Learn about the Zscaler technology partner ecosystem, which includes leading endpoint protection providers such as VMware Carbon Black, CrowdStrike, and SentinelOne.
Learn about end-to-end visibility with Zscaler Digital Experience™.
Today, most people are connecting to apps off the corporate network, outside of firewalls and network-based mobile devices, which can make threat detection and remediation more difficult. This is especially true for the many companies that still depend on traditional network security solutions.
To this end, many users are now using personally owned devices and connecting over unsecured home networks. What’s more, devices run a range of nonstandard IoT operating systems in addition to the many flavors of Microsoft Windows, Google Android, macOS, and others.
Cybercriminals and hackers, seeing this trend, are using more sophisticated techniques and taking more targeted approaches in their attacks and malware campaigns—all with the goal of stealing sensitive data. As such, endpoint security software has had to evolve rapidly to keep up with the threat environment, bring your own device (BYOD) culture, and the rise in remote work.
Cloud-delivered endpoint security solutions make it easy for organizations to manage remote assets and endpoint devices. With the increase in remote work, endpoints have more entry points than ever. According to IDC, even with the growth in attacks against applications and cloud workloads, and despite increased IT spending on this threat surface, 70% of all breaches still originate at endpoints.
More employees working from home means more remotely connected devices, putting pressure on IT security admins to quickly adopt and configure cloud-based endpoint solutions that protect against advanced threats and data breaches. With these changes come specific cybersecurity risks:
As security teams investigate more effective ways to protect their organizations’ data, networks, and end users without hindering productivity, they inevitably turn to cloud security, including cloud-delivered endpoint protection. Traditional antivirus solutions and enterprise network security won’t be able to stand up to today’s new threats, including fileless malware.
Typically, endpoint security solutions function in one of two categories: prevention (before an attack) and response (after a cyberattack). Modern endpoint protection platforms (EPPs) such as endpoint detection and response incorporate both categories managed via a single, centralized interface.
Endpoint security solutions deployed from the cloud bring security policies to users and provide threat protection and visibility that are always up to date. Where point products of the past could only provide fragmented protection and visibility over an organization’s remote endpoints, a cloud service allows for a more holistic view at the environment surrounding an endpoint, which makes it easier for security to diagnose a potential security issue.
Using a management console through on-premises endpoint security solutions creates vulnerability. With such a technique, there are distinct gaps in visibility and, moreover, lapses in security coverage that leave you open to threats designed to exploit them. A cloud native architecture, on the other hand, provides a much quicker setup and implementation as well as more holistic protection against the new era of threats. And, like a SaaS solution, cloud endpoint protection lets you scale services according to your environment’s needs at any given time.
Endpoint security solutions fall into a few main categories based on specific capabilities and reach:
The key components of endpoint security all focus on protection and control of the underlying network (if there is one), data, applications, and so on. The main characteristics of typical endpoint security software are:
Through these components and more, organizations can secure their endpoints and the data traveling through them by proactively searching for threats wherever they can.
Endpoint security tools typically monitor potential threat activity at the endpoint, whereas firewalls inspect web-based traffic that attempts to enter a network. Fundamentally, the question isn’t so much “endpoint security vs. firewall” but “endpoint security vs. network security.”
To reiterate, network controls are fundamental to securing endpoints, especially in a remote setting, but in instances where endpoints are connecting directly to applications by forgoing the corporate network, there really isn’t much use for a firewall. In these instances, data and application controls are much more vital to an endpoint’s security.
Firewalls were essential to endpoint security when employees went to the office and needed corporate network security to inspect traffic as they worked. Today, endpoints are everywhere and endpoints aren’t used the way they used to be—endpoint security methodologies have left the firewall behind.
Gartner
Gartner’s 2021 Planning Guide for Security and Risk Management advises, “cloud-based services and work-from-home scenarios...often make previously firewalled users and assets more exposed. Common attacks include siegeware and ransomware, business email compromise, and credential phishing and stuffing.”
This highlights perfectly why it’s a smart move to migrate to a cloud-delivered endpoint protection platform that gives your SecOps team complete visibility over possible threats and complete control over the security posture of your organization’s endpoints.
While many security vendors claim to have a “cloud-ready” product, only Zscaler gives your organization the power to protect endpoints via the cloud without interrupting or hampering digital experiences for end users.
Zscaler partners with leaders in endpoint security to control connectivity to corporate assets, isolate infected devices, and receive and share threat intelligence to deliver endpoint reporting to enterprise customers.
Zscaler enables organizations to boost endpoint-to-cloud security by reducing vulnerabilities and minimizing the impact of attacks. We do so by:
But how does our platform do it all? Here’s how:
Zscaler integrates with industry-leading endpoint solution partners to provide zero trust access control based on device posture as well as enhance detection, investigation, and response capabilities—no matter where users and apps are—through telemetry and intelligence sharing.
We support compatibility between Zscaler Client Connector and various mobility management agents for devices.
Learn about the Zscaler technology partner ecosystem, which includes leading endpoint protection providers such as VMware Carbon Black, CrowdStrike, and SentinelOne.
Learn about end-to-end visibility with Zscaler Digital Experience™.
Our Endpoint Technology Partners
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