In today’s threat landscape, it is no longer sufficient to only protect your endpoints. You must also leverage technologies which can be used across the entire network to detect and prevent cyber threats as they attempt to infiltrate your organization.
The problem is many businesses tend to think of endpoint protection as the only method of safeguarding their network from cyber criminals. In reality, there are many different ways in which cybercriminals can gain access to your company’s confidential information and sensitive data. A Ponemon study determined 68% of organizations have experienced at least one endpoint attack which successfully compromised their data and IT.
For this reason, organizations need more than just endpoint protection if they wish to protect their business against cyber-attacks and malware.
What is endpoint protection?
Endpoints are defined as the network’s boundary, which encompasses a company’s mobile devices, laptops, desktops and servers. Endpoint protection is used to secure the devices being used by employees by providing protection against malware, viruses and ransomware. It also prevents unauthorized access, stops malicious data transmission and blocks suspicious IP addresses.
Endpoint protection is often used as a catch-all term which includes antivirus, anti-malware and firewall functionality. While these tools are important, they don’t cover your whole security posture. In order to have a complete security strategy, you need more than just endpoint security solutions.
Endpoint protection does not cover your entire security posture
Endpoint protection is only one part of the security puzzle. By relying solely on endpoint security, you will miss out on critical insights on your organization’s overall risk profile. This can lead to missed alerts, false positives and security blind spots, which can all seriously impact the level of protection your business currently enjoys.
Worse yet, if you solely rely on endpoint protection, there is a chance cyber-attackers can infiltrate your organization’s network. If they do, they can steal sensitive data, create backdoors and seriously negatively impact your business’s productivity; Ponemon reports the cost of a successful endpoint breach has risen to $8.94 million USD.
Real-time insights into daily risks
Real-time insights can help organizations monitor key activities across their infrastructure and identify vulnerabilities as they’re occurring.
If your organization’s security strategy is purely based on endpoint protection, you are likely unaware of the daily risks which exist within your network. This means you have no way of knowing if a threat is already inside your network. You also have no way of knowing if an employee has opened a malicious attachment or clicked on an infected link.
In the absence of a holistic approach to risk management, endpoint protection can become a blind spot that opens organizations up to failure.
Insider threats
While cyber threats from the outside are a legitimate concern, there is also the risk of an insider attack. Cybercriminals can attempt to infiltrate your network by posing as an employee. They can also attempt to steal your employees’ credentials and gain illicit access to your company’s network through their accounts.
Your endpoint protection solution doesn’t provide visibility into your network and account usage, meaning you might not be aware an insider threat exists. In fact, you might not know a malicious actor has gained illicit access to your network until it is too late. In order to detect insider threats, you need a complete security solution to provide visibility into your network, account usage, and all of the devices attempting to access your network.
Bring Your Own Device threats
With the rise of BYOD, many companies allow employees to use their personal devices to access corporate data. While this could save your business money and increase employee productivity, it also introduces significant security risks.
These devices often aren’t managed by your IT team, and it can be difficult to protect them from threats. It is also hard to ensure employees are safeguarding company data, particularly as one in three U.S. employees use personal devices to work remotely.
If your endpoint protection solution isn’t integrated with a management console for BYOD devices, then you likely don’t have visibility into these devices. This means you have no way of knowing if a personal device is infected or if it is transmitting malicious data to your network.
Adapting network security
One of the biggest differences between endpoint protection and network security is endpoint protection has a narrower scope. It typically only addresses risks posed by endpoints, such as infected devices or credentials that have been stolen from them.
Network security, on the other hand, aims to mitigate all threats which might affect the network itself. This includes both internal attacks (such as malware and cybercriminals) and external attacks (such as Distributed Denial of Service attacks).
Enhance your cybersecurity posture with a full range of services
An endpoint protection solution alone isn’t enough to protect your data. Instead, you need a comprehensive suite of services to safeguard your devices, applications and infrastructure.
There is no better way to enhance your security posture than by working with a full-service provider. The cybersecurity specialists at BCS365 offer multiple services, including network security, endpoint protection, cloud security and more. Talk to them today and ensure your business is protected against cyber threats.