Endpoint Security Roundup Archive | Security Tools https://www.security-tools.com/category/endpoint-security/ Security Tools Thu, 18 Jan 2024 17:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.security-tools.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-updated-security-tools-logo-v2-32x32.png Endpoint Security Roundup Archive | Security Tools https://www.security-tools.com/category/endpoint-security/ 32 32 Top 6 Host-Based Firewall Management Solutions https://www.security-tools.com/top-host-based-firewall-management-solutions/ Fri, 12 Jan 2024 18:09:06 +0000 https://www.security-tools.com/?p=2774 Table of Contents Definition Importance Benefits Considerations when choosing an HBFW Top 6 Host-Based Firewall Solutions What Is Host-Based Firewall (HBFW) Management? Host-based firewall management is the process of maintaining a firewall that sits within your OS, server or device. Host-based firewalls are configured using policies and rules to allow or disallow traffic based on […]

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What Is Host-Based Firewall (HBFW) Management?

Host-based firewall management is the process of maintaining a firewall that sits within your OS, server or device. Host-based firewalls are configured using policies and rules to allow or disallow traffic based on predefined criteria — such as a packet’s transport protocol or a device’s IP address source and destination. 

Host-based firewall management solutions connect to a device’s management information base (MIB) through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to track and provide detailed reports on firewall performance in real time. This allows you to detect and curtail suspicious activity almost instantly, as well as gain comprehensive data for firewall policy patching.

Since they are configured very close to hosts, these solutions are particularly effective while other firewall solutions fail to deter potential attacks.

Although firewalls heighten network security and compliance, misconfigurations impede their efficacy. HBFW solutions are at the front line of addressing this challenge by simplifying firewall configuration and monitoring.

But how do you know which one to choose from the pool of available solutions? In this article, we examine six top solutions and their functionalities.

Importance of Proper Firewall Management

Organizations deploy and manage multiple firewalls to protect their network from spyware, worms and trojans, as well as packet sniffing, hijacking, man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and injection attacks. However, firewalls are incredibly difficult to set up and manage because their policies are written in low-level, platform- or device-specific Syntax. Also, rules must be configured in a way that allows access to the average incoming and outgoing traffic without letting in malicious actors.

This means administrators must configure firewalls to not only consider IP addresses and corresponding details but also assess each IP to determine its legitimacy.

To further add to this complexity, malware, viruses and attack tactics are constantly evolving — if firewall policies are out of date, the firewalls themselves are essentially defenseless against the latest attack techniques. This means you need to regularly patch them as new threats evolve, rules expire or network configurations change.

Essentially, a firewall is only as efficient as its management, making firewall management crucial for the following reasons:

  1. It includes monitoring and logging the firewall’s activity to detect traffic filtering patterns, which can then be used to further strengthen existing firewall rules.
  2. It entails the assessment of firewall rules to eradicate conflicting rules, prevent legitimate traffic from getting blocked, and ultimately facilitate client conversion and business turnover.
  3. It helps guarantee compliance with industry-specific standards for network and data security. When done effectively, firewall management helps safeguard sensitive data and avoid potential regulatory fines and lawsuits.

Organizations can choose self-managed firewalls (e.g., Windows Defender Firewall) or service provider-managed firewalls (e.g., Falcon Firewall Management) to address the firewall management complexities discussed above.

Pros of a Managed HBFW

A managed host-based firewall is a third-party solution that offers proactive HBFW monitoring and administration, providing companies with several key benefits.

Expert and Automated Management

Instead of burdening your security team with the highly technical task of firewall management, you can leverage the expertise of a managed service provider to promptly address all security issues and provide regular feedback on the state of your HBFW. With managed solutions, network monitoring is also automated, allowing for instant threat/anomaly prevention.

Network Location Awareness (NLA)

HBFWs typically have different network location options. With NLA, you can specify any of the three locations for each firewall rule, ensuring different rules will apply when the endpoint is at different “locations.” Some firewalls have three: domain networks (discoverable, applied when the host system is connected to a domain controller), private networks (discoverable, user-assigned) and public networks (a default but changeable setting, undiscoverable to prevent discovery by other devices on the public network). Users can permanently configure their preferred location or change the location intermittently as required. NLA further enhances firewall effectiveness and improves security.

Streamlined Management

Managed HBFWs are easier to set up, implement and monitor. They save on costs related to employing and training staff, and also on time since security/DevSecOps teams do not have to set up and regularly patch multitudes of rules/policies. This is especially the case for large organizations with heterogeneous firewalls on different endpoints.

Data Access Concerns

One potential downside of a managed HBFW is the given service provider has access to sensitive data within your systems. However, this can be minimized by choosing a reputable service provider and implementing identity and role-based access controls.

Choosing a Host-Based Firewall Management Solution

The following are some important criteria to consider when choosing a host-based firewall management solution.

Simplicity

Consider a solution that deploys quickly, without reboots or configurations requiring a lot of time and effort. There should be customizable templates for easy configuration and maintenance of firewall policies across various workloads and environments. The solution should also allow you to easily circulate policy changes and reuse rule groups across environments.

Centralized Management

A solution that offers a unified dashboard where important firewall metrics are displayed must be a priority. These metrics could include:

  • Details of changes to firewall rules
  • CPU and memory usage
  • Number of attempted, blocked and successful connections/requests
  • Number of malware and virus injection attempts detected and prevented

Automation and Scalability

Large organizations can have hundreds of firewalls, all of which must be managed properly. Since manual management is laborious and unnecessarily stressful, the ideal firewall management solution will take the burden off users and automate firewall monitoring, anomaly detection and threat prevention. This will help ensure that regardless of the scale, you can apply specific app and traffic-source rules, as well as vary the rules across diverse firewalls within your larger environment.

Integrability

Choose a solution that seamlessly integrates with apps and app components, endpoints, existing firewalls and other solutions in your organization’s stack. The solution must not spike host CPU usage or negatively affect the performance of your host.

Troubleshooting and Compliance

The right solution should log detailed performance data so if any anomalies are observed, your security team can act fast to install a new rule or remove an old one. These logs can also serve as evidence of compliance when necessary.

6 Best Host-Based Firewall Management Solutions

Having considered the functionalities that an ideal solution should offer, here’s six top firewall management solutions, along with the functionalities they offer.

1. CrowdStrike Falcon® Firewall Management

Austin, TX  | 2011 | www.crowdstrike.com

Falcon Firewall Management is a unified network security solution that incorporates endpoint security, threat intelligence and hunting, and instant firewall performance visibility into a single tool. 

As a managed solution, CrowdStrike Falcon Firewall Management incorporates role-based access control (RBAC) and Zero Trust network access (ZTNA) to ensure secure firewall management. It is also compatible with multiple environments (including Windows and MacOS).

The solution deploys within minutes, requires no complex manual configurations, and allows you to propagate updates across the required policies.

Falcon Firewall Management comes with a few key capabilities.

Domain Matching/FQDN

Most firewall protocols allow adding only local and remote IP addresses, but this can be problematic when there are multiple servers behind a single domain name. This phenomenon is common with cloud services (e.g., AWS) and usually implies that a single domain can resolve to hundreds — if not thousands — of IP addresses, making allowlisting/blocking nearly impossible for a firewall administrator to manage.

Domain matching enables CrowdStrike customers to enter a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) instead of an IP address when creating firewall rules for allowlisting or blocking, easing policy enforcement and improving firewall effectiveness.

Wildcard FQDN

While an FQDN solves important firewall management problems, a firewall administrator may still encounter challenges using it where IP lists change regularly without warning, making maintaining the addresses a major headache. This is because standard FQDNs use system DNS settings, meaning that should the IP entries for an address change, the configured FQDN rule may be rendered ineffectual.

Falcon Firewall Management offers a workaround where you can allowlist apps, domains and subdomains using wildcard DNS records that are specified with “*” (e.g., *.xyz.us). This allows you to match requests to domain names regardless of IP changes.

