The Benefits of Endpoint Security
Published on 14/10/2024 & Updated on 01/04/2025
Up to 90% of successful cyber attacks begin at end-user devices, making endpoints key vulnerabilities for your organisation.
With the rise of remote working and an increasing number of devices, businesses large and small are at risk of security threats from insiders, nation-state hackers and organised criminals. That’s why endpoint security is a vital cyber security practice to keep your network safe and secure.
How Does Endpoint Security Work?
Endpoint security solutions aim to defend workflows and data linked with devices on an organisation’s network. This involves monitoring files as they enter a network and analysing them against a growing database of threat intelligence, which is kept in the cloud.
The terms endpoint security, endpoint protection, and endpoint protection platforms are often used in place of each other, relating to centrally managed security solutions used to defend endpoints.
These solutions typically include features like firewalls or antivirus protection. Advanced endpoint security solutions may also incorporate AI & machine learning to identify and respond to threats.
Implementing endpoint security involves deploying agents on endpoint devices, which communicate with a central management server. This server monitors the endpoints in real-time, managing updates and enforcing security policies to respond to detected endpoint security threats.
Here are the five benefits of endpoint security:
- Securing your devices
- Malware and spyware protection
- Preventing insider threats
- Enforcing web filtering
- Providing central security logging and reporting
1. Securing Your Devices
70% of successful data breaches begin at endpoint devices. Much like the fingers and toes on a human body, endpoints exist on the extremities of a network where they are most sensitive to hostile environments and likely to succumb to attacks.
Endpoint security helps to protect end-user devices across your organisation, including smartphones, desktops and laptops, as well as the growing numbers of IoT-enabled devices. This helps to counter attacks from malicious threat actors and campaigns.
Having visibility across all your devices is crucial for keeping your endpoints secure. A study by the Ponemon Institute showed that organisations with hardened endpoints experienced 40% fewer data breaches.
Hardening your devices is a practice that significantly improves their security and the overall resilience of your system. As cyber security experts for both the public and private sectors, we can support you with device hardening for your organisation.
2. Malware and Spyware Protection
One of the main benefits of endpoint security is its ability to protect against malware and spyware attacks, which are major contributors to security breaches.
Ransomware, in particular, is a significant threat, projected to cost its victims $265 billion each year by 2031. Such attacks can disrupt business operations, jeopardise important data, and cause lasting damage to an organisation’s reputation.
An effective endpoint security solution, such as an Endpoint Protection Platform, offers robust malware and ransomware protection. This includes features that can reverse changes made by malicious programs, effectively restoring the endpoint to its pre-infection state and minimising the impact of an attack.
Cloud Sandbox integration is another example of modern threat defence solutions. The sandbox assesses suspicious content downloaded at endpoints, collecting any noticeable malicious signatures as they occur.
Incorporating these advanced features significantly reduces the endpoint security risks of malware and spyware infections, helping to protect critical assets and maintain business continuity.
3. Preventing Insider Threats
An example of human error is when an employee or external contractor accidentally sends sensitive information to the wrong recipient, downloads a malicious attachment, or clicks on a phishing link. These seemingly small actions can lead to serious security breaches, exposing sensitive data and compromising an organisation’s network.
Research from Stanford University and security firm Tessian found that nine out of ten data breach incidents are the result of employee mistakes. Insider threats are a big issue for businesses, but endpoint security solutions assist with insider threat prevention by monitoring user behaviour across all devices.
For instance, EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) assesses all user activity and uses methods, like behavioural analysis, to detect anomalies. Examples include access to restricted files or excessive data files, as these suggest risky behaviour.
EDR performs this in real-time, allowing security teams to react promptly to potential threats before they become unmanageable.
Other features, like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) automatically block sending sensitive information to unauthorised recipients, while features like encryption ensure that sensitive data remains protected, even if it is accidentally shared.
These measures provide real-time visibility into user actions, allowing organisations to significantly reduce the endpoint security risk of data breaches caused by human error.
4. Enforcing Web Filtering
Endpoint protection improves detecting and enforcing web filtering policies on HTTPS websites with encrypted traffic.
This capability enables monitoring of browser activities and enforcing an organisation’s web security and acceptable use policies. Web filtering is supported across all approved operating systems and is compatible with Google SafeSearch, so only appropriate content is accessible.
IT administrators can adjust an endpoint web filtering profile to maintain consistent policy applications across a network. They can configure on-and-off network policies, manage block and allow lists, and import existing web filtering policies to preserve a uniform security posture.
This centralised management helps to effectively control internet usage, protect against web-based endpoint security threats, and maintain a secure browsing environment for all users, all from a single location.
5. Providing Central Security Logging and Reporting
Another one of the key benefits of endpoint security is the ability to provide centralised security logging and reporting.
Real-time alerting involves receiving alert messages incoming as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) traps, from various devices managed through a central management solution. This ensures that security teams are immediately notified of any suspicious activity, so they can swiftly respond to potential threats.
Logging involves gathering all log entries from devices, which can be accessed locally or through the central management system as System Logging Protocol messages. These logs are invaluable for investigating cyber-breaches, providing detailed historical records that help in understanding the scope of an event and identifying the source of an attack.
Centralised logging and reporting streamline the monitoring process, which improves the ability to identify and respond to security breaches.
How We Can Help
As organisations and technology begin to grow, the number of endpoints also rises, creating new opportunities which cyber criminals can exploit. Effective endpoint security doesn’t just protect individual devices, it helps secure an organisation’s network from the inside out.
Read our blog to learn more about how to protect your organisation from cyber attacks, including Man In The Middle attack prevention strategies, how to detect a threat actor and the most common cyber attack targeting schools.
At Net Consulting, our Managed Endpoint Protection & Response service helps businesses improve their security without compromising performance. Our solutions use effective agents and data collection methods to safeguard your endpoints. These do their job in the background without influencing user productivity.
Contact us today to discuss your needs in more detail, or find out more about our IT services for medium to large enterprise.
