As cyberthreats evolve and grow more sophisticated, endpoint security solutions are a critical line of defense against ransomware, malware and other cyberattacks.
Analysts say that’s especially true with the increase in remote work and the use of mobile and cloud computing, which requires businesses to go beyond perimeter-based security.
“The endpoint is the on-ramp for the corporate infrastructure, a purpose it serves for both the legit employee and for any crook that seeks to take advantage of that person’s access rights,” says Rik Turner, a senior principal analyst for cybersecurity at Omdia. “Human curiosity is such that phishing emails continue to circumvent corporate defenses, making the endpoint the weakest link and a logical target for attackers.”
READ MORE: How to protect networks with next-gen endpoint security.
Modern endpoint security solutions today go beyond traditional anti-virus signatures and use artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioral analytics to proactively detect threats, spot suspicious activity and block attacks.
They secure computers, servers and mobile devices, but endpoint security vendors are increasingly adding more capabilities in the form extended detection and response to also protect cloud workloads, the network, email and identity management, Turner says.
Cloud-Based Endpoint Security Keeps Devices Safe
Primer uses AI and natural language processing to analyze vast amounts of data and provide its customers with real-time actionable intelligence, so securing customer data is critical. Protecting endpoints used by the company’s 130 employees, most of whom work remotely, is key, Aponte says.
Last year, Primer needed to upgrade its endpoint security because its existing anti-virus software was taking up too many computing resources on employees’ Apple MacBooks and Microsoft Windows notebooks, making it difficult for them to work, says Chad Boyd, Primer’s staff security engineer.
DIG DEEPER: Find out why next-generation endpoint security is different.
The company needed a solution that was lightweight yet effective. It found that in CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, a cloud-based solution that protects employees’ computers and cloud workloads on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure while providing endpoint detection and response, Boyd says.
“We can set up rules, so when it sees a certain type of suspicious activity, it stops it,” Aponte says. “It’s a force multiplier. It helps us because we have a fairly small security team.”