McAfee Highlights Six Steps to Strengthening Modern Endpoint Protection

 

Organizations have implemented multiple layers of defense to preempt cyberattacks. In theory, they should be better protected. Instead, security teams are saddled with a plethora of tools and interfaces. According to Forrester's 2017 Mastering the Endpoint report, organizations now monitor an average of 10 different security agents and use at least five interfaces to investigate and resolve incidents.
 
There's a better way to protect yourself from an innovative endpoint security concept. Based on the hands-on experience of more than 250 security decision makers and findings from Forrester and McAfee, here are the six essential steps to mastering modern endpoints and securing your business today and into the future.
 
1. Create a security framework that is scalable and adaptable to the ever-changing threat landscape.
 
The concept of implementing multiple layers of defense is widely accepted, but the key to getting the most out of all these layers is to integrate them using a flexible and adaptable security framework. Implementing layers of defense that communicate with each other increases efficiency and effectiveness. The ideal framework is extensible, allowing you to continually add new layers to the fabric as business and security requirements change.
 
2. Integrate detection and response capabilities into daily operations
 
Administrators need to be able to quickly determine the exact location of the threat and sanitize everything it touches. Unfortunately, these resources are usually reserved for specialized investigators and there are not enough professionals for every company. Adding another advanced investigation package will not resolve this issue. By implementing a solution that integrates detection and response capabilities into everyday endpoint-related operations, administrators will be able to react quickly when unavoidable infections occur.
 
3. Decrease false positives so you can focus on the most important tasks
 
Defenses that share threat intelligence can automatically validate or exonerate a potential threat, so administrators don't have to manually. By eliminating layers of complexity and manual effort, security teams can ignore false positives and react faster. It creates even more focus by automatically highlighting the highest priority incidents and provides a clear workflow for resolution.
  
4. Share threat intelligence in real time and put learnings into action immediately
 
The ideal intelligence strategy combines external sources with information gathered in your own environment. Platforms must share information across multiple layers of defenses in real time, automatically and without requiring administrators to operate multiple interfaces. Then the platform must immediately share the information learned in an infection with all other security systems in the environment.
 
5. Use advanced machine learning and the cloud for scalability and speed.
 
By implementing and utilizing advanced machine learning capabilities both on-premises and in the cloud, you can statistically compare suspicious executables against thousands of known threat attributes without the use of signatures. With the ability to analyze characteristics of static code and the actual behavior of an executable, you can discover hidden threats in a matter of seconds.
 
6. Consolidate manual agents and processes
 
Consolidating multiple systems, tools and reports into a single management console significantly reduces the number of manual processes. By taking a consolidated approach, you can reduce the number of agents your team has to manage and automate manual tasks with streamlined workflows. Instead of spending hours dealing with multiple interfaces, empower staff to control multiple layers of endpoint security with automated features.