Research Hub > How Next-Generation Endpoint Security Solutions Bolster Your Cyberdefenses

April 12, 2019

Article
3 min

How Next-Generation Endpoint Security Solutions Bolster Your Cyberdefenses

By providing greater context, threat intelligence and effective integration with other solutions, next-gen tools protect your devices and data.

Jeff Falcon Jeff Falcon
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Anti-virus tools have been a foundational part of cybersecurity programs for years. For many organizations, they’ve been must-have tools to protect against constant malware attacks. But as cybercriminals have evolved, becoming more organized and more sophisticated, anti-virus tools have been challenged to keep up.

Next-generation endpoint protection solutions have emerged as valuable tools for defending against these attacks. Their ability to report on security incidents in great detail, utilize intelligence about threats worldwide and work effectively with other tools in an organization’s cyberdefenses solidify their status as a top security solution.

Context-Aware Security Improves Decision-Making

Context is essential to understanding an event. Who was involved? What took place? When did it happen? Where? What happened beforehand? Every detail is a potential building block to create a clearer understanding.

This need for detail and context is critical in cybersecurity and is a top reason why next-generation endpoint protection tools have become essential to any organization’s security posture. Next-gen endpoint tools provide much greater detail in their reporting than traditional anti-virus solutions.

By drilling down into the specific details of an incident, such as who the target is, what the attacker is trying to exploit and what other kinds of incidents may be taking place, a next-gen endpoint solution can identify the intent of an attack. With this information, an organization can prioritize the mitigation of high-risk vulnerabilities.

Threat Intelligence Enables Rapid Detection

Many next-gen endpoint protection tools employ threat intelligence to help identify attacks. In some cases, vendors and security groups work together to gather and share intelligence. A few vendors have their own threat intelligence capabilities that they implement in their next-gen solutions. By collecting data on cyberthreats as they emerge around the world, these organizations can attribute attacks to specific threat actors, which can help them implement effective defenses.

For example, a customer I worked with faced attacks from an advanced persistent threat. Threat intelligence helped the organization identify the tools, tactics and exploits that the attackers were using. They proactively implemented countermeasures to protect the data that was targeted in the attacks.

Security Integration Strengthens Incident Response

Automation and orchestration are essential for security. Next-generation endpoint protection tools enable these capabilities by integrating effectively with other security solutions. By building next-gen endpoint solutions into an organization’s incident response, an IT team can get a better picture of the overall security posture.

When multiple sets of siloed tools work together, they increase the value and effectiveness of each other. An integrated approach enables security efforts not only to stop security incidents from becoming harmful breaches but also to automate an effective response to threats.

Next-gen endpoint security solutions can be integrated with other security measures, including:

  • Vulnerability management tools
  • Patching platforms
  • Identity and access management solutions
  • Firewalls
  • Web gateways
  • Email and messaging gateways

By getting these tools to work together, organizations gain a clearer view of the entire ecosystem and a better idea of how to protect it.

Want to learn more about how CDW’s solutions and services can help your organization protect its data and devices? Visit out Next-Gen Endpoint Security page.

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