As many businesses move their processes online, they are encountering a greater security challenge that is so tricky to manage. It is all about sophisticated cyber criminals whose mission is to steal or disrupt enterprise data.

Data is a vital asset to any business or organization, and any kind of data breach can be very disastrous as it can lead to loss of finances, reputation and valuable information. There are several ways that these criminals use to gain access to an organization IT system, and they succeed because businesses have no effective strategies for dealing with cyber insecurity.

Human error has been the primary cause of successful cyber-attacks whereby unaware users click on links, open suspicious emails or attachments and use endpoint devices irresponsibly.

These are all entry points that malware enters into your company’s system and the rest will be a nightmare. Endpoint security is the process of securing all the endpoints on your network like laptops, PCs, mobile devices, and servers. These endpoints are connected to your enterprise network yet they are a high-security risk because they are a common entry point for threats.

With increased reliability on mobile devices practices such as BYOD and employees working remotely have been adopted by many enterprises. These practices are usually good because they improve business efficiency as employees can connect to the company network from their devices anywhere and transact business. The only problem is that these devices are outside the company’s security perimeter and act as weak points of entry for attackers.

For instance, an employee laptop containing valuable company data may be stolen or lost. Without measures, in place like data encryption, such data will get into the hands of criminals.

So, how are you handling your endpoint security?

• End-to-end tracking of endpoints
• Blocking unauthorized endpoints
• Frequent patching
• Use of anti-virus software
• Having a good device policy
• Using a centralized form of monitoring

All of the above measures are good when it comes to endpoint security. However, there is still a concern on whether they are enough in giving you complete protection against threats.

Misconceptions regarding endpoint security

Sometimes you may think that you have completed a task only to find out that you only laid the foundation and nothing more. So, after implementing your endpoint security, it does not stop there because these solutions become vulnerable sometimes hence they are not a one fit all solution.

These solutions also need to be maintained because certain functions may fail with time or get disabled or removed and they need constant maintenance all through. Another misconception that many enterprises believe is that an antivirus will protect their system from all forms of malware. This is not true because it is only one layer of protection in keeping your network secure. It is a reactive solution and cannot address what happens in case a data breach occurs.

It has been proven that users are the greatest concern when it comes to security flaws and all the tech solutions against malware will not work without involving users themselves.

To protect your system from malware attacks, it is important that you come up with an all-round strategy. Apart from implementing endpoint security solutions, you need to supplement it with training users to make them part of the security solution. It is also important to think of what happens in case a data breach occurs and have a data backup and disaster recovery solution in place to allow for quick recovery.

Tech solutions that are designed for endpoint security need to be supplemented with other security measures because they are not enough in themselves.

• Technology