Firewall Enhancement Location Awareness

Aside from domain name-based allowlisting, Falcon’s NLA functionality ensures you can configure and enforce firewall policies for IPs regardless of changes to location, ensuring ultra-precise control and improving threat prevention accuracy.

Additional key features include:

  • Single unified dashboard for endpoint and firewall management
  • Lightweight agent that ensures minimal host CPU and memory consumption
  • Powerful rule validation mechanism to prevent the creation of conflicting and faulty rules
  • Detailed logging and auditing for regulatory compliance
  • Safety testing for firewall policies before deployment
  • Granular control for fast troubleshooting

2. Trellix Windows Firewall Management 

Santa Clara, CA | 1987 | www.trellix.com

Trellix Windows Firewall Management is part of a suite of products dominated by Trellix Endpoint Security. The product offers firewall protection and management for Windows, Mac and Linux devices. It has a user interface (Trellix ePO software) and is an efficient traffic filtering and malware detection solution.

Key features of the product:

  • Unified management dashboard for Microsoft Defender Firewall
  • Story graph for monitoring threat detections and firewall performance
  • Protection workspace for tracking unresolved detections and escalated devices
  • Customizable security offerings
  • Regulatory compliance facilitation

3. Palo Alto Host Firewall for Windows

Santa Clara, CA | 2005 | www.paloaltonetworks.com

Palo Alto’s host firewall is a solution that can be found within Cortex XDR 7.1 or later. Palo Alto’s Cortex XDR is a network-based threat detection and remediation tool with extensive firewall performance logging capabilities.

It offers two firewall and endpoint protection services: Cortex XDR Prevent, which enables you to configure host-based firewall rules for traffic filtering, and Cortex XDR Pro,which is similar in function but has add-ons such as behavior indicators and swift anomaly investigation.

Key features of the product:

  • Centralized management
  • Data and alert retention
  • Execution file identification and scanning for malicious code injection prevention

Cortex XDR Pro Suite features

  • Compatibility with various external firewalls
  • USB access control
  • Antivirus and anti-malware capabilities
  • Disk encryption
  • Vulnerability assessment

4. Endpoint Firewall Control by SentinelOne

Mountain View, CA | 2013 | www.sentinelone.com

SentinelOne Endpoint Firewall Control is an anti-malware and anti-exploit solution that allows users to configure endpoint communication controls. It uses a lightweight agent that can receive firewall monitoring updates from SentinelOne servers.

Key features of the product:

  • Inbound and outbound traffic monitoring
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Unauthorized data transmission detection and prevention
  • User-friendly management console
  • Regulatory compliance facilitation
  • Behavioral protection

5. Symantec Endpoint Security Firewall by Broadcom

Mountain View, CA | 1982 | www.broadcom.com

Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States

Foundation year: 1982

Symantec Endpoint Security Firewall is part of the Symantec Endpoint Protection stack. This firewall enables you to customize rules and settings so that you can re-order the rules for device-aware traffic filtering.

Key features of the product:

  • Intrusion prevention system
  • Rule-based firewall engine for advanced threat detection
  • First- and third-party device protection
  • Antivirus and anti-malware
  • Easy-to-operate console
  • Seamless firewall rule creation, assessment, enforcement and modification

6. Windows Defender Firewall by Microsoft

Redmond, WA | 1975 | www.microsoft.com

Windows Defender Firewall is a built-in host-based solution on all Windows editions. While Microsoft was launched in 1975, its firewall solution was introduced in 2004.

Key features of the product:

  • Self-managed firewall
  • Network and device-sensitive rule creation
  • Two-way traffic filtering
  • Network access control via IPsec
  • Real-time monitoring and reporting
  • Advanced security via IPsec
  • Intelligent threat analytics
  • Antivirus and anti-malware protection

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]]> Best Enterprise Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV) Solutions https://www.security-tools.com/best-enterprise-next-generation-antivirus-ngav-solutions/ Fri, 22 Sep 2023 20:47:35 +0000 https://www.security-tools.com/?p=2467 Table of Contents NGAV Definition Importance Considerations Challenges 12 Best NGAV Solutions What is NGAV? With the landscape of cyberattacks constantly evolving, conventional antivirus solutions no longer suffice. Ensuring an organization’s security now depends on next-generation antivirus (NGAV) solutions. NGAV solutions are cloud-based and combine artificial intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analysis to detect and […]

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What is NGAV?

With the landscape of cyberattacks constantly evolving, conventional antivirus solutions no longer suffice. Ensuring an organization’s security now depends on next-generation antivirus (NGAV) solutions. NGAV solutions are cloud-based and combine artificial intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analysis to detect and prevent threats quickly.

In this article, we’ll look at why enterprises adopt NGAV solutions and what you should consider when choosing an NGAV solution. Then, we’ll highlight several NGAV solutions on the market today.

Importance of NGAV for enterprises

Advanced cyber threats increase the likelihood of data breaches, financial losses, operational disruptions, litigation, and reputational damage for large-scale businesses. To combat these threats, NGAV solutions detect and prevent malware, ransomware, and Trojan horse attacks from compromising endpoints and stealing valuable data.

Organizations that use NGAV software protect against unauthorized access to sensitive information by proactively blocking or isolating malicious files in real time. The best NGAV solutions can be installed quickly, saving cost, time, and energy by offloading the concerns of software maintenance, infrastructure management, and signature database updates.

Compared to traditional antivirus solutions, NGAV solutions provide organizations with several critical benefits:

  • NGAV solutions are cloud-based, so they can be deployed in hours instead of days or weeks. They don’t require software maintenance, infrastructure management, or manual updates to identify malware signatures.
  • NGAV solutions detect and prevent both nascent and well-known threats, giving a holistic overview of vulnerabilities and providing superior protection.
  • With behavioral analysis, NGAV solutions can protect your systems against sophisticated zero-day attacks. By recognizing unknown behaviors and threat signatures, NGAV solutions bring far more robust threat prevention.
  • By allowing organizations to integrate multiple domains of security telemetry in a single, centralized command console, an NGAV solution makes it easy to monitor your environment, complementing endpoint detection and response (EDR) functionalities.

Considerations when choosing an NGAV solution

When choosing an enterprise NGAV solution, consider the following important factors to ensure that it is compatible with your organization’s needs.

Detection and prevention capabilities

  • Pinpoints and protects against a broad range of familiar and unfamiliar threats, including complex malware, zero-day exploits, and targeted attacks.
  • Offers robust detection mechanisms, including behavior-based analysis, machine learning, and integrated threat intelligence.

Endpoint coverage and scalability

  • Covers all endpoints within your enterprise environment, from PCs and servers to mobile devices and internet of things (IoT)/OT devices. Organizations should also consider the consistency of protection coverage across endpoint operating systems (OS).
  • Saves your organization time and effort by providing quick and easy installation and updates.
  • Provides scalability to accommodate business expansion and seamless onboarding to new endpoints.

Integration and performance impact

  • Provides seamless integration with your company’s existing security tools, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems, EDR solutions, and other security tools.
  • Balances strong security with minimal resource usage.
  • Works effectively with or without a network connection.

Cost-effectiveness and return on investment (ROI)

  • Provides an adjustable pricing model that fits your business’s budget and specifications.
  • Offers a reasonable ROI based on its performance and long-term value.

Challenges to bear in mind

NGAV solutions enable businesses to prioritize security without compromising productivity or blowing up the budget. They’re designed to scale so that they can meet the evolving needs of enterprise businesses. However, keep in mind that NGAV solutions also introduce some challenges:

  • NGAV solutions still utilize some system resources, potentially causing slowdowns in organizations with limited resources or requiring reboots to activate new protections.
  • Implementing NGAV solutions may require initial configuration and customization to adapt to the organization’s environment. This may lead to an extended time of transition.

Best Enterprise NGAV Solutions

Below, we’ll explore some outstanding NGAV solutions suitable for enterprise use.

