FINAL WORD
To establish strong endpoint security
and prevent unwanted attacks, IT teams
must apply strict security policies on their
endpoints. Laptops, for instance, should
always run a firewall, prevent the creation
of unwanted network shares, and encrypt
data via BitLocker or FileVault. Such security
policies can protect enterprises from the
security risks posed by mobility.
The flip side of increasing enterprise mobility
and cloud usage is the increasing risk to
enterprise security. Today, most users have
at least two endpoints – a laptop and mobile
device – and 80% of network devices are the
endpoints that are constantly connected to
the Internet and exposed to its threats such
as Meltdown, Spectre, Wannacry and Petya.
More troubling, the typical end-user has
little knowledge of those threats or their
ramifications. The result is more users are
more likely to leak enterprise data by using
compromised websites and rogue online
services. The CVE listed 14,712 cybersecurity
vulnerabilities for 2017 and has already
listed 2,848 for the first two months of 2018.
In response, vendors large and small are
releasing patches on a daily basis. Enterprise
IT teams clearly need to focus on endpoint
security management to ensure business
success in the mobile-cloud era.
Endpoint security challenges
Keeping endpoints up to date with the latest
versions of their operating systems and
applications has become a full-time job,
one that is getting harder to perform in the
mobile enterprise. A growing challenge is the
diversity of endpoint operating systems that
must be managed, including Android, iOS,
MacOS, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS.
For each, the IT team must learn that
operating system along with its corresponding
patching technique. Likewise, applications
acquired from the various app stores are
managed with different techniques that must
be learned and mastered so that the team
can secure the endpoints.
Another challenge is managing the
endpoints from day one, especially mobile
devices. While it’s been relatively easy for
IT admins to install agent software on
desktops and laptops, smart phones and
other mobile devices make life harder for the
admins because the devices are rarely if ever
connected to the corporate network.
Consequently, devices must be provisioned
with the necessary mobile device
management software before they are
given to end-users. Devices that are not
appropriately managed are security risks, so
no business application should be installed or
run on them.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Predicting the development of data
and endpoint management
Mathivanan V, Vice President, ManageEngine
Related to the day-one management
challenge is updating endpoints that are on
the go, anytime and anywhere. IT teams
must be able to install critical patches while
employees are travelling, commuting, or
otherwise offsite.
Data leakage presents yet another security
challenge for IT teams to overcome. Data
leakage can happen with or without the
knowledge of users. For instance, users may
knowingly copy business data to a USB
device or upload it to a cloud storage service.
They may also unknowingly expose that data
to a public cloud service when using third-
party apps such as document viewers and
predictive keyboard apps. Such apps may
compromise user IDs and passwords, account
numbers, and other sensitive enterprise data
by exposing it to public cloud services.
When a user’s device is lost or stolen, the IT
team must be able to track and recover the
device or wipe the data if the device isn’t
recovered. To maintain the user’s privacy,
however, the IT team cannot continuously
track the location of the user’s device.
BYOD presents another privacy vs security
challenge: When users use their own devices
for business purposes, privacy needs to be
maintained. Photos, contacts, and other
personal data should not be managed by a
company’s mobile device management app.
On the other hand, security needs to be
maintained, too. To that end, the IT team
should create a container on the user’s
personal device; a secure, managed area
that isolates business email, CRM, and other
enterprise apps and data from the rest of the
user’s personal apps/data.
Going forward, machine learning and AI will
help make data and endpoint management
a proactive, rather than a reactive process.
For instance, these technologies could
prevent data theft by detecting anomalies
such as unusual login activities or an
unusually large number of documents being
uploaded to the cloud.
They could analyse the root cause of patch
deployment failures and suggest fixes. They
could also detect system idle times – during
lunch hours, for instance – to deploy patches
as soon as possible rather than wait until
after hours or weekends, which can leave
systems unnecessarily vulnerable.
Meanwhile, the Internet of things (IoT)
will introduce many organisations to a new
breed of endpoints and connected devices.
Unlike their iOS and Android-powered
predecessors, IoT devices will be running
many different operating systems and
applications, all of which may be vulnerable
yet must be managed and secured.
Finally, most business applications are
moving to the cloud and accessed via
browser, effectively making the browser an
endpoint. That means to defend against
attacks, IT teams need to manage browsers
and perform all security operations for them
just as if they were desktops, laptops or any
other device.
As organisations continue to adopt mobility
and the cloud, they must also adopt
the practices necessary to support this
new reality. Data and endpoint security
and management are priority one in IT
departments. For the vast majority of
companies around the world, their future
success depends on recognising and
committing to that priority. n
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