Securing your endpoints is critical for defence in depth

60-75% of all successful cyber-attacks start at an endpoint. But whenever we read about a breach, the focus moves quickly to how servers, cloud services and networks are secured. Endpoints are neglected.

Jason Fairburn, the co-founder and CIO of Devicie, says we must consider endpoints as part of any effective defense in depth security strategy.

“A goal of any enterprise should be to prevent possible attacks at their initial entry point. When people think about security, they often think of the threat detection tools used to identify whether a breach has occurred. Whilst those tools are valuable, focusing on breach identification without preventative measures is a bit like having drones flying around the castle but leaving the drawbridges down.”

Over the last two years, the number of remote workers and companies adopting hybrid workplaces has skyrocketed. That’s created new challenges for technology and security teams. Fairburn says devices are a blank canvas and that native management is critical.

“One of the reasons we started Devicie was to ensure that robust preventative endpoint defence is available to organisations regardless of whether they have the in-house skills or capacity to configure Intune. We make sure that those organisations have zero-touch deployment, complete visibility and best-practice controls on every device in their fleet,” says Fairburn.

When a new device is shipped to a user it must be secured from the first moment it connects to the network. This gives security teams assurance that the risk of new devices being exploited is minimised.

“With a decentralised user base, we need to ensure we have visibility of every device that’s connected. Those devices need a set of application and operating system controls and consistent updates that are installed and configured without any additional software,” says Fairburn.

Endpoint devices must be encrypted, and user accounts should be hardened with MFA and a password management tool once the device is secured.

Effective endpoint protection is about more than antivirus software or a monitoring agent. It starts from the moment a device is first powered on and connected and gives visibility of the status of every device, regardless of location.

Devicie has recently been selected to partner closely with Microsoft. "Devicie earned its place in Microsoft's Pegasus program due to its ability to swiftly configure Intune and leverage its power to deliver robust preventive endpoint defense. It empowers organisations with zero-touch deployment, full visibility, and best-practice controls on all devices in their fleet,” shares Tom Davis, Senior Director at Microsoft.

Guidelines like the Essential Eight tell us what we should do. Organisations must ensure the tools they choose to ensure they have defense in depth include securing endpoints.

Access the full State of Security report: Here