Endpoint Security

What Is Endpoint Security?

Endpoint security is an essential network protection technology deployed to defend user endpoints against cyber attacks and malicious threats. Traditionally, endpoint security relied on placing workstations and servers within the internal zone of the border firewall for protection. However, with the expanding range of endpoint devices and the growing complexity of network security threats, there is a rising demand for innovative endpoint security solutions. Modern endpoint security solutions, such as EDR, are specifically designed to swiftly detect, analyze, prevent, and contain ongoing attacks. They effectively safeguard diverse endpoints, regardless of their network location.

Why Does Endpoint Security Matter?

To ensure endpoint security, enterprises must go beyond relying solely on placing workstations and servers within the defense scope of border firewalls and adjusting firewall security policies. While firewalls serve as the first line of defense against network threats, the evolving landscape of remote and hybrid work environments has expanded the attack surface.

New endpoints are constantly emerging, requiring access to internal office networks and enabling users to connect to sensitive enterprise information at any time. These endpoints encompass a wide range of devices, including IoT-enabled smart devices, ATMs, industrial machinery, laptops, medical devices, mobile phones, printers, servers, tablets, and wearable devices like smartwatches.

The increasing number and diversity of endpoints provide hackers with potential entry points to infiltrate enterprise networks and systems. By exploiting vulnerabilities in these devices, hackers can execute various known and unknown attacks, such as ransomware, viruses, and Trojan horses. This allows them to gain unauthorized access to enterprise intranets and systems, potentially compromising or stealing sensitive data. Therefore, it is imperative for enterprises to implement robust endpoint security technologies to counter the growing threats in network environments. Placing reliance solely on firewalls and adjusting security policies is insufficient in protecting against the ever-evolving risks posed by endpoints.

Operational Mechanism of Endpoint Security

Endpoint security technologies operate by examining files, processes, and systems to detect suspicious or malicious activities. At the network level, enterprise network firewalls can still be utilized to control access to enterprise networks through security policies and permissions. As cloudification advances, a hybrid solution is emerging, combining local management and control centers with cloud-based remote control and management.

Endpoint security technologies require the following capabilities:

1. Endpoint identification and management

• Automatic endpoint identification: automatically identifies endpoints upon installation of endpoint protection software.

• Asset information management: centrally manages endpoint asset information, including host lists, processes, ports, and components.

• Endpoint security management: intelligently analyzes endpoint security, displaying endpoint asset security analysis scores and risk overviews.

2. Threat detection and handling

• Intrusion detection: utilizes behavior detection engines to identify malicious behaviors, such as brute-force attacks, abnormal logins, and privilege escalations.

• Event aggregation: aggregates discrete alarm events related to ransomware into ransomware events, supporting streamlined handling.

3. Virus scan and handling

• Virus scan: updates antivirus signature databases daily, incorporating real-time updates for critical viruses, and providing effective malware file detection.

• Threat analysis: supports comprehensive threat analysis on detected malware files, offering detailed information such as malware identifiers, risk values, and confidence levels.

4. Proactive defense

• Bait capture: deploys bait files based on ransomware signatures to detect and report abnormal behaviors in real time.

• File anti-tamper: implements access permission control and real-time detection on crucial files to promptly identify tampering attempts.

• Real-time protection: conducts real-time scans of all directories, promptly identifying malware files and blocking their transmission.

5. Source tracing analysis

• Forensic analysis: collects and stores endpoint information, enabling forensic analysis of threat events through data mining and correlation analysis.

• Attack visualization: utilizes EDR digital modeling and source tracing inference algorithms to visualize attacks and accurately reconstruct threat attack paths.

Types of Endpoint Security

There are various types of endpoint security measures available for protecting different types of endpoints and their specific purposes. These include:

1. Network Admission Control (NAC): controls access to sensitive network resources based on blacklists, whitelists, or security policies enforced by the border firewall.

2. Data Filtering: inspects data transmitted by endpoints, identifies risky content, and blocks malicious traffic to prevent data leaks and unauthorized data transmission.

3. Internal Threat Prevention (Zero Trust): adopts a security model that continuously authenticates and dynamically authorizes users based on multiple trust elements, such as identity, network environment, and endpoint status. It provides unified identity management, real-time risk detection, and fine-grained authorization.

4. Application Behavior Control: implements granular control over endpoint users' behaviors through protocol detection, enabling restrictions or allowances for specific application activities.

5. URL Filtering: regulates online behavior by controlling users' access to specific URLs, allowing or denying access based on predefined configurations such as schedules or user groups.

6. DNS Filtering: manages online behavior by controlling domain name access for users or user groups, based on factors such as user information, schedules, and security zones.

7. Mail Filtering: enhances the security of the LAN's mail system by filtering emails based on IP addresses and content, restricting email sending permissions and sizes to prevent information leakage.

8. File Blocking: prevents the transmission of specified file types to reduce the risk of confidential information leakage and virus infections within the intranet.

9. Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): analyzes network traffic to detect and prevent intrusions, such as buffer overflow attacks, Trojan horses, and worms, in real time, safeguarding enterprise information systems and network architectures.

10. Antivirus: identifies and processes malware files to ensure network security, protecting against data corruption, unauthorized permission changes, and system crashes.

11. Sandbox (APT Defense): uses an isolated threat detection environment to analyze network traffic and identify threats. If malicious traffic is detected, the sandbox updates the malicious file and URL list, blocking or generating alarms for subsequent traffic with similar characteristics.

12. Cloud Access Security Awareness: provides management and control over employees' use of cloud applications, including differentiated management for users accessing the same application and refined management for users using different applications.

Differences Between Endpoint Security and Antivirus

Endpoint security differs from traditional antivirus software in several key aspects:

Scope of Protection

Traditional antivirus software is typically installed on individual endpoint devices, such as laptops or desktops, providing protection at the device level. In contrast, endpoint security technologies extend their protection to all endpoints connected to the enterprise network, considering the network as a whole.

Management Approach

Traditional antivirus software often relies on manual updates performed by users or scheduled updates. On the other hand, endpoint security technologies transfer the management responsibilities to enterprise IT or network security teams. These technologies are designed to automatically update by connecting to cloud-based infrastructure, ensuring that the security measures stay up-to-date.

Protection Mechanisms

Traditional antivirus software primarily relies on signature-based detection, where known malware signatures are matched against files or processes to identify threats. However, endpoint security encompasses a broader range of protective measures. It may include technologies such as data encryption, access control, and advanced behavior analysis techniques. These additional layers of protection help mitigate risks like data loss, breaches, and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Threat Detection Capabilities

Endpoint security solutions often go beyond traditional antivirus software by incorporating advanced threat detection capabilities. Instead of solely relying on signature-based detection, they employ techniques like behavior analysis to identify potential threats based on suspicious activities or deviations from normal patterns. This proactive approach enhances the ability to detect and respond to emerging and unknown threats.