Endpoint Security Protection – What You Need to Know

Technology is a major part of our lives today. We have come to rely on it for many things. Especially during the pandemic we have all faced during these last couple of years, technology has been vital for keeping us all in contact with our families and friends, for still being able to see a doctor on many occasions, for businesses to keep going even when the office or shop doors were closed, the list goes on. With the arrival of the pandemic, the number of devices people own has seen a very sharp increase, as has the number of websites. Unfortunately, all this extra technology has its downsides. As long as technology has existed, there have always been those willing to exploit it, criminals who will try and take what doesn’t belong to them. We have become used to hearing and seeing new words such as, cyber theft, cyber criminals and the need for cyber security. While this shouldn’t be necessary, the fact remains that it is. We must protect ourselves when using technological devices. This is especially true for businesses, who face such a big threat from cyber criminals. Businesses will often have a number of endpoint devices within their company which could spell out danger and leave them open to cyber-attacks. Because of this, endpoint security protection is really important to keep businesses safe from cyber criminals. But what is classed as an endpoint device? Why is it important to have security protection on it? And how does endpoint security protection even work? Is endpoint protection software just a fancy name for antivirus software? Let’s take these points one at a time.

What is classed as an endpoint device?

A number of things could be classed as an endpoint device. It is basically anything that an employee may use to connect to the businesses network that isn’t part of the company’s firewall. So, this will often mean a laptop or tablet. It could also be a digital printer, or any other devices, mobile or otherwise, that connect to the company network. 

Why is it important to have security protection on your endpoint devices?

Having a plan for how to protect your endpoint devices is necessary because each and every device could be a weakness to your whole network. These are the ways in that cyber criminals are looking for and they will use these endpoint devices to gain the access they are after. If just one of these devices isn’t protected properly it can compromise the whole network. As we’ve already mentioned, the pandemic has caused a huge increase in the number of these types of endpoint devices being used for people while working as most people have been working at home. Even now things are returning to some sort of normal, many are still working from home. It seems that a major increase in the number of people working from home is here to stay and so the risk of attack and compromise is greater than ever. While we would hope it would be a risk that would be disappearing, it is only getting worse.

In the past, it was only certain businesses and certain sizes of businesses that would be the main target of cyber attacks. But now, no size or type of business is safe. And it is something that most businesses have expressed concern over. In fact, a large number of businesses expect to be the victims of cyber criminals within the next few months. The amount of money being lost to cyber theft is well into the billions. Clearly, security protection is a vital thing to have. Especially important is endpoint security protection to make sure that what could be the easiest way for a cyber criminal to attack your company, is no longer an option for them. 

This isn’t always as simple as you would think. The company, as you would expect, wants to protect its computer systems. But they also need to respect the person who is using the device, especially if they also use that device for other things. And even with protection on these endpoint devices, there can never be one hundred percent protection because there is always the chance that the person in control of the device may click on something they shouldn’t or be duped in some other way. 

How does endpoint security protection work?

An endpoint security protection solution will provide a central management base from which a company can stay connected with their whole network, including endpoint devices where any suspicious activity can be monitored and acted on. And when we say acted on it will not only work to protect the company network. It will also investigate any problems and respond to each and every incident. There are different ways that this can be achieved.

One way is through having a local data centre that the management base can use to keep in contact with all the endpoint devices using an agent who will provide this security. There are more of these popping up as administrators are more limited in which endpoint devices they can support.

Is endpoint protection software just a fancy name for antivirus software?

In short, the answer is no. Antivirus software is obviously very important for a company. But endpoint protection software goes further. Whereas antivirus software will detect a virus and then remove it from your system, endpoint protection software is more advanced, as described above. 

Endpoint security protection software will work hard to protect your endpoint devices, no matter what form they take. Whether they be laptops or desktops, on site or off, in a data centre or even in the Cloud. 

Summary

We live in a dangerous time, with cyber crime increasing at rapid rates. Businesses need to be doing all they can to protect each and every device used, even temporarily by their employees. Something cyber criminals will see as an easier way into your business is through endpoint devices. While antivirus software is very important, give your company the best possible protection with endpoint security protection software.