “traditional or legacy” is frequently used to refer to an on-premise security posture that is reliant on a locally hosted data centre to deliver security. The data centre serves as a hub for the management console, which communicates with endpoints via an agent in order to offer security. Because administrators can often manage just endpoints within their perimeter, the hub and spoke paradigm might result in security silos.
With the pandemic-driven shift to work from home, many firms have shifted away from desktop PCs and toward laptops and bring your own device (BYOD). This, together with the globalisation of workforces, demonstrates the on-premise approach’s limits. Some providers of endpoint security solutions have turned to a “Hybrid” strategy in recent years, taking a legacy architecture design and retrofitting it for cloud capabilities.
