How secure are your end-point devices?

Internet has created a world without boundaries. With this, the threat landscape has also changed and securing the information has become the need of the hour. Identifying security threats and finding counter measures to mitigate these threats is equally demanding. Outbound attacks, virus, and botnets have become very common.

Apart from this, data leakage, data theft and data threat posed by portable storage devices like USB flash drives, iPods, Smartphone’s, MP3 players, external HDD and other end point devices with internal memory is on the rise and need to be looked into. They can be an easy way for sensitive data to leak outside the business if not properly protected.  From business point of view these portable devices have become a necessity but from security point of view these portable devices are a threat. Through wireless connections, endpoint devices can access networks that may not be secure.

Through wireless connections, endpoint devices can access networks that may not be secure. More than 159 million records containing sensitive personal information were involved in security breaches from April 2005 to August 2007.This security threat has necessitated the need for a security strategy that can keep your portable data protected.

Block attacks, protect your data

The best ways to limit attacks is with antivirus and anti-spyware software’s, accompanied by effective program control, that can not only block known malicious programs running on endpoint PCs, but it also can help control programs such as P2P sharing applications that are increasingly targeted to compromise endpoint systems.

Strong Privacy laws

Employee attrition rate is very high in organization today hence companies should deploy full disk encryption of data and also keep end point data under lock. With strong personal privacy laws now requiring disclosure of security breaches when personal information is breached, it has become all the more important to secure endpoint data.  Controlling device access, scanning the content of allowed devices to ensure there are no viruses present, and encrypting data on these devices so the data remains protected are some ways one can protect their information.

Network access control helps secure networked endpoints prior to allowing them network access. Access is only granted if the endpoint devices meet with predefined security policy, such as having current antivirus software or the latest patches.

Centralize endpoint security

It’s important to centralize endpoint security management so that administrators can use one console to configure endpoints, administer policies, monitor performance, and analyze data from the network as a whole. This helps reduce maintenance cost, improve security audit, and automates reporting.

End users should be sensitized to the threat scenario and their involvement should be limited to educating them on the risks involved with virus attacks and loss or theft of portable devices. All this is possible only if good security practices are instilled in the organization.