 

Endpoint Security Enterprise by Broadcom

San Jose, CA | 1991 | www.broadcom.com

Broadcom is a global technology organization that offers diverse, innovative solutions across multiple industries, empowering businesses with cutting-edge technologies for enhanced connectivity, infrastructure, and security.

Value propositions

  • Robust endpoint security and management services.
  • Advanced server security solutions for safeguarding and monitoring all cloud and non-cloud workflows.
  • Cloud storage and services secured with efficient cloud workload protection.

Key differentiators

  • Predictive, proactive detection and prevention mechanisms that safeguard businesses against mobile cyberattacks.
  • Breach simulations that help identify attacks capable of compromising business operations.

Harmony Endpoint Protection by Check Point

Tel Aviv, Israel | 1993 | www.checkpoint.com

Check Point is an industry-leading cybersecurity firm offering various solutions to safeguard networks, data, and endpoints from multiple cyber threats.

Value propositions

  • Holistic endpoint protection, including anti-malware, antivirus, and firewall capabilities.
  • Sandboxing and threat emulation technologies.
  • Zero-day threat protection.

Key differentiators

  • Data loss prevention (DLP) mechanisms.
  • Centralized management and reporting that allow users to configure security policies efficiently.

CrowdStrike Falcon® Prevent by CrowdStrike

Austin, TX | 2011 | www.crowdstrike.com

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company offering cloud-delivered incident response services, threat intelligence, and endpoint protection for businesses and individuals.

Value propositions

  • Behavior-based detection.
  • Rapid response and remediation.
  • Cloud-native architecture offering scalability, flexibility, and easy deployment for organizations of all sizes.

Key differentiators

  • Managed threat hunting services.
  • Seamless integration with CrowdStrike threat intelligence.
  • Additional native protection for cloud security, identity protection, vulnerability management, and more services, allowing you to consolidate security technology.

Cybereason NGAV by Cybereason

Boston, MA | 2012 | www.cybereason.com

Cybereason is a cyber defense company specializing in endpoint protection, detection, and response against high-level cybercriminals.

Value propositions

  • Advanced endpoint protection.
  • Incident response and investigation tools.
  • Security risk assessment service that monitors all managed and unmanaged systems across an organization’s ecosystem.

Key differentiators

  • Malware analysis that helps organizations examine suspicious files and identify possible risks.
  • Dedicated client support services.

Cynet Next-Gen Antivirus by Cynet

Boston, MA | 2015 | www.cynet.com

Cynet is an innovative cybersecurity company that offers a comprehensive platform to safeguard businesses against advanced threats.

Value propositions

  • Unified platform that combines various security tools into a single solution.
  • Real-time advanced threat detection.
  • Automated workflows and playbooks that help businesses reduce response times.

Key differentiators

  • Deception technology that lures and tricks attackers.
  • Ability to leverage user behavior analytics to mitigate insider threats.

Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection by Malwarebytes

Santa Clara, CA | 2004 | www.malwarebytes.com

Malwarebytes is a prominent cybersecurity company known for its advanced malware detection and removal solutions, delivering robust and comprehensive protection against diverse cyber threats.

Value propositions

  • Instant, automated security reports based on user demand.
  • A compact and unified agent that minimizes resource usage.
  • Round-the-clock chat/email support and prioritized phone assistance.

Key differentiators

  • Ability to prevent brute force attacks targeting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
  • Optional security available for Windows and Linux Server operating systems.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint by Microsoft

Redmond, WA | 1975 | www.microsoft.com

Microsoft offers a holistic approach to endpoint security, providing advanced threat protection, endpoint detection and response, and centralized security management.

Value propositions

  • Real-time vulnerability discovery.
  • Threat protection capabilities.
  • Secure access control protocols that guarantee that only authorized users and devices have access to essential resources.

Key differentiators

  • Endpoint firewall that monitors and controls inbound and outbound network traffic.
  • Seamless integration with other Microsoft security products and services, providing a unified security ecosystem.

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Santa Clara, CA | 2005 | www.paloaltonetworks.com

Palo Alto Networks is a prominent player in the cybersecurity industry, delivering a wide range of solutions that fortify networks, endpoints, and cloud environments against dynamic cyber threats with unwavering security.

Value propositions

  • Advanced AI-powered security that adapts dynamically to combat emerging threats.
  • Unified endpoint agent that defends against attacks and offers protection features.
  • Automated security investigations and responses to adversaries.

Key differentiators

  • Secure USB device management that helps mitigate USB-based threats.
  • Host firewall and disk encryption designed to reduce security risks.

Singularity Core by SentinelOne

Mountain View, CA | 2013 | www.sentinelone.com

SentinelOne is an advanced cybersecurity company that combines AI-powered threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities to protect organizations from evolving cyber threats.

Value propositions

  • Robust AI threat prevention.
  • Protection and recovery measures against ransomware attacks.
  • Cloud-first SaaS for easy installation, management, and maintenance.

Key differentiators

  • Device control and application whitelisting that help organizations control device usage.
  • Real-time behavioral AI that detects and stops nascent threats.

Trellix Endpoint Security (ENS) Threat Prevention by Trellix

Milpitas, CA | 2022 | www.trellix.com

Trellix is a private cybersecurity firm that offers multiple solutions to investigate cyberattacks, defend against malware, and analyze IT security risks.

Value propositions

  • Focused malware scans on client systems.
  • Robust malware prevention strategies.
  • Web content filtering that limits access to malicious websites.

Key differentiators

  • Security analytics and reporting that provide organizations with valuable insights regarding security events, threat trends, and compliance status.
  • Protection against phishing through email filtering and link analysis.

Apex One by Trend Micro

Tokyo, Japan | 1988 | www.trendmicro.com

Trend Micro is a renowned cybersecurity company offering comprehensive solutions to safeguard businesses and individuals from cyber threats.

Value propositions

  • Behavioral analysis for the detection and blocking of suspicious activities.
  • Automated patch management procedures that help businesses minimize vulnerabilities and the risk of exploitation.
  • Incident response.

Key differentiators

  • Endpoint encryption that protects sensitive data stored on devices.
  • Data loss prevention.

Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint Standard by VMWare

Palo Alto, CA | 1998 | www.vmware.com

VMware is a virtualization and cloud computing solutions provider that helps businesses optimize IT operations, boost flexibility, and unlock the full potential of their digital infrastructure.

Value propositions

  • System tools designed to prevent malware, fileless threats, and ransomware.
  • Tailored prevention policies and customizable options for seamless integration with the business environment.
  • Complete attack chain visibility for simplified investigation.

Key differentiators

  • Multiple protection layers — including file reputation, heuristics, AI, and behavior analysis — for comprehensive security.
  • Combined EDR and NGAV features in a lightweight solution for quick installation and management.

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]]> 13 Endpoint Security Solutions For Business https://www.security-tools.com/top-13-endpoint-security-solutions/ Tue, 02 May 2023 13:23:13 +0000 https://www.security-tools.com/?p=2103 With so many endpoint protection solutions on the market, understanding their different strengths and weaknesses can be confusing and time consuming. This guide provides you with an at-a-glance roundup of the endpoint protection solutions on the market, so you can quickly identify which are the best fit for your business. Table of Contents What is […]

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With so many endpoint protection solutions on the market, understanding their different strengths and weaknesses can be confusing and time consuming. This guide provides you with an at-a-glance roundup of the endpoint protection solutions on the market, so you can quickly identify which are the best fit for your business.

 

What Is Endpoint Protection Software?

Endpoint protection software is a cybersecurity solution that examines files, processes and system activity for suspicious or malicious indicators. Sometimes referred to as an endpoint protection platform (EPP), endpoint protection software offers a centralized management console from which administrators can monitor, protect, investigate and respond to incidents across all endpoints, including computers, mobile devices, servers and connected devices.

