What’s The (End)Point?

As organisations across the UK become more and more dependent on digital transactions, the importance of strong and secure connected network performance grows more and more each year. In today’s world it is commonplace to complete digital purchases, pay contactlessly and rely on digital supply chains to follow through with automated ordering.

So, just what is the point in endpoint security? Or, more to the point, what is an endpoint for that matter? Well, it might not be as simple as you might think. Endpoints or entry points of end-user devices such as desktops, laptops, and mobile devices are the obvious starting point for protection, but we now face a more varied landscape of endpoints across both organisations and businesses in the UK.

Our very own National Health Service (NHS) along with other private medical industries use connected devices that may not appear to even be at risk. We are talking about imaging machines, clinician-monitored wearable fitness trackers, and automated drug delivery devices to name but a few. All of these devices also need a layer of protection from being exploited by malicious actors and campaigns.

In businesses, more devices are being used than ever before. They have become detrimental to operational running and any downtime would have huge cost implications. Every device that connects to a network is a potential threat that cyber criminals or malicious users can exploit, from smartphones to smart speakers. Business and organisational networks are also expanding to include mobile, employee-owned, and IoT devices.

Most hackers will target people and organisations via endpoints as they are looking for the path of least resistance to get into a network. Threats are also becoming more sophisticated, so endpoint security plays a vital role in securing your devices from cyber crime including ransomware, zero-day threats and emerging risks. By implementing a strong cyber strategy to include endpoint security, you can make the biggest impact to help reduce your organisation’s attack surface.

Originally, EDR and UEM covered our connected devices such as desktops and then developed to handle mobile devices like laptops and smartphones. With the developments of cloud technologies however, things began to change. Endpoint protection had to evolve again to cover the data in these new virtual environments.

The endpoint technology space has made huge advancements in recent times, with the introduction of EDR/, MDR and XDR. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) technology goes beyond legacy antivirus (AV) or antimalware solutions by not simply stopping malware but providing visibility to analyze and respond to advanced threats across multiple endpoints.