What Is Endpoint Protection?

Corodata TeamSep. 18, 2023 | Data Protection |

What is Endpoint Protection?

Endpoint protection is an approach to protect networks that are remotely bridged to employee devices. The connection of laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and other wireless devices creates a path of attack for potential protection threats. Endpoint protection requires constant vigilance and is in many ways the hardest part of any security enterprise.

Why is endpoint protection Important?

Many organizations are embracing a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy for employee convenience and cost-efficiency. Employees are storing highly sensitive organizational data alongside social apps and family photographs. These devices are often equipped with consumer-grade antivirus protection, lacking the protections of corporate databases. Without adequate endpoint protection measures, your organization is one snatched purse away from a major data breach.

5 Endpoint Protection Best Practices

Fortunately, there are a number of steps that can be taken to dramatically reduce the risk and/or impact of an endpoint protection breach. Here are five best practices to help keep your data secure:

1.

Avoid storing data on unsecured devices

Avoid storing sensitive data on unencrypted USB drives. Unencrypted USB drives require little authentication before allowing access to their data. This principle also applies to phones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers that are not secured up to the highest standards employed elsewhere within your organization.

2.

Control who in your organization has access to sensitive data

Making sure that important information is kept on a need-to-know basis reduces the exposure to risk in an absolute sense. The fewer individuals who have access to sensitive material, the fewer surfaces along which an attack can be made.

3.

Be careful what third parties are allowed access to your data

It’s inevitable that some third parties will have to access some or all of your data in the course of organizational operations. Make sure that organizations that you do business with are capable and willing to protect your data before allowing access. Look for organizations with high levels of employee vetting and accountability when entrusting them with sensitive data.

4.

Back up your data

Should a computer be stolen which contains sensitive information, make sure that this data is backed up elsewhere. We recommend a 3, 2, 1 backup protocol (at least three copies of the data, in at least two different storage mediums, with at least one copy stored off-site) as best practice. While this will not prevent the damage done by the data falling into the wrong hands, it will prevent operational interruptions resulting from its loss and protect against ransomware.

5.

Educate employees on best security practices and enforce data discipline

Endpoint protection begins and ends with people. No amount of sophisticated software can protect against human negligence. Educating employees on what types of data should and should not be stored on personal devices goes a long way towards preventing an endpoint breach. Discouraging or banning the use of non-company sanctioned cloud services (Box, OneDrive, Dropbox, and the like) for storage of company data will help keep information accounted for.