How to Choose an Endpoint Protection Platform

Endpoint protection solutions are available to serve all types and sizes of businesses. Key features to assess include:

1. Prevention

There are sound reasons why traditional, malware-centric endpoint protection products simply do not provide an adequate level of protection against today’s threats and adversaries. Malware-centric protection does not address the increasingly sophisticated fileless and malware-free tactics used by modern adversaries.

An effective endpoint protection solution needs to solve this challenge by expanding beyond simply identifying and addressing known malware. First, it should protect against both known and unknown malware by using technologies such as machine learning (ML) that do not require daily updates. It should look beyond malware and fully leverage behavioral analytics to automatically look for signs of attack and block them as they are occurring. In addition, the ideal endpoint protection solution should protect endpoints against all types of threats — from known and unknown malware to fileless and malware-free attacks — by combining all of the necessary technologies for ultimate protection.

2. Detection

Because attackers expect to encounter prevention measures on a target, they have refined their craft to include techniques designed to bypass prevention. These techniques include credential theft, fileless attacks or software supply chain attacks. When an attacker is able to gain a foothold without any alarm being raised, it is called “silent failure,” which allows attackers to dwell in an environment for days, weeks or even months without detection.

The remedy for silent failure is endpoint detection and response (EDR), which provides the visibility security teams need to uncover attackers as rapidly as possible. A fully functioning EDR system should tightly integrate with the prevention capability. It should record all activities of interest on an endpoint for deeper inspection, both in real time and after the fact. It should enrich this data with threat intelligence to provide needed context — critical for threat hunting and investigation.

An efficient EDR solution should also intelligently automate detection of malicious activity and present real attacks (not benign activity) without requiring security teams to write and fine-tune detection rules.

3. Threat Intelligence

Attackers move quickly and stealthily, challenging many protection technologies and security professionals to keep up with the latest threats and proactively protect against them.

Threat intelligence enables security products and security teams to understand and effectively predict which cyber threats might impact them. It empowers organizations to anticipate the “who” and “how” of the next attack, and allows security teams to focus on prioritizing and configuring resources so they can respond effectively to future attacks. In addition, threat intelligence provides the information security teams need to understand, respond and resolve incidents faster. The increased efficiency accelerates investigations and incident remediation. This is why security professionals looking at endpoint protection must ensure that they do not focus solely on the security infrastructure.

4. Threat Hunting

Threat hunting plays a critical role in the early detection of attacks and adversaries. It constitutes a proactive approach that is human-led and actively searches for suspicious activities rather than passively relying on technology to automatically detect and alert on a potential attacker’s activity.

Early detection and investigation of such activity allow organizations to stop attacks before they can do damage. Unfortunately, a lack of resources and a shortage in security expertise makes proactive threat hunting unattainable for a majority of organizations.

Understaffed internal teams are unable to monitor 24/7 for adversary activity, and in many cases they are not equipped to efficiently respond to extremely sophisticated attacks. This can result in longer investigation times with fewer alerts being handled in a timely manner, ultimately resulting in longer dwell times and increased risk that attackers will successfully accomplish their goals. Managed threat hunting solves this challenge by providing an elite hunting team that not only finds malicious activities that may have been missed by automated security systems, but also analyzes them thoroughly and provides customers with response guidelines.

5. Vulnerability Management and IT Hygiene

Security starts with closing gaps to reduce the attack surface and be better prepared to face threats. This requires understanding which systems and applications are vulnerable and who and what are active in your environment.

That is why vulnerability management and IT hygiene are the foundational blocks of an efficient security practice and should be part of any robust endpoint protection solution. They provide the visibility and actionable information that security and IT teams need to implement preemptive measures and make sure that they are prepared to face today’s sophisticated threats.

When it comes to vulnerability assessment and management, regular and continuous monitoring is critical to identify and prioritize the weaknesses within your organization’s systems. For example, if you have out-of-date applications, but do not continuously monitor for vulnerabilities, your environment could become a key attack vector for adversaries.

Thus, the ability to discover, patch and update vulnerable applications running in your environment provides a tremendous advantage against attackers. The same goes for IT hygiene. Knowing who and what is on your network can enable IT to work proactively in addressing unknowns or gaps within your security architecture. IT hygiene solutions offer the ability to pinpoint unmanaged systems or those that could be a risk on the network, such as unprotected BYOD or third-party systems.

This solution should also be continuously monitoring for changes within your assets, applications and users. Credential theft continues to be another popular and efficient vector for attackers. Monitoring and gaining visibility into logon trends (activities/duration) across your environment, wherever credentials are being used and administrator credentials created, enables security teams to detect and mitigate credential abuse and attacks that employ stolen credentials.

6. Managed Detection and Response

It takes more than technology to stop today’s advanced adversaries; it also requires expertise and mature processes. Unfortunately, finding, hiring and retaining expert security staff can be challenging in many segments.

Managed detection and response services can reduce IT complexity, drive down costs, enable faster innovation and deliver mission-critical services to organizations, in real time and on demand. Continuous monitoring combined with speed lets organizations manage compliance challenges and budget restrictions while putting up formidable defenses against the most sophisticated adversaries.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender was founded in 2001 and has headquarters in Bucharest, Romania. Providing both home and business security products, Bitdefender is best known for their OEM business, licensing out their AV signature technology for use in third party security products. Bitdefender offers endpoint security for business customers via GravityZone.

BitDefender offers GravityZone Ultra, a product that provides advanced protection, extended detection and response/risk analytics. This product incorporates machine learning and other technologies.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/bitdefender/product/bitdefender-gravityzone-enterprise-security

CrowdStrike Endpoint Protection

Powered by the CrowdStrike Security Cloud, the CrowdStrike Falcon® Platform’s single lightweight-agent architecture prevents attacks on endpoints on or off the network. The CrowdStrike Security Cloud correlates trillions of security events per day with indicators of attack, the industry’s leading threat intelligence and enterprise telemetry from across customer endpoints, workloads, identities, DevOps, IT assets and configurations.

Key features:

Single Lightweight Agent

Purpose-built in the cloud, provides frictionless deployment at scale and stops all types of attacks while eliminating agent bloat and scheduled scans.

Cloud-Native Platform

Enables rapid and scalable deployment, superior protection and performance, reduced complexity and immediate time-to-value.

Threat Graph

Using world-class AI, the CrowdStrike Security Cloud creates actionable data, identifies shifts in adversarial tactics, and maps tradecraft in the patented CrowdStrike’s Threat Graph to automatically prevent and stop  threats in real time across CrowdStrike’s global customer base.

AI-Powered Next-Generation Antivirus

Falcon Prevent™ protects against the entire threat spectrum without requiring daily updates. The best prevention technologies like machine learning, AI, indicators of attack (IOAs), exploit blocking and more are combined to stop ransomware and malware-free and fileless attacks. These advanced capabilities protect the gaps left by legacy AV both on and offline.

Intelligent EDR

Falcon Insight™ prevents silent failure by capturing raw events for automatic detection of malicious activity, providing unparalleled visibility, proactive threat hunting and forensic investigation capabilities. Analysts can instantly see the real-time threat level, organization wide, and unravel an entire attack with the easy-to-use CrowdScore™. Incident Workbench is enriched with context and threat intelligence data for a powerful response action to contain, investigate and remediate compromised systems. Teams can even orchestrate and automate complex workflows with Falcon Fusion for simplified security operations that accelerate incident triage and response. The Falcon Insight Zero Trust Assessment (ZTA) determines endpoint health at scale by identifying and updating sensor policies and OS settings that are out-of-date or increase risk. The assessment scores are shareable across CrowdStrike Zero Trust partners ecosystem for real-time conditional access enforcement.

Industry Leading Threat Intelligence

CROWDSTRIKE FALCON® INTELLIGENCE™ enables full understanding of threats in an environment and the ability to automatically investigate incidents and accelerate alert triage and response. It also eliminates guesswork so you can respond to threats decisively. CrowdStrike Falcon® Intelligence automatically determines the scope and impact of threats found in your environment. A broader set of indicators of compromise (IOCs) for faster, better protection is also provided.

