FEATURE
Whether it ’ s connected to fixed servers which hold your business ’ data or it reaches up into the cloud for the good stuff that keeps your enterprise ticking over , the importance of an endpoint that ’ s secure can never be overstated .
Install , protect , repeat
The best practice ways of doing this are now second nature to so many of us – on both our work computers in the office and our personal computers at home – that we can almost recite them off by heart . We know that antivirus and anti-malware software needs to be downloaded and that not doing so really is a case of not having the absolute most basic protection . But mere downloading isn ’ t enough . As threats develop , so does the software that deals with them , so it ’ s vital to instal updates on your antivirus programs as and when they ’ re released .
Similarly , patch management is important too . As its name suggests , a patch covers a vulnerable area , in this case an opening which might let bad guys into your systems . As a Managed Service Provider ( MSP ), we regularly adopt clients without patch management and find servers and endpoints which have not been updated in years ; the result is that the patch only covers a small area that ’ s now dwarfed by the hugely increased vulnerability .
In busy working lives , it can be easy to put off the importance of updating any security software or installing a
Lee Wrall , Director and Co-founder , Everything Tech patch in favour of sending that email or updating that spreadsheet . That ’ s why every computer in our estate receives a pop-up notification once a week saying that updates are available and gives the option to install them . Critically , a user can only reject the chance to install the updates 10 times before the system seizes the initiative and installs them of its own accord , forcing a restart to make sure the changes are applied .
An endpoint is simply any device on which an employee conducts any of the daily tasks that make up their role .
Not just computers
With so much focus on computers in the workplace , it ’ s easy to overlook another endpoint . A smartphone is nothing if it ’ s not essentially a handheld computer , so mobile device management is just as important . If an employee has a work telephone that contains all kinds of secrets , but they leave your employer to join a competitor and take the phone with them , their previous employers will have a comeback . Good mobile device management means that your company should be able to delete any classified information from the phone without the user ’ s knowledge , before they get to spill the beans at their new workplace .
It ’ s therefore important to remember that an endpoint is simply any device on which an employee conducts any of the daily tasks that make up their role . The updates you might receive on a smartphone are the perfect illustration of their importance . Apple pushes updates through in the small hours as the phone remains plugged in next to the bed , waiting for its role as an alarm clock . There ’ s a reason why the update has been released and www . intelligentciso . com
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