Gone are the days when antivirus software and a firewall were almost enough to protect an organization from cyberattacks. Trojans, worms and malware are no longer the only cyberthreats keeping IT and security professionals awake at night.
According to the IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023, for the second year in a row, phishing was the leading cyber threat, identified in 41% of incidents. Twenty-six percent of attacks exploited public-facing apps, so when attackers see a weakness, they exploit it.
In this day and age, it’s critical that organizations know about and manage all apps installed on their endpoints. Using multiple platforms to discover apps and manage laptops and mobile devices negatively impacts the IT and security team’s efficiency and productivity in continuous application patching. This increases the window of opportunity for potential attacks and can result in high downtime and disruption.
Advanced endpoint protection (AEP) is a set of capabilities that uses a proactive approach (with a lot of automation) to prevent zero-day cyberattacks from succeeding, no matter the type and size of a company. More than the typical endpoint security solutions, it consists of a set of endpoint security capabilities that include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, behavioural analysis and endpoint detection and response (EDR). These capabilities help identify and block advanced threats like ransomware and cyberattacks in real-time on any type of endpoint.
Some of the top features of advanced endpoint protection include the following:
Laptop management is the ability to enroll, configure, manage and report on laptops running operating systems like macOS, Microsoft Windows, ChromeOS, etc. Risk-based application patching helps IT pros discover vulnerable apps and automatically patch them based on the criticality of the situation.
Modern unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions include laptop management. As pointed out by IDC in their Worldwide UEM Software Vendor Assessment for 2022, “While UEM platforms today mostly manage smartphones and tablets, laptops and PCs (both Windows and Mac), as well as emerging Google Chrome OS devices, are increasingly critical for management with UEM.”
Risk-based application patching is a more advanced tactic that automatically discovers vulnerable third-party apps on Microsoft Windows and macOS laptops and automatically patches them based on levels of risk.
Most organizations have a wide ecosystem of applications that run on employees’ laptops. The number of apps keeps increasing and makes it hard for the IT team to manage and protect, and this may lead to patching being a full-time job. Risk-based application patching automatizes a lot of the manual tasks and includes the following capabilities:
Learn more about risk-based application patching for laptops in our webinar
While these security technologies have many things in common, it’s important to recognize that they are distinct aspects of a holistic cybersecurity approach. Some of the main differences between the three technologies come when looking at the types of endpoint they control:
There are also some differences when you look at their overall goals:
Even if advanced endpoint protection, laptop management and risk-based application patching act on different cybersecurity segments, they have many elements in common. All three concepts contribute to an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture and device management, leading to a zero-trust strategy.
IBM Security MaaS360 is a modern, advanced Unified Endpoint Management platform that merges mobile management with laptop management and—together with the recent risk-based application patching capabilities for Microsoft Windows and macOS laptops—helps IT teams be both efficient and effective, keeping the total cost of ownership under control.
As a security product, MaaS360 has native advanced endpoint security features and integrates with Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), Security Information and Events Management (SIEM) and other cybersecurity tools in order to help IT professionals streamline their continuous efforts to keep their users connected and the company protected.
Learn more about IBM Security MaaS360 capabilities
The post Advanced endpoint protection vs. risk-based application patching vs. laptop management: Similarities and differences appeared first on IBM Blog.
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