24/7 Managed Threat Hunting

An elite team of security experts proactively hunts, investigates and advises on activity in your environment to ensure threats and high-priority alerts are not missed. Alert prioritization uniquely pinpoints the most urgent threats in your environment and resolves false positives. Guided response provides clarity on an attack and guidance on what to do next.

Vulnerability Management and IT Hygiene

Falcon Discover™ rapidly identifies and eliminates malicious and noncompliant activity with unmatched real-time visibility into devices, users and applications in your network for effective IT hygiene. Falcon Spotlight™ provides always-on scanless vulnerability management to research common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) for examining threat actor profiles and targets, increasing your security posture with zero impact.

Comprehensive Managed Detection and Response 

The Falcon Complete™ team of seasoned security professionals delivers proactive management and optimization for ultimate control. Continuous human threat hunting with CrowdStrike’s expert Falcon OverWatch Team is unabated in their mission to identify and stop the most sophisticated threats. The Falcon Complete team monitors your platform 24/7, investigating all critical-to-low severity detections. Comprehensive response and remediation restore systems to their pre-intrusion state without the burden and disruption of reimaging systems.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/crowdstrike/product/crowdstrike-falcon

ESET

Eset was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Slovakia with a primary focus of endpoint protection for home, business, and enterprise. Eset offers on premise and cloud endpoint protection modules and professional services.

ESET’s roots are as an antivirus vendor offering solutions for on-premises installations. The original products are now part of a platform that secures Windows, macOS and Android endpoints.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/eset/product/eset-endpoint-security

Kaspersky

Kaspersky was founded in 1997, with headquarters in Moscow, Russia. As a dedicated security company, they provide solutions for home and business. In addition to having security products for email and network security, Kaspersky provides endpoint security with Endpoint Security for Business.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/kaspersky/product/kaspersky-endpoint-security-for-business

McAfee

McAfee was originally founded in 1987, offering both consumer and business security products. In 2021, the B2B-focused McAfee Enterprise business unit was divested and sold to Symphony Technology Group. McAfee Enterprise offers various products such as Virus Scan Enterprise, ENS, and MVISION for endpoint security.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/mcafee/product/endpoint-security-ens

Microsoft Defender

Microsoft was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft is best known for their operating system and office productivity suite, targeting both consumer and business users. Microsoft has built various endpoint security features into the Windows operating system and announced Defender ATP in 2016, subsequently enhancing that solution with technology from their 2017 Hexadite acquisition.

Microsoft Defender is relatively new to the EDR and EPP for businesses. space and is continuing to evolve. E5 licensing is needed to access the enterprise dashboard and ATP, which are the capabilities that elevate Microsoft Defender beyond a basic solution.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/microsoft/product/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint-mde

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Palo Alto Networks was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Best known for their NGFW and network security, Palo Alto also offers Cortex XDR for endpoint security.

Reviews & Ratings: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/palo-alto-networks/product/cortex-xdr

SentinelOne

SentinelOne was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. SentinelOne provides endpoint security for business via their Singularity platform, and is best known for their goal to provide fully autonomous endpoint security.

SentinelOne Singularity provides basic alerts and remediates threats that are detected by the solution. The solution is a mix of on-site virtual appliances and cloud-based solutions The company has limited participation in standards-based AV testing.

Reviews & Ratings: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/sentinelone/product/singularity-platform

Sophos

Sophos was founded in 1985 and Sophos was acquired by Thomas Bravo. Currently, Sophos is headquartered in Oxford U.K. Sophos offers both home and business security. Sophos for business offers endpoint, network, security operations, email, and cloud protections.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/sophos

Symantec(Broadcom)

Symantec was founded as part of Norton LifeLock in 1982. In 2019, Symantec was acquired by Broadcom Inc. and is now headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.  Symantec offers multiple security products including endpoint, identity, information, network and API security.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/broadcom-symantec/product/symantec-endpoint-protection

Trend Micro

Trend Micro was founded in 1988 and has headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Trend Micro provides both consumer and business security products. Trend Micro Apex One is targeted towards business customers for endpoint security.

Trend Micro Enterprise Security for Endpoints provides standard endpoint protection, including anti-malware, encryption and application whitelisting. The solution uses traditional signature-based malware detection, as well as reputation management and analytics.

Reviews & Ratings: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/trend-micro/product/trend-micro-apex-one

VMware Carbon Black

VMware was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. VMware primarily provides cloud computing and virtualization technology. VMware entered the endpoint security market in 2019 when they acquired Carbon Black.

VMWare Carbon Black is a foundational endpoint protection solution that does not include advanced features such as vulnerability management, device control, advanced threat hunting, rollback, guided investigation or mobile support.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/carbon-black

Webroot

Webroot was founded in 1997, and was later acquired by Carbonite in 2019. OpenText later acquired Carbonite in 2019.  Webroot is headquartered in Broomfield Colorado. Webroot provides security products to both consumers and businesses. Webroot business products include Endpoint and DNS protection with Solutions for SMB and MSP organizations.

Ratings & Reviews: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms/vendor/opentext-webroot/product/webroot-business-endpoint-protection

The post 13 Endpoint Security Solutions For Business appeared first on Security Tools.

]]> Top 10 XDR Solutions https://www.security-tools.com/top-10-xdr-solutions/ Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:15:27 +0000 https://www.security-tools.com/?p=1924 Table of Contents What is extended detection and response (XDR)? Why is XDR important? Considerations when choosing an XDR platform Key differentiators Top 10 XDR solutions roundup What is extended detection and response (XDR)? Extended detection and response (XDR) solutions integrate and correlate data from multiple security products to provide better threat detection and response […]

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What is extended detection and response (XDR)?

Extended detection and response (XDR) solutions integrate and correlate data from multiple security products to provide better threat detection and response capabilities than these products can provide alone.

Most organizations today rely on numerous security tools to keep all their devices and environments secured against known and unknown threats. These include endpoint detection and response (EDR), firewalls, next-generation antivirus (NGAV), cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs), identity and access management (IAM), and many more types of tools.

Until now, most of these tools have been siloed, making it difficult to correlate their data to track down and resolve configuration inconsistencies, vulnerabilities, and breaches. In addition, many security teams have ironically been burdened with too many tools to handle and are suffering from overload and alert fatigue.

XDR solutions gather threat data from all of these security tools, bringing it all together into a single-console view for a single point of insight into endpoints, cloud workloads, network email, and more.

By consolidating and correlating all of this data, XDR security solutions give you a unified view of security incidents. This makes investigation and response much simpler for your security team and improves your overall security posture and incident response capabilities.

Why is XDR important?

Today, there’s a greater need for XDR than ever. First, because the threat landscape has evolved dramatically, with more advanced and sophisticated threats emerging. That makes it harder to detect and respond to security incidents using traditional security tools. Second, most organizations are dealing with environments that are more complex, from Internet of Things (IoT) to operational technology (OT), from bring-your-own-device (BYOD) to work-from-home — all of which are making outdated perimeter-based paradigms irrelevant.

You need eyes everywhere, and that’s where XDR comes in, with a more integrated and comprehensive approach to security that lets you detect and respond to threats more quickly and effectively. The best XDR platforms give you a number of clear benefits:

  • Better visibility. You need a comprehensive view of security events across your entire IT infrastructure: email, endpoints, servers, network devices, cloud workloads, and more. With a unified dashboard, XDR lets your security team detect and address threats faster and more effectively.
  • Better threat detection. XDR uses advanced analytics and correlation to match up security events from multiple sources: from impacted hosts and root cause to indicators and timelines. This approach is especially valuable against today’s advanced, complex, and stealthy threats that traditional security tools might miss.
  • Better incident response. XDR centralizes security event data and streamlines response with powerful automated workflows, including alerting and integrated multitool response actions. This streamlines the incident response process, letting your security team fight back more quickly and efficiently.

