Cyberattacks continue to grow in both volume and sophistication. The majority of attacks gain access to an internal network by compromising endpoints that can communicate with and access that network. Increased workforce mobility diversifies the number of endpoints in a network and makes it harder to protect the network perimeter—think laptops, mobile phones, and tablets.
This article explains the concept of endpoint protection and the importance of deploying this type of cybersecurity solution at your organization. You’ll also get six best practices to maintain robust endpoint protection.
What Is Endpoint Protection?
Endpoint protection is the use of software and security measures to protect network endpoints against a range of issues, including zero-day exploits, insider threats, and data leaks. The tools used to enable the management and monitoring of endpoint devices and their activities on the network.
Endpoint protection software, provided by vendors like Cynet, FireEye and Carbon Black, uses policy-based rules to block suspicious endpoint device activity and prevent unauthorized network access. The software comes with preset rules but most tools allow organizations to create their own rules based on their unique endpoint challenges.
Some endpoint protection solutions work by monitoring interactions between devices and the network; others require installation on endpoint devices. Enterprise endpoint software can include both functionalities, however, everything is managed centrally via a dashboard and admin server instead of on the individual devices.
Why Is Endpoint Protection Important?
Endpoint protection is important because it gives much more visibility into suspicious endpoint activities by taking a behavior-based approach to threat detection. The surface for endpoint attacks increases as more organizations implement work from home and BYOD policies. Each new device connecting to the network is a potential source of malware attacks and data breaches.
A 2018 industry report found that 64 percent of respondents experienced one or more successful endpoint attacks in the previous 12 months. In the same report, just 29 percent of respondents said their signature-based antivirus solutions provide the protection needed to stop serious endpoint attacks.
Signature-based solutions are no longer sufficient because advanced malware can now alter its own digital signature to evade detection. Signature-based technology is a subset of endpoint protection that compares the digital signature of files with thousands of databases of known malware.
It’s no surprise that organizations are moving towards modern solutions that focus on monitoring endpoint events and interactions over the network for a proactive response.
6 Tips to Maintain Endpoint Protection
#1. Train Users in Endpoint Threats
A robust endpoint protection strategy needs to consider not only the endpoint devices on your network but the users that interact with them too. User education and awareness provide a solid foundation that reduces the risk of incidents like data leaks and phishing.
Organizations should educate users about the current threat environment and the consequences of successful endpoint attacks. Without awareness of the types of attacks that target endpoints, users may end up working against any technology-based defenses.
#2. Minimize False Positives
False positives are a big hindrance in any security system and endpoint protection solutions are no exception. These invalid alerts waste valuable manpower and they frustrate users, in some cases blocking their access to important business applications. Another reason false positives are a problem is that they can distract IT security teams from dealing with legitimate issues.
To minimize false positives, it’s imperative to fine-tune your endpoint software before going live with it. You can set most endpoint tools to log-only mode in which the system logs endpoint events and activities but doesn’t take automatic actions. Engineers and security teams can monitor the software and fine-tune its response to various events.
#3. Keep Systems Updated
Cybercriminals often prey on organizations that are lax in updating their hardware or software. By keeping everything updated, especially software on endpoint devices, you can reduce the potential for successful attacks.
Don’t rely on users updating their endpoint devices and the software used to protect them; some people are bound to forget. Instead, use the centralized management capabilities of endpoint protection software and roll out relevant updates to endpoint devices automatically.
#4. Implement Multi-factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication requires two or more pieces of evidence to gain access to a system and it is an important mechanism for improving endpoint security. With outdated single-factor authentication (usually a password), hackers only need to know a user’s password to get into the network. Multi-factor authentication makes it much more difficult to get unauthorized access to a system.
#5. Use Least-Privilege Security
The least-privilege principle grants employees only the minimum access to files and systems that they need to perform their jobs. By enforcing this principle to all users and endpoint devices, you can contain and reduce the impact of even successful attacks. A hacker might gain access to the network via an endpoint attack but the scope of their actions can be limited by giving minimum privileges and permissions to users.
#6. Choose a Solution with Minimal Footprint
The footprint of an endpoint protection solution is a vital consideration. You need to know what impact the software agent will have on temporary and permanent system memory and CPUs in endpoint devices.
If you procure an endpoint protection solution only for it to negatively affect the performance of endpoint devices, it will lead to frustration. Ask potential endpoint security software vendors for a product demonstration to see how their tool impacts the IT environment.
Conclusion
The perimeter of corporate networks stretches with each new endpoint device that connects to it, and it’s vital you get endpoint security software that gives you capabilities beyond signature-based, reactive forms of protection. Follow these endpoint protection tips and best practices that focus not only on the tools you use, but also on the people and processes involved.