Are You Using Yesterday’s Tools to Stop Today’s Threats?

Take a look around you. What’s the average age of the technology you see? Your cell phone is probably 2 years old at most. Your laptop may be slightly older. Now, take a look at the technology you’re using to protect these devices. If you find yourself looking at a primarily signature focused legacy antivirus software, you’re relying on technology that hasn’t evolved in over a decade.

For years, organizations have relied on point-in-time protection tools (tools that only inspect files once), to act as the first line of defense against malware. AV served its purpose when it first hit the market, inspecting all files as they entered the network and blocking anything exhibiting malicious behavior. Unfortunately, malware is now written to get around traditional tools by delaying execution, piggybacking on clean applications, or changing disguises on every machine it infects. As a result, traditional AV tools often only catch about 57% of impactful events that occur within an organization’s environment.

Although preventative tools aren’t enough to fully protect against today’s threats, they still play a role in an effective security strategy. The key is seeing preventative tools as a piece of the solution, rather than relying on them alone. By following the initial prevention phase with continuous detection technologies, efforts to stop advanced malware become more comprehensive and effective.

Next-Generation Endpoint Security

The next generation of endpoint security solutions was designed specifically to combat the weaknesses legacy tools face when dealing with today’s advanced threats. Next-generation endpoint security is essentially the convergence of multiple technologies providing protection, detection, and response capabilities in an integrated solution. In this model, detection and response are no longer separate disciplines or processes, but extensions of a cohesive, continuous approach. When these components are brought together into one integrated system, organizations start to experience greater endpoint security efficiency and effectiveness.

Cisco’s next-generation endpoint security solution, AMP for Endpoints, uses a combination of cloud- and system-based prevention technologies to automatically stop as many threats as possible. Our built-in antivirus detection engine is layered with one-to-one signature matching, polymorphic threat detection, machine learning, rootkit scanning, sandboxing, and more. Together, these technologies work to block known and emerging threats with better accuracy.

Next, AMP goes a step further than traditional tools to continuously track files, regardless of disposition, and catch threats that may have used advanced evasion techniques to sneak past preventative technologies. If a file ever exhibits malicious behavior after it has entered the network, AMP sends an alert, knows exactly where the malware is, and remediates across the whole enterprise automatically. This continuous analysis enables what we call retrospective security – it’s the ability to roll back time on attacks. So even if a piece of malware lies dormant and doesn’t exhibit any malicious behavior for months, AMP for Endpoints is there to catch it when it starts to behave badly.

Swapping your legacy antivirus for endpoint security that was built to combat today’s advanced threats comes with a number of key benefits, including:

• Reduced agent bloat: Consolidate multiple capabilities in a single connector, reducing the number of tools security teams manage.
• Reduced resource strain: File analysis and inspection are completed in the cloud, eliminating resource strain on the system.
• Increased ROI: Block malware, respond to threats and meet compliance requirements with just one solution.
• Increased Protection: Stop advanced attacks with multiple next generation features, including retrospective security that tracks files after they enter the network.
• Coverage of diverse endpoints: AMP for Endpoints covers PCs, Macs, Linux, and includes the only endpoint security solution for Apple iOS on the market with the Cisco Security Connector

If you’re still relying solely on AV to secure your organization, you’re relying on technology that wasn’t built to protect against today’s advanced threats. It’s time you experience the benefits of next generation endpoint security.

To learn more about the features and capabilities enabled by AMP for Endpoint’s continuous approach to endpoint security, download our latest whitepaper Beyond Prevention: Why You Need Next-Generation Endpoint Security.

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