FEATURE : ENDPOINT SECURITY
WITH EMPLOYEES WORKING FROM HOME WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THESE PERIMETER- BASED DEFENCES , SECURING THE ENDPOINT IS ESSENTIAL TO SECURING THE ENTERPRISE .
Yarob Sakhnini , Vice President ,
Emerging Markets , EMEA , Juniper Networks
Sakhnini explained that with the proliferation of internally launched attacks , it ’ s now imperative to know about every device on the network , including its owner , purpose and security posture . “ These insights allow the business to apply the appropriate level of network access control based on established security policies – for example , BYOD , guest , contractor , and IoT devices must be assigned to appropriate network segments . Businesses must also be able to restrict access to non-compliant devices and quarantine them within secure VLANs . Given the dramatic growth of mobility and IoT devices , this level of control will ideally be achieved without manual implementation methods ,” he said .
Ray Kafity , VP-META , Attivo Networks , said endpoint security has evolved from endpoint detection and response ( EDR ) and endpoint protection platforms ( EPPs ) solutions to ones with enhanced endpoint protection solutions . However , said Kafity , despite these advancements in endpoint security defences , there are still fundamental weaknesses in preventing credential theft and misuse , privilege escalation , and lateral movement attack activities . “ CIOs need to move beyond relying only on EDR and incorporate solutions to address these weaknesses ,” he said .
Given the growing skills gap not only in the endpoint security management space but IT industry in general , the industry is being urged to build capacity ad not relent on the skills challenges that enterprise organisations face .
CIOs are being cautioned to avoid certain pitfalls when implementing endpoint security solutions .
Yarob Sakhnini , Vice President , Emerging Markets , EMEA , Juniper Networks , said the increasingly sophisticated cyberattack landscape demands that businesses deploy a comprehensive security platform that not only unites and coordinates various threat analytics platforms but provides a simpler policy mechanism as well . Sakhnini said this requires leveraging the entire network as a threat detection and enforcement tool . “ Most successful cyberattacks exploit well-known vulnerabilities and security gaps on network endpoints . Unfortunately , organisations aren ’ t aware of all endpoints in their network because many are unmanaged transient BYOD , guest , or IoT devices that go undetected during periodic scans , making them invisible to most security tools ,” he said .
Samer El Kodsi , Channel Sales Director , Emerging Markets , EMEA at Palo Alto Networks , said as the technology sector is advancing greatly , the knowledge and interest to learn about security is high in today ’ s generation . El Kodsi said it is important to offer attractive opportunities to help foster and develop young talent . “ Palo Alto Networks offers an interactive learning programme , Cyber A . C . E . S , which equips children aged 5 to 15 with cybersecurity knowledge on how to protect their digital future . We also offer a wider cyber academy program for local universities to integrate into their curriculum and thus educate students on new cybersecurity principles and practices . In addition , the next generation of cybersecurity professionals will also need to have a strong knowledge of data science , automation and AI as these concepts become an ever-stronger force in cybersecurity ,” he said .
Juniper Networks ’ Sakhnini said with the rise of distributed workforces , organisations are experiencing a paradigm shift in the way the network edge is secured , paving the path to brand-new , cloud-based architectures at accelerated rates .
36 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com