The advances in collaboration, cloud computing and remote working technology have created an exciting time for business. Never before have enterprises had more opportunities to scale, expand and connect without massive investment in physical infrastructure. However, this technological renaissance has created an arms race between cyber threats and antivirus software. As viruses and malware become more impactful to our businesses, the response is now to invest in highly intuitive and effective endpoint protection to keep them at bay.
Where we’ve come from: early antivirus evolution
Cyber threats like malware typically leave a digital footprint when they infect your system. Before the days of endpoint protection, this was a key element of cyber defence. Antivirus software would scan your computer to detect these footprints and then tackle the issue. In its early days, known malware footprints were catalogued in a database to prevent potential threats from doing any damage.
And it worked for a time. Researchers and IT teams would scan, discover and catalogue malware signatures, keeping their antivirus databases updated to ensure any incoming signatures were identified early and blocked. If businesses were castles, this system gave them very strong drawbridges.
However, as time went on and tech became much more prominent in business, cyber threats only grew in tenacity. They were persistent and continued to evolve. It became increasingly difficult to update antivirus software against the sheer volume of new signatures that posed a threat. It was like holding back the tide.
This resulted in updates being conducted weekly or even monthly, removing the security and reassurance of daily, real-time protection.
Cyber threats are not slowing down
In recent years, more than two in 10 businesses (22%) experienced a cyber security attack during the 2021-22 financial year, compared to almost one in 10 (8%) in 2019-20, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Even the Australian Cyber Security Centre received over 76,000 cybercrime reports from July 2021 to June 2022, with the damage costing more than $39,000 for small business, $88,000 for medium business, and over $62,000 for large business.
And if Australia’s prosperity is anything to go by, these threats are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. A 2021 Credit Suisse report revealed that Australia has the highest median wealth per adult in the world1, leading to more high value transactions and an increasingly attractive opportunity for cyber criminals.
Where are we now? Endpoint protection and modern security
Fortunately, there’s no reason to feel like cyber criminals are winning. Antivirus evolution has taken major leaps forward to protect enterprises from threats.
Endpoint protection is a great example of today’s advanced security. It implements a multi-layered approach to safeguard individual devices, or “endpoints” (like computers, laptops, mobile devices, servers) within a network, whether that network is physical, virtual, on or off-premises or in the Cloud.
How endpoint protection is the way of the future
Compared to basic cyber security measures, endpoint protection involves a combination of technologies and strategies to protect against various cyber threats.
Antivirus, for example, is typically installed on individual devices and will periodically scan content to detect and remove familiar virus signatures. Endpoint protection, however, does a variety of things, including:
1 https://www.cyber.gov.au/about-us/reports-and-statistics/acsc-annual-cyber-threat-report-july-2021- june-2022
Behavioural Analysis: Recognising typical application behaviour and monitoring for potential deviations that could indicate a cyber threat.
Patch Management: Ensuring that all devices have the latest security patches and updates installed.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): These systems monitor and respond to security threats in real time. They collect data on endpoint activities, analyse it for potential threats, and take action to prevent or mitigate these threats.
Device Control: Policies can be set to manage access controls. This includes which devices can connect to the network, what actions they can perform, and what data they can access. This prevents unauthorised devices from compromising the network.
Encryption: Protecting sensitive data by encrypting it, ensuring that even if it’s intercepted, it remains unreadable without the proper decryption key.
Continuous Monitoring: Constantly monitoring endpoints to detect and respond to any emerging threats in real-time.
Access endpoint protection from Rubicon 8
At Rubicon 8, we believe that your cyber security should be as up to date as the threats it defends against. Our suite of security solutions, such as endpoint protection, can be implemented and managed by our team of specialists who will help protect your business from the latest cyber threats. Contact us today and let us help you fortify your enterprise.
