As of 2015, the world had about 15.4 billion devices connected to the Internet. This number, according to IHS Markit, is expected to grow to over 30 billion by 2020 and more than 75 billion by 2025.
Cyber Crime
Cybercriminals are anxious to take advantage of unprecedented levels of connectivity and the new Internet of Things (IoT) that leaves millions of people and items relatively unprotected. Cyber crime damage costs are expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021. In 2016, ransomware attacks increased by 300% over 2015, and even way back in 2007 the U.S. government was already spending $7.5 billion to fight cyber attacks. By 2016 that number was $28 million. Perhaps the most sobering reality is that there are currently well over 200,000 jobs in cybersecurity going unfilled in the United States alone, and postings for these jobs are up 74% in the last five years. Better cyber security infrastructure and endpoint cyber security measures are clearly needed to protect against remote access.
What Is Endpoint Cyber Security?
As the name implies, this type of security focuses on locking down the endpoints–that is, individual phones, tables, IoT devices, and computers in order to keep whole networks safe. Endpoint cyber security is an effective way of protecting a network from malicious attack, but methods have to keep evolving as cybercriminals plan more sophisticated attacks.
How True Endpoint Cyber Security Differs From Malware and Antivirus Protection
There are similarities in the way a simple antivirus or malware detection program works and the concept of endpoint cyber security. The main difference is that endpoint cyber security is centrally controlled by a professional cybersecurity company that constantly provides network access protection. There are two tiers of protection, including software agents that work on the endpoints and a security management system that monitors the software. This central control allows for fast responses to cyber threats and can cut off an infected or dangerous endpoint device faster and more reliably than by individual users.
In What Ways is Endpoint Cyber Security Evolving to Meet Challenges?
There are a number of ways that cyber security measures are flexing to meet constantly-changing threats.
- Machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions Cyber threats are becoming automated and, as such, too fast for humans to catch alone. Endpoint cyber security companies are working fast to develop new ways of using machine learning to examine internet traffic and find the threats, popping real identified threats up for a human to see and deal with.
- Changing the way IoT devices are protected With so many billions of things connected to the IoT, cyber criminals are clearly targeting them as largely unprotected. Some of them are running operating systems unique to them, but for those running variants of Windows, iOS or Linux, endpoint cyber security managers are finding ways to develop software that can run on and protect them.
- Changing the way endpoint security is managed In-house endpoint cyber security has been the standard for a while now, but as cloud-based services grow it’s becoming increasingly common for companies to outsource this type of security to a managed security provider with the time, expertise, flexibility, and understanding to provide real-time, effective, and responsive cyber security.
In 2017, two billion records were stolen in the first half of the year alone, according to a Gemalto survey. That number is up 164% from the previous year. Cyber crime is constantly evolving, and solutions to meet it must evolve just as quickly.