Considerations when choosing an XDR platform

While there are many XDR solutions out there, not all offer the same capabilities. Here are some key questions you can ask vendors when evaluating their XDR security solution, based on five primary requirements.

Diverse, multi-domain security telemetry

XDR collects security data from various sources across your entire environment: endpoints, cloud workloads, network email, and more.

  • What types of security telemetry can the solution collect and analyze?
  • How does the solution integrate with existing security tools across different domains?
  • Can the solution scale to handle large amounts of telemetry data from different sources?

Threat-focused event analysis

XDR uses threat intelligence and advanced analytics to identify and prioritize potential security threats based on real-time data.

  • How does the solution identify and prioritize potential security threats?
  • What type of threat intelligence does the solution use to detect threats?
  • How accurate is the solution in identifying potential security threats?

Threat detection and prioritization of data fidelity

XDR relies on accurate, relevant data to detect threats and prioritize alerts.

  • How does the solution ensure the accuracy and relevance of security alerts?
  • Can the solution prioritize alerts based on data fidelity and the severity of the threat?
  • How does the solution handle false positives or inaccurate security alerts?

Data search, investigation, and threat hunting across multidomain telemetry

XDR’s unified console view provides unique insights that help you detect and respond to threats more easily.

  • What data sources does the solution support for search and investigation?
  • Does the solution provide a unified console to search and investigate security events across multiple domains?
  • Can the solution provide real-time visibility into security events as they unfold?

Response to mitigate and remediate the threat

XDR solutions reduce the impact of a threat through remediation options like isolation, blocking, and other mitigation techniques.

  • What types of automated response actions does the solution support and across which security domains?
  • How does the solution handle false positives and ensure that legitimate activity is not mistakenly flagged as malicious?
  • What kind of reporting and analytics capabilities does the solution offer?

Key differentiators

What’s the best XDR solution for your organization? Beyond the basic features of an XDR platform, you’ll also want to look for the following advanced features, which will make identifying and resolving incidents far simpler for your team:

  • Embedded threat intelligence
  • Built-in security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) capabilities
  • Strong EDR at its core
  • Built-in identity protection

In the next section, we’ll explore solutions from the top XDR vendors to see how each stacks up in all these areas.

Falcon® Insight XDR by CrowdStrike

Austin, TX | 2011 | www.crowdstrike.com

CrowdStrike protects the people, processes and technologies that drive modern enterprise. A single agent solution to stop breaches, ransomware, and cyberattacks — powered by world-class security expertise and deep industry experience.

CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR is an AI-powered XDR solution that extends complete visibility and rapid response to threats beyond the endpoint and across your environment.

Vendor claim: “Easily synthesize cross-domain telemetry and activate extended capabilities with one unified, threat-centric command console.”

  • Strong core EDR functionality and award-winning embedded threat intelligence
  • Built-in SOAR and identity protection
  • Award-winning platform regularly recognized by analysts and third-party tests
  • Comprehensive visibility and protection across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments with purpose-built XDR integrations across email, firewall, identity, network detection and response (NDR) and secure service edge (SSE), which includes cloud access service broker (CASB) and web.
  • Integrated Falcon and non-Falcon telemetry into one single command console
  • AI-powered threat detection, real-time monitoring, and forensic investigation capabilities for faster incident response and reduced dwell time
  • Single lightweight agent deploys in minutes and is immediately operational — no reboot required

XDR by Cybereason

Boston, MA | 2012 | www.cybereason.com

Cybereason provides endpoint detection and response solutions powered by AI and behavioral analytics.

Cybereason XDR is a security analytics platform that provides centralized visibility, detection, investigation, and response to threats across endpoints, servers, and cloud workloads.

Vendor claim: “A unified investigation and response experience that correlates telemetry across remote endpoints, mobile devices, cloud platforms, and applications to predict, prevent and end malicious operations.”

  • AI-driven behavioral analysis creates visual “attack stories”
  • Wide range of integrations: email, productivity suites, IAM, and cloud deployments
  • Integration with Cybereason MalOp™ to analyze over 23 trillion security events a week
  • Designed to effortlessly handle petabyte-scale data through integration with Google Cloud
  • Correlates indicators of compromise (IOCs) and indicators of behavior (IOBs) to detect subtle signs of network compromise
  • Operation-centric model is able to predict and proactively block attacks

365 Defender by Microsoft

Redmond, WA | 1975 | www.microsoft.com

Microsoft offers a range of security solutions, including Microsoft 365 Defender and Azure Defender, to protect endpoints, identities, and cloud environments.

Microsoft 365 Defender is an XDR solution that provides intelligent security and unified visibility across identities, endpoints, email, applications, and cloud services to detect and respond to threats.

Vendor claim: “Our combined SIEM and XDR solution enables SecOps teams to detect, investigate, respond to, and defend against threats with a fully integrated and comprehensive set of capabilities.”.”

  • Built into Windows operating system
  • Integrates natively with other Microsoft security products’ SIEM and SOAR capabilities, along with collaboration tools like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Exchange
  • Allows for customized alerting and trend categorization for at-a-glance analysis
  • Provides comprehensive protection on the front lines of email and endpoints
  • Simplified rollout across all endpoints and automated threat prioritization

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Santa Clara, CA | 2005 | www.paloaltonetworks.com

Palo Alto Networks provides a range of cybersecurity solutions including next-generation firewalls, cloud security, and threat detection and response.

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is a cloud-based detection and response platform that unifies endpoint, network, and cloud security to quickly detect and prevent advanced threats.

Vendor claim: “The world’s first extended detection and response platform that natively integrates network, endpoint, cloud and third-party data to stop modern attacks.”

  • Strong network capabilities
  • Simplified deployment and integration
  • Promises the most comprehensive endpoint security stack in the industry
  • Blocks advanced malware, exploits, and fileless attacks
  • ML-powered behavioral analytics across multiple data sources

Singularity XDR by SentinelOne

Mountain View, CA | 2013 | www.sentinelone.com

SentinelOne provides a range of security solutions including advanced threat detection and response solutions for endpoints, cloud workloads, and IoT devices.

SentinelOne Singularity XDR is a next-gen endpoint detection and response platform that uses AI to detect and respond to threats across all devices and networks.

Vendor claim: “Unifies and extends detection and response capability across multiple security layers, providing security teams with centralized end-to-end enterprise visibility, powerful analytics, automated response across the complete technology stack.”

  • Patented behavioral AI provides autonomous tracking and response to cyberattacks
  • Simple, easy-to-understand configuration
  • High level of endpoint protection
  • Full API integration and SOAR tools
  • Flexibility and extensibility with no-code automation through Singularity Marketplace

XDR by Sophos

Abingdon, United Kingdom | 1985 | www.sophos.com

Sophos offers a range of security solutions, including endpoint, network, and cloud security and data protection.

Sophos XDR is a comprehensive solution that provides advanced threat detection and real-time response across endpoints, servers, and cloud environments.

Vendor claim: “The only XDR platform that combines native endpoint, server, firewall, cloud, email, mobile, and Microsoft Office 365 integrations.”

  • Combines XDR with Sophos’ endpoint and server protection to block threats without requiring investigation
  • Emphasizes data quality, scope of data, and range of sources for highly accurate threat detection, investigation, and response
  • Combines on-device endpoint and server data with longer-term cross-product telemetry
  • Relies on a data lake model to log, store, and preserve all key information and events for later analysis

Enterprise Cloud by Symantec (Broadcom)

San Jose, CA | 1982 | www.broadcom.com

Security veteran Symantec is now part of Broadcom, which provides enterprise security and information management solutions.

Symantec (Broadcom) Enterprise Cloud XDR is an AI-driven threat detection and response platform that provides real-time visibility and protection across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments.

Vendor claim: “Data-centric hybrid security for the largest, most complex organizations in the world – on devices, in private data centers, and in the cloud.”

