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The Ultimate Guide to Endpoint Security in 2024

The Ultimate Guide to Endpoint Security in 2024The Ultimate Guide to Endpoint Security in 2024

Malware attacks on networks are the most common cause of data breaches, which can also be caused by misconfigured network components, misuse of privileges, and lost or stolen devices.1 Businesses are encouraged to safeguard their network environment in order to prevent not only data breaches but also the financial and reputational damages that follow.

The reliance on cloud-based applications, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) applications, and remote and hybrid working increases the potential risk of cybercrime. In order to combat these challenges, endpoint security, also called endpoint protection, is needed. This article illustrates endpoint security and its importance.

What is endpoint security?

Endpoint security refers to the approach of protecting endpoints such as laptops, desktops, mobile devices, and other devices used for transferring data, such as USBs and HDDs, that are connected to a network. These endpoints are typically the points of entry for cyberattacks and are therefore critical to protect. Endpoint security aims to prevent unauthorized access to the network through these endpoints, as well as protect the data stored on them from theft or corruption.

Why is it important now?

Endpoint security has become increasingly important as more organizations adopt remote work policies and as the number and variety of cyber threats continue to grow. By securing individual endpoints, organizations can help protect their networks and sensitive data from cyberattacks and unauthorized access.

As the business grows, the number of people who access the organization’s network increases. Employees, partners, and vendors connect to the enterprise network with devices, which increases the number of potential security breach points. There are two concerns regarding enterprise network security:

The increased growth rate of cyberattacks

  • It was reported in 2020 that 68% of organizations experienced one or more endpoint attacks that successfully compromised data and/or their IT infrastructure.

Insufficient traditional security solutions

  • Legacy antivirus solutions are no longer sufficient against today’s advanced technological threats. These solutions require constant patching, but, for example, they do not sufficiently cover some outdated, niche systems. A single vulnerability can enable attackers to gain access to all sensitive data that the organization holds. More flexible solutions that can deal with threats that they see for the first time (e.g., by using anomaly detection) are necessary for modern endpoint security. For more: Endpoint Security vs. Antivirus: What to Choose?
  • In the video below, Keatron Evans, Infosec instructor and Managing Partner at KM Cyber Security, and Juergen Bayer, Senior Security Advisor at HP explain why endpoint security matters more after the pandemic. They also highlight hardware and software considerations to harden endpoints against cyberattacks and steps you should be taking now to protect your IT and security infrastructure.

What are the best practices?

Below are some endpoint security best practices to follow, for more: Top 10 best practices for endpoint security

1. Analyze endpoints

Organizations should analyze the current endpoints to identify blind spots where attackers may target. This step provides organizations with knowledge and insights that can help strengthen their defenses before adding more security controls.

2. Use complex passwords and multi-factor authentication

End users should avoid using easy passwords. Passwords are the basic step in security, using multi-factor authentication makes the task of hackers more difficult.

3. Train your employees

Educate your employees about phishing attacks and other social engineering techniques. The Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations report says that 34% of all breaches in 2018 were caused by insiders. Teaching them basic security practices like changing passwords regularly and locking their computers when they are away from their desks improves employee awareness.

4. Update security systems regularly

Security software vulnerabilities get visible as hackers start to use advanced technology. Software updates cover weak spots that hackers may target.

Endpoint security market size 

According to the report summoned by Statista, the endpoint security market is expected to reach $13.71 billion by 2024, with an annual growth rate of 14.8%, and $23.81 billion by 2028. When compared globally, the United States will produce the most revenue ($5,297 million in 2024). 2 

Graph 1: Endpoint security market revenue worldwide

The below column graph shows endpoint security market revenue’s continuous increase between 2016 and 2028.

The column graph depicts market revenue numbers of endpoint security between 2016 and 2028.

Source: Statista.3 

What do endpoint security tools enable?

Endpoint vendors offer a combination of various solutions and different capabilities of those solutions to decrease the breach rate. Solutions that vendors offer can be grouped into two categories:

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

  • Most EDR software relies on machine learning to identify zero-day threats in real-time. They aim to detect, disrupt, and prevent malicious attacks before they cause any major damage. Endpoint detection and response solutions include machine learning-powered behavior detection, threat hunting, root cause analysis, remediation, and endpoint indication of compromise (IOC) capabilities. EDR solutions appear with out-of-the-box capabilities and pre-built dashboards and workflows.

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

  • Endpoint protection platforms are deployed on endpoint devices to provide a security solution by leveraging personal firewall, port and device control, and anti-malware capabilities. With machine learning capabilities, endpoint protection platforms leverage historical data from covert or public sources to determine malicious files and block malware threats.

Top 5 endpoint protection software*

1. Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys

2. SentinelOne Singularity Platform Enterprise

3. Sophos Intercept X: Next-Gen Endpoint

4. ThreatDown Endpoint Protection

5. CylanceEndpoint by BlackBerry

* The products are arranged and selected without calculating differentiating ratings or review numbers. For more: Review and rating based table is available on Top endpoint protection software comparison.

Further reading

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External resources

Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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