Page 210 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Special RSA Conference Annual Edition for 2022

It’s Time to Rethink Endpoint Security

By Carolyn Crandall, Chief Security Advocate, Attivo Networks

Sometimes, organizations change from within, while other times change is thrust upon them—and fast.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an excellent example of one of those “other times.” It would be difficult to
imagine a situation where change was thrust upon organizations more quickly and unexpectedly than
over the past two years, especially true for their IT infrastructures. The massive shift to remote work
helped save countless enterprises from business disruption, but it came at a cost. Even the most forward-
thinking organizations did not consider widespread remote access when implementing security models.

The massive proliferation of poorly secured endpoint devices—including personal computers and
phones, unsecured modems and routers, and other devices—has put the need for greater endpoint
security in the spotlight. Typically, that has meant turning to endpoint detection and response (EDR)
solutions, but traditional approaches to EDR are no longer enough. Today’s attackers are breaking out
from the endpoint using identity-based attacks, requiring organizations to rethink their approach to
endpoint security. Organizations must complement or upgrade their EDR solutions with identity threat
detection and response (ITDR) tools capable of providing the protection needed to combat today’s
identity-based threats.

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