The Minimum Capabilities of Enterprise Endpoint Security

What are the minimum capabilities of enterprise endpoint security? Rephrased another way, what are the capabilities your business absolutely needs out of its endpoint security solution? 

In its earliest incarnation, endpoint security was synonymous with antivirus software. After all, in the earliest days of cybersecurity, what mattered was keeping the few on-premises desktops safe from malware and ransomware. 

While malware and ransomware can still pose a threat, and endpoint security can repel them (you should also consider a backup and disaster recovery solution), that isn’t the current heart of cybersecurity. In fact, what might be considered the minimum capabilities of enterprise endpoint security has moved from a prevention basis to a detection basis. 

The same could be said for the whole of cybersecurity. So with that in mind, what are the minimum capabilities of enterprise endpoint security?

The Minimum Capabilities of Enterprise Endpoint Security 

EDR

EDR functions in a manner similar to SIEM, although the former concerns itself specifically with device security rather than database or application security. The solution works to detect threats that have penetrated past the initial layer of cybersecurity (such as firewalls or antivirus) and might dwell on an endpoint. 

When it detects a threat, EDR sends an alert to your IT security team, which can speed their investigation and response times. Consequently, this reduces attacker dwell time, which in turn reduces the damage inflicted on the victim device and network. 

Data Loss Prevention

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) refers to a set of tools and capabilities which ensure sensitive data stays protected. It enforces remediation with encryption and proactive alerts to secure the largest attack vector in your enterprise: your employees. Employees can accidentally or maliciously share your enterprise’s data, and in either case, your enterprise ends up at risk; for example, DLP prevents employees from uploading to public cloud databases without express permissions. 

Virtual Private Networks

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are essential for endpoint security in the new remote work paradigm. During remote work, your employees use their own personal Wi-Fi connections. Unfortunately, personal Wi-Fi doesn’t boast the same protections as a corporate Wi-Fi connection. Hackers can (and do) subvert personal Wi-Fi all the time, spying on communications and data traffic occurring between endpoints on these connections. More advanced hackers can even intercept data on these connections. 

VPNs prevent this by essentially extending corporate endpoint security levels of protection to personal Wi-Fi connections. Therefore, it prevents hackers from intercepting messages and spying on your employees. 

Email Security (Phishing Prevention)

Of course, as we alluded to above, your business does need some measures of prevention. If you shouldn’t think of antivirus as the main prevention tool in your arsenal, what should you consider instead? 

The answer is simple enough: email security. Remember, email represents the main vector by and through which your employees and users interact with the greater Internet. As such, it is also the main vector by which hackers try to exploit your largest attack vectors. Phishing, in particular, tends to depend on employees interacting with a malicious email posing as a legitimate message. 

So the solution here is simple: simply prevent the majority of malicious emails from ever reaching your employees in the first place. Email security looks for indicators of malice or subterfuge and blocks them, limiting the amount of malware that brushes up against the digital perimeter. 

Combined with regular cybersecurity training, malware will have a very hard time finding a footfall in your IT environment. For more information on the minimum capabilities of enterprise endpoint security, check out our Buyer’s Guide (you can also check out the EDR Buyer’s Guide).