  • Broad-function security platform offering flexible hybrid security at enterprise scale
  • Highly customizable for any specific requirements
  • Provides protection even for unmanaged devices such as BYOD
  • Imports and analyzes threat data from all Symantec (Broadcom) sources, including Symantec’s CASB, CloudSOC, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
  • Provides visibility into user activity on more than 40,000 cloud services

XDR by Trend Micro

Tokyo, Japan | 1988 | www.trendmicro.com

Trend Micro offers a range of enterprise security software for everything from servers and containers to cloud computing environments, networks, and endpoints.

Trend Micro XDR is an AI-powered detection and response platform that provides real-time visibility, automated detection, and fast response across endpoints, email, servers, and cloud workloads.

Vendor claim: “First to deliver automated detection and response across email, endpoint, server, cloud workloads, and network.”

  • Advanced vulnerability detection
  • Risk index and risk insight tabs for deep security insights
  • Feature-rich with constant and ongoing feature additions and improvements
  • Provides coverage from native sensors, combined with third-party data inputs and feeds, Trend Micro XDR analytics, and detection models
  • Focus on overall security posture by integrating XDR with attack surface risk management and zero trust tools

XDR by Trellix

Milpitas, CA | 2022 | www.trellix.com

Trellix may be the newest vendor on this list, but it leverages decades of expertise from its two merged companies: McAfee, a veteran security products vendor, and FireEye, which specialized in network security and sandboxing solutions.

Trellix XDR became the core focus of the newly merged company, bringing together endpoint, cloud, and other security capabilities of both FireEye and McAfee in a unified XDR platform.

Vendor claim: “A living XDR architecture that adapts at the speed of threat actors and delivers advanced cyber threat intelligence.”

  • Identification of threats, along with their root cause, and ability to respond in real time
  • Claims to be able to consolidate the highest number of native security tools for more effective threat sharing and correlation
  • Access to over 1,000 data sources via third-party integrations
  • Hybrid XDR integration approach (both native and open)
  • Well-established and familiar vendor presence across all security tool segments
  • One of the largest customer bases in the endpoint security market thanks to its McAfee and FireEye heritage

Carbon Black XDR by VMWare

Palo Alto, CA | 1998 | www.vmware.com

VMware provides virtualization and cloud computing solutions for data centers, desktops, and mobile devices.

VMware Carbon Black XDR is a combination of Carbon Black endpoint detection and response capabilities and network connection visibility.

Vendor claim: “Achieve new results by preserving and extending the endpoint, workload, network, and identity contexts with VMware Carbon Black XDR.”

  • Lateral security approach with added network connection visibility
  • No changes required during deployment to infrastructure and endpoints
  • Fleet model approach for using endpoints as a distributed network sensor
  • Custom responses per a given system and ability to minimize the overall impact via other control points

The post Top 10 XDR Solutions appeared first on Security Tools.

]]> Best Antivirus Software for Businesses https://www.security-tools.com/best-antivirus-software-for-businesses/ Thu, 23 Feb 2023 17:48:53 +0000 https://www.security-tools.com/?p=1405 Table of Contents Antivirus vs Next-Generation Antivirus   Top 12 Antivirus Solutions for Businesses When it comes to cybersecurity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), antivirus (AV) protection is one of the simplest and fastest ways to strengthen the organization’s security posture. Though this tool is only one component within a comprehensive security offering, AV […]

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When it comes to cybersecurity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), antivirus (AV) protection is one of the simplest and fastest ways to strengthen the organization’s security posture. Though this tool is only one component within a comprehensive security offering, AV solutions provide a critical line of defense against highly destructive cyber threats, including malware and ransomware.

But with a crowded and complex landscape, it can be difficult for an organization to identify a reputable and experienced vendor to meet the business’s specific needs and budget. In this blog post, we review some of the most effective AV software solutions for businesses and review a short list of what to look for as you evaluate your options.

Antivirus vs Next-Generation Antivirus

As you explore the AV market, one of the first terms you might encounter is Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV). As the name implies, NGAV tools use advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as the cloud to provide a deeper level of protection.

The main differences between AV and NGAV tools has to do with how the tools operate and what they protect against. Legacy AV protects the organization from known threats – or threats we’ve seen before – by looking for a string of characters, or “signature”, that is associated with specific types of malware.

NGAV, on the other hand, uses more sophisticated prevention methods, such as machine learning, behavioral detection, and artificial intelligence, to detect both known attacks that have a signature, as well as unknown threats that do not. Also, because NGAV tools leverage the cloud, they provide real-time, continuous protection and performance that most AV tools cannot match.

While many companies still offer legacy AV solutions, the industry is well aware of the potential protection and performance shortcomings of these tools. Most consider this approach obsolete as sophisticated attackers consistently find ways to circumvent legacy AV defenses, such as by leveraging fileless attacks that use macros, scripting engines, in-memory, execution, etc., to launch attacks.

Bottom line: An AV solution is certainly a helpful tool, but an NGAV solution will provide far stronger, more comprehensive protection.

Checklist: What to look for in an antivirus solution

  • Does the solution prevent known and unknown attack vectors, including signatureless and malware-free attacks? (i.e., is the tool a traditional AV solution or NGAV?)
  • Does the tool protect the device even when it is offline?
  • Does the solution use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), heuristics and behavioral analysis to detect advanced attacks and unknown threats?
  • Does the tool leverage the cloud to expedite deployment and streamline updating?
  • Does the AV solution integrate with other tools and applications within the organization’s technology and security stack?
  • Is the tool custom-built for business users?
  • How does the solution rank based on independent analyst evaluations from reputable firms like Gartner, IDC, and Forrester?
  • How does the tool perform in peer reviews, such as those offered by G2, TrustRadius, and Gartner Peer Insights?
  • Has the tool been evaluated according to industry standards such as the Mitre ATT&CK framework, SE Labs Breach Response Test, and AV-TEST?

Bitdefender

Bucharest, Romania | 2001 | www.bitdefender.com

Bitdefender is a Romanian cybersecurity company that offers several tiers of AV solutions, including a free version, for both personal and enterprise use.

  • Paid AV packages offer protection across all devices and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
  • All packages include Bitdefender’s Standard Protection Suite, which provides multi-layered protection, including prevention and detection, against new and existing threats.
  • All security features are managed through a single app, which has minimal impact on system performance and the user experience.
  • Paid plans begin at $118.99/year for five devices.
  • Affordable pricing and flexibility in device coverage makes Bitdefender a good solution for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as personal accounts.

Broadcom (previously Symantec)

San Jose, CA | 1961 | www.broadcom.com

Following its acquisition of Symantec in 2019, software company Broadcom offers Symantec Endpoint Security, a multi tier security software suite for enterprise clients.

  • Symantec Endpoint Security is a software package that offers antimalware, intrusion prevention and firewall services for traditional and mobile endpoints, as well as servers, across Windows, Mac, Linux, Windows S Mode, Android and iOS operating systems.
  • The solution is deployed via a single agent that supports a variety of IT environments, including cloud, on-premises and hybrid.
  • Multilayer attack prevention leverages ML and AI technology to provide real-time protection against file-based and fileless attacks.
  • Software packages include a customizable VPN feature to protect network connections and support compliance.
  • All endpoints can be managed through a single interface and agent.
  • Symantec Endpoint Security is custom-built for enterprise clients.
  • Contact Broadcom for pricing information

CrowdStrike

Austin, TX | 2011 | www.crowdstrike.com

CrowdStrike is a cloud-native cybersecurity company that protects endpoints, cloud workloads, identity, and data. Their robust NGAV and endpoint security solutions are delivered to enterprise and small- and medium-sized businesses as part of its Falcon platform.

