Endpoint security - An integral part of network security

Is our enterprise network sufficiently protected? All system administrators would have caught themselves pondering about this on more than one occasion. Enterprise networks today, have a dynamic architecture and are faced with an ever-changing threat environment. Attackers are perpetually on the look out for vulnerabilities to exploit. These vulnerabilities can exist on any of your multitudes of devices and can further act as the entry point to your network. Hence ensuring network security is an integral part to protecting your IT infrastructure

What is network security?

Network security is a term that includes the software, tools, processes, and protocols used to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of data and IT resources in an enterprise. Network security is most often achieved using a collection of security management tools and applications. The components in a network security system includes:

• Firewall
• Anti-virus software
• Intrusion prevention system
• Network Access Control
• Endpoint management and security software

Achieving complete protection in every aspect of network security requires a variety of preventive and protective software. So in the following sections, we will be focussing on enhancing network security by monitoring and managing endpoints.

Endpoint devices are the devices that let users connect and communicate with a network remotely. Endpoint devices include desktops, laptops, servers, smartphones, tablets, and point of sale devices.

Importance of endpoint security in network security

According to a study on Endpoint security risk by Ponemon Institute, the following deductions were made on the risks that endpoints pose to the security posture of an organization

• The frequency of attacks against endpoints is increasing, which in turn is taking a toll on the overall security detail of the organization.
• The cost of successful attacks has increased from an average of $5 million to $7.1 million, which leads to organizations investing tremendously in damage control.
• Zero-day attacks are four times more likely to compromise organizations, which stresses upon the need to have alternative fixes to vulnerabilities without a patch.
• Antivirus products missed an average of 57 percent of attacks. This clearly drives home the need for a comprehensive endpoint security solution.
• Even though the average time to patch is 102 days, 43 percent of respondents who used a patch management process, take longer to test and roll out patches

It is evident from the above deductions that endpoints are the windows to your network and poor/non-existent endpoint security measures will result in enormous monetary and productivity loss.

Best practices to ensure endpoint security

Though achieving 100 percent endpoint security is difficult, there are some good practices that will take you a few steps closer to ensuring complete endpoint protection, thereby contributing to better network security

1. Scan your endpoints: Scan your endpoints regularly to detect vulnerabilities and possible breach points.
2. Enforce least privilege access: Establish role based access to data and resources. This will in turn increase accountability.
3. Embrace zero-trust policy: Keep strict records of data transfer and the peripheral devices connected to the network. This will go a long way in avoiding insider attacks as well.
4. Implement browser hardening: Browsers are the entry points for many web-based malware and ransomware. Filter URLs and allow access to only trusted and authorized websites.
5. Establish application control: Blacklist and remove malicious applications thereby preventing the entry of threats in to your network. Allowlist and allow only applications that are required for business continuity thereby boosting productivity.
6. Encrypt data: Encrypt data in disks and drives to prevent data leakage through theft.
7. Quarantine affected systems: Use network access control to set compliance policies and quarantine non-compliant systems, thereby safeguarding the other unaffected systems on your network

Manually guaranteeing these best practices over a large number of endpoints is close to impossible. This is exactly why you need a unified endpoint management and security solution to automatically enforce endpoint security from a single console. Endpoint Security features in Endpoint Central helps in simplifying the processes involved in attaining full endpoint protection. Take a look at the extensive feature list to know how to leverage the features to maximise network security.