In most cases, multiple cloud and on-premises infrastructures work together to provide an organization’s computing environment. And so, your company’s cybersecurity measures must encompass your complete computing landscape for maximum effectiveness.
This includes all of your servers, networks, and especially, your endpoints.
In the current computing environment, cybercriminals are targeting endpoints, creating a large and flexible attack surface from which to launch attacks.
So, what are they, exactly? What risks do they pose? And, how do you go about protecting your endpoints?
Let’s dive in a little further.
What Is an Endpoint?
Microsoft defines endpoints as “physical devices that connect to and exchange information with a computer network.”
Endpoint examples include laptops, mobile devices, virtual machines, servers, and more. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are also considered endpoints.
This includes industrial IoT devices, as well as consumer products like smart speakers and appliances.
Security Risks to Your Endpoints
Endpoints pose multiple security risks you’ll need to address to protect your company’s overall computing environment.
That’s because every endpoint presents a gateway to your data resources, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals. Compromising an endpoint may enable malicious actors to launch a successful cyberattack that affects your entire infrastructure.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of the security risks that can affect your endpoints and threaten your computing environment.
Specific Risks
- Phishing – Phishing attacks attempt to lure unsuspecting employees into divulging login credentials or confidential information that can be used by cybercriminals to compromise mission-critical systems and data resources.
- Ransomware – This particularly virulent form of malware encrypts enterprise data and holds it for ransom. Protecting your endpoints is critical because every year, millions of ransomware attacks are perpetrated.
And, every endpoint presents a potential entry point for an attacker to access your corporate network.
- Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks – A compromised endpoint device can be used to launch a DDoS attack that disrupts your network, system, or server by flooding it with requests.
- Unpatched security vulnerabilities – It can be extremely challenging to keep all of your endpoints updated with the latest vendor-supplied security patches.
In many cases, end-users do not take the necessary steps to update their devices, making them more easily exploited by cybercriminals. The problem becomes even more difficult if you’re running a large operation with many moving parts, and a constantly-changing list of devices.
- Lost devices – Lost mobile devices falling into the wrong hands can be used as an entry point into your infrastructure.
For instance, most people tend to save passwords and account information for routinely-used applications right on their phones. If you’ve ever clicked “Remember me on this device,” then you know exactly how it works.
In the wrong hands, from where ransomware or other types of malware can be planted.
- Lack of visibility – Cybersecurity teams do not have the same level of visibility and access to endpoints as they do with more traditional computing resources. This makes them hard to defend, since from a security perspective, it is impossible to effectively protect what you can’t see.
Protecting Your Endpoints Efficiently
Protecting your endpoints can be difficult, and a single oversight can result in your network and data being compromised.
But, it’s not something you need to tackle yourself. Blue Bastion, along with our partner division Ideal Integrations, can help.
We provide customers a managed endpoint security service that simplifies protecting your endpoints.
And, our solution goes beyond the capabilities of traditional antivirus tools – which can’t always keep up with the pace of changing malware threats and delivery methods.
Our solution reduces complexity, increases visibility into endpoint resources, and minimizes the time between detection and response. It employs multiple threat intelligence feeds, an endpoint detection and recovery solution, and a 24/7 security operations center for comprehensive endpoint security.
Are you ready to get started? If so, simply contact us today at 412-349-6680, or fill out the form below, and our team of cybersecurity experts will create and execute the ultimate security plan to protect your organization.
And, as always, stay vigilant.
