What is Endpoint Management and Security?
Endpoint Management and Security are all about security procedures or systems of protocols for regulating any access to a network from any individual mobile devices, computing devices, or other specialized equipment. Each device represents an endpoint that must be tracked appropriately for regulatory controls.
Furthermore, endpoint management and security is policy-based network protection that needs each endpoint device on a corporate network with specific standards before they are granted network access to resources. These devices include PCs, smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other specialized equipment connected to terminals such as point of sales (POS) or bar code readers. Endpoint Management and Security enable you to take control of your endpoint devices through a flexible solution suite that will simplify management systems, delivers a more powerful IT protection, and increases operational visibility, at the same time lessening complication and endpoint TCO.
The most fitting example is the Lumension® Endpoint Management and Security Suite. According to Lumension, it brings together “the functions of IT operations and security through a single console, server, and agent management architecture to seamlessly and more effectively address IT risk and systems management requirements across the enterprise”.
Managing Threats
Commonly, endpoint management and security is just one small part of complete security infrastructure in combating issues and problems of an organization but is considered critical nowadays primarily because many employees now may opt-in using personal devices for work, thereby increasing incidences of large data theft or any other security problems on how these devices access company network data. Moreover, endpoint management and security include managing threats from malware or unapproved access from mobile or wireless devices. Vendors packed a lot of features into these programs in order to help business organization upgrade their security infrastructure. It may include securing hardware assets from one end of the network architecture to the other, as well as assisting the business organizations to remain acquiescent without obstructing the flow of business operation.
Many endpoint management and security system come in a variety of functions and properties covering automated patch management and reporting. When it comes to endpoint management and security, patch management is the best first line of defense. And in this case, the best solution is Lumension® Patch and Remediation, the world’s leader in patch management solutions available. It “identifies and patches vulnerabilities across diverse OSes, configurations, and all major 3rd party applications”, where your servers, laptops, and desktops “are shielded and secured equally across the whole organization”.
How the system works
Endpoint management and security system work on client-server configurations, where a server or gateway is centrally administered, and stores the security program and an accompanying client program installed on each network device. Any endpoint devices that do not meet or comply with the policy can be administered by the systems to varying degrees and the system may remove or eliminate local administrative privileges or may regulate web-browsing abilities. Any attempts to log on to the network, the server programs validate the user’s credentials and scan endpoint devices making sure that the devices adhere to a defined corporate security protection strategy before granting access to the network.
But the most comfortable aspect of endpoint management and security is that the systems can be constructed in-house, presented as a piece of a web-cloud feature in a package of services, or delivered as single, separate software programs. It can be obtained as software or as a devoted appliance, manage, control, and discover endpoint devices that request or demand access to a corporate network.
Also, the term endpoint management and security are likewise being
linked with anti-virus in the cloud in which a software-as-a-service (SaaS)
delivery model, its security programs, and the host server are remotely
maintained by the vendor.
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References:
- Technopedia, Endpoint Security Management
- Tech Target, Search Consumerization
- Tech Target, Endpoint Security
- Lumension® Endpoint Management and Security Suite