  • CrowdStrike Falcon® Go is an easy to manage protection NGAV solution that leverages AI and ML to protect against known and unknown attacks, including the latest malware and ransomware threats.
  •  CrowdStrike Falcon® Go offers continuous protection across major platforms, including Windows, Windows Server, macOS and Linux, and protects all connected devices, even when they are offline.
  • As a cloud-native solution, it can be deployed and fully operational within seconds, without any impact to system performance, with no need for on-premises infrastructure or device reboot
  • Falcon Go, which includes the NGAV tool, device control and express support, can be purchased directly online. Pricing starts at $299.99/year for five endpoints; the company offers a free 30-day trial for new customers.
  • Flexible pricing tiers and a comprehensive service offering makes CrowdStrike an ideal solution for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as enterprise clients.

ESET

Bratislava, Slovakia | 1992 | www.eset.com

ESET is a Slovak software company specializing in cybersecurity. The company provides AV solutions for both business and personal use in more than 200 countries worldwide.

  • ESET offers several tiers of protection for all devices across Windows, Mac and Android operating systems.
  • Offers a multilayered solution that includes NGAV, as well as endpoint protection platform (EPP) services, to provide prevention, detection and remediation services.
  • ESET LiveGrid provides automatic protection against newly detected zero-day threats, such as ransomware and malware, without the need for an update.
  • Pricing for enterprise packages starts at $190/year for five devices.
  • Flexible pricing plans make ESET a good solution for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Malwarebytes

Santa Clara, CA | 2008 | www.malwarebytes.com

Malwarebytes is a cybersecurity services provider that offers NGAV protection, as well as on-demand scans to remove dormant malware and threat artifacts. The company offers a variety of service tiers, as well as packages for home and enterprise use.

  • Offers protection for all devices across all operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Android and iOS.
  • For business users, AV software is included as part of Malwarebytes For Teams, which protects business files and data against malware, ransomware, hackers, and emerging threats.
  • Software is deployed through a single, low-footprint agent that neutralizes malicious code without impacting device performance.
  • All security functions can be accessed from a single dashboard with an intuitive UI to streamline remediation.
  • Paid subscriptions start at $45.99/device/year for business clients.
  • Flexible and affordable pricing model makes Malwarebytes a strong choice for small- and medium-sized businesses.

McAfee

San Jose, CA | 1987 | www.mcafee.com

McAfee is a security software company best known for its AV solution. The company offers several tiers of service, including a free version for Android and iOS devices, as well as software packages for personal and enterprise use.

  • McAfee Total Protection provides real-time, online and offline protection for all devices against known and unknown threats, including malware, ransomware, viruses and trojans.
  • As part of the AV software package, all plans include additional privacy services, such as firewall services, VPN, identity monitoring, credit monitoring and password manager.
  • Higher-tier plans include $1 million coverage for eligible losses and fees due to identity theft and fraud.
  • Paid plans start at $89.99/device/year.
  • McAfee is perhaps best known as a consumer solution, but it is also a great choice for enterprise clients.

Microsoft

Redmond, WA | 1975 | www.microsoft.com

Microsoft Defender Antivirus is an antimalware component of Microsoft Windows for Windows PCs. In 2022, Microsoft announced the launch of Microsoft Defender, which offers cross-platform protection for Android, iOS and macOS devices.

  • Microsoft Defender Antivirus offers automatic and continuous protection for Windows PCs against malware, ransomware, phishing, spam and other threats.
  • Microsoft Defender offers cross-platform protection across all Office 365 workloads with a special focus on email security.
  • Microsoft Defender Antivirus is included as a free, standard feature in any Windows PC; it is also included in many Office 365 plans, or as an add-on feature.
  • Microsoft Defender is available through Office 365 cloud software purchases; business versions are also available for purchase. Plans start at $2/user/month.
  • Microsoft Defender is a strong solution for enterprise clients, particularly those that already have security services from Microsoft.

Palo Alto Networks

Santa Clara, CA | 2005 | www.paloaltonetworks.com

Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity company that offers an NGAV solution as part of its Cortex XDR offering.

  • Palo Alto Networks leverages AI to identify and block advanced attacks, including zero-day malware, fileless attacks, and script-based attacks, based on exploit techniques, methods and behaviors, as opposed to signatures and files.
  • Cloud-based agent deploys instantly and provides immediate protection without the need for on-premises equipment.
  • Integrates with other security tools to inspect unknown files and share intelligence across the vendor security stack.
  • Option to disable network access or terminate processes on select endpoints to halt the attack path and limit impact.
  • While Palo Alto Networks is often cited among analysts as a strong security partner, relatively high deployment and operations costs makes this company a suitable solution mainly for enterprise clients.
  • Contact Palo Alto Networks  for pricing information.

SentinelOne

Mountain View, CA | 2013 | www.sentinelone.com

SentinelOne is a cybersecurity company that offers Singularity Core, a cloud-native NGAV and EPP.

  • Singularity Core offers real-time protection across all endpoints, containers, mobile Internet of Things (IoT) and data, whether offline or online, via a single agent.
  • Singularity Core is a fully customizable, cloud-first solution that leverages a combination of static AI and behavioral analytics to identify and prevent a variety of attack vectors, including ransomware, known and unknown malware, and trojans.
  • Supports all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS and Linux, as well as a variety of IT environments, including cloud, on-premises and hybrid.
  • In addition to Singularity Core, Sentinel One offers a full range of security solutions, including an XDR offering, making it a viable choice for enterprise clients that want to implement a robust security toolset.
  • Contact SentinelOne for pricing information

Sophos

Abingdon, UK | 1985 | www.sophos.com

Sophos is a security and hardware company that offers AV solutions for both personal and commercial use.

  • Intercept X is an enterprise AV solution from Sophos that combines anti-exploit, anti-ransomware, deep-learning AI and control technology to stop a variety of cyberattacks, including both known and unknown threats, fileless attacks and zero-day threats.
  • The tool includes advanced capabilities that identify and prevent malicious encryption techniques used during ransomware attacks.
  • Intercept X can be integrated with other Sophos products and services to further strengthen the organization’s security posture.
  • Intercept X is available as a free 30-day trial; subscriptions start at $37.07/user/year for up to nine users.
  • Sophos solutions are marketed toward enterprise clients and their pricing model reflects steep discounts for companies that operate at scale.

Trend Micro

Tokyo, Japan | 1988 | www.trendmicro.com

Trend Micro offers AV solutions as a standalone service for home use (Antivirus+ Security) as well as through the Apex One endpoint protection platform for enterprise clients.

  • Trend Micro’s EPP offers threat detection, investigation and response via a single agent for server, cloud and user endpoints.
  • Supports a variety of IT environments, including cloud, on-premises or hybrid, as well as Windows and macOS.
  • Platforms leverage high-fidelity machine learning, behavioral analysis and in memory analysis to protect against a wide range of attack types, including zero-day threats and fileless malware.
  • Option to integrate with other solutions from Trend Micro, including XDR capabilities and threat hunting services, as well as third-party tools through a broad API set.
  • Free trial available; custom quotes available by request.
  • Versatility of services and competitive pricing make Apex One a strong solution for small- and medium-sized businesses.

 Webroot

Broomfield, CO | 1997 | www.webroot.com

Webroot is a cybersecurity company that offers a cloud-based AV solution for personal and business use. Webroot’s Business Endpoint Protection platform is a cloud-driven, software-as-a-service (SaaS) security solution custom-built for SMBs.

  • Webroot’s Business Endpoint Protection platform offers fully automated endpoint detection, prevention and remediation against a variety of script-based and fileless attacks.
  • Lightweight, cloud-based agent deploys in seconds and protects MacOS devices, Windows computers and servers, virtualization, terminal servers and Citrix environments, even if the device is offline.
  • The platform operates via a centralized, cloud-based console and does not require any on-premises hardware; agent updates automatically in real time via the cloud.
  • IT teams can leverage preconfigured templates or customize policies based on organizational needs.
  • Paid plans start at $150/year for five devices.
  • Webroot’s Business Endpoint Protection is designed and marketed specifically for the SMB segment.v

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