Cyberspace is full of criminals who keep devising new methods to exploit employees, invade networks and steal private information. While mid-sized companies may be tempted to think that they’re too insignificant to be a target, the case is actually the opposite. The number of mid-sized companies that are being attacked increases every day.
Protecting medium-size businesses from internal threats and cyberattacks can be quite demanding. It may require several cybersecurity processes that are highly coherent for it to function effectively. One of the processes is endpoint security, which involves securing end-user devices like mobile devices, laptops, and desktops.
Why is Endpoint Protection Important?
An endpoint is any device that is physically an endpoint on a network. This term includes desktops, smartphones, tablets, laptops, servers, and virtual environments used by your staff to store files, communicate with each other, or perform other critical tasks. When considered within the context of a traditional home antivirus, the smartphone, desktop, or laptop on which the antivirus is installed is the endpoint.
Endpoints are high targets to cybercriminals because they are the key to accessing valuable data or containing sensitive information. The main aim of endpoint protection is to protect these devices from any unauthorized entity who might have a criminal objective.
Best Endpoint Security Tools for Mid-Sized Companies
There are many available technologies with which the protection of your endpoints can be ensured. Below are some that mid-sized companies shouldn’t do without.
1. Antivirus Software
These are computer programs that detect and remove malicious codes and malware from your device. These could be Trojans, viruses, key-loggers, worms, and ransomware, etc. The antivirus scans any program or downloaded files for codes written with malicious intent.
Unfortunately, antiviruses are limited in their effectiveness because malware attacks keep growing in scale and sophistication. Some attacks are able to bypass antiviruses because they now move through devices without signatures. Therefore, antiviruses are best used in combination with other security measures.
2. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
EDR solutions monitor the networks regularly and take note of the behaviors of the endpoint system. With the use of many data analytics techniques, EDR then learns from previous attacks and is then able to detect suspicious behaviors on the system. These solutions are also able to provide meaningful suggestions to restore a system that has been compromised.
EDR solutions have the ability to do the following things:
- Detect and investigate a security incident.
- Validate suspicious activity
- Explore data and hunt threats
- Contain and give remedy to malicious activities
These abilities of EDR solutions can help administrators to respond to threats in real-time, and also minimize the impact of security breaches. When combined with other technologies, EDR solutions can be very effective in any endpoint security strategy.
3. Application Control
As the name suggests, this security measure controls the application’s permissions and also controls what the application can or cannot do. It classifies applications as safe and unsafe and also creates a whitelist of permitted apps, a blacklist of blocked apps, and also a list of apps that are waiting to be properly authorized.
It is essential that mid-sized companies can limit cloud-based, web-based, and third-party applications as they are adopting cloud technologies in their everyday operations.
4. Endpoint Encryption
Almost all forms of data storage are susceptible to security attacks, whether it be network drives, mobile phones, USB sticks, or the cloud- and these devices, applications, and services are where most of the valuable data of companies are stored.
The main function of Endpoint Encryption is to scramble stored data to render the data unreadable and unusable to unauthorized users as long as they don’t have the correct decryption key. This ensures that cybercriminals are prevented from reading, stealing, or copying data even if they gain access to an endpoint.
Learn More About Cybersecurity
As cybercrimes continue to grow in their sophistication, so is the need for mid-sized companies to keep integrating various endpoint protection strategies to ensure the safety of their data. To learn more about effective strategies to keep your data safe, we are always here for you. Contact us at info@sociumsolutionsllc.com for support with your data security.