Artikel & White Paper

White Paper
Secure Passage through a World of Technological Threats
A Guide to Meeting Emerging Security Requirements by Employing Endpoint Security Solutions
July 2007

Also, Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report Volume XI released in March 2007 shows that, in the previous year, theft or loss of a computer or data storage medium, such as a USB memory key, made up 54 % [percent] of all identity theft-related data breaches.
Data theft or infecting the company network through a simple connection is easy and quick. Up to now, network administrators had little chance to prevent this from happening or to identify the responsible user. This was the hard reality until now.

Endpoint Solutions, the Ultimate Goal of Enterprise Security

As a result of demanding security needs that cannot be overcome by traditional security policies and their enforcement mechanisms, endpoint security aims at preventing accidental data leakage and attempts to circumvent corporate data dissemination policies.
The Registrar has recently reported an incident involving a massive confidential data loss caused by a misplaced portable device. According to the IT portal, payment details of Perth and Kinross Council employees where found on a memory stick left in the street. A USB key containing 59 documents, many from the council's Environmental Services Department, were recovered near a bike shelter close to the council building at Pullar House.
As sensitive information can literally walk out the door with the help of barrage from new, portable storage technologies, endpoint security solutions come to strike a balance between strong information security controls and productivity gains from new technologies. Thus, one of the main goals of endpoint security solutions is to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information that an organization considers to be sensitive or valuable.

Why Invest in Endpoint Security

For most organizations, implementing additional security solutions can seem nothing more than additional costs. However, preventing possible losses clearly states the advantages of turning to endpoint security as part of the overall enterprise security strategy. For instance, imagine loosing, in a matter of minutes, all the spreadsheets containing confidential information about all your company’s customers. Such a leak would entail severe time loss (phone calls taken in which your employees would have to explain the security breach), loss in customers (many would never again trust your organization and would therefore take their business elsewhere) and possible legal issues. In the United States for example, in January 2006, the Federal Trade Commission charged commercial data broker ChoicePoint Inc. a settlement fee of 15 million dollars for leaking consumer data and violating consumer privacy rights (Federal Trade Commission, 2006).

Also, imagine an employee taking some sensitive files home using a Flash Drive. While he or she would only want to catch up with work, the risk of loosing sensitive information is not worth taking. These are only quick examples of the damage that could be triggered by not adopting adequate security measures. Hence, the ultimate goal of endpoint security solutions: endpoint control.

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