Cyber security has been a topic of conversation for quite some time, and the recent headline grabbing security breaches have placed an even greater spotlight on the issue. Increasing demands for a more mobile working environment are also forcing more organizations to shift their security focus to better securing their suite of endpoint devices. This need to safeguard employees while better managing and simplifying all these security checkpoints has led many IT departments to look toward endpoint security suites. However, the challenge that businesses are finding is that solutions available today don’t reduce workflows, and are more a hodgepodge collection of offerings with limited technical integration.
This is becoming increasingly problematic, with the threat landscape increasingly focusing on individual employees and their devices. Research shows that the variance and effectiveness of mobile malware samples is growing, with over 5 million new samples created in Q3 of 2014 alone. The unfortunate truth is that even well-intentioned actions by employees can cause major breaches. For example, users may copy sensitive files onto a USB flash drive as backup, not realizing that there are security vulnerabilities (lack of encryption or not requiring any authentication before use).
Breaches can be catastrophic for businesses of any sizes. The loss of critical business data, along with the time required to reestablish secure IT infrastructures and the damage done to a customer trust levels means that an attack can be an extinction level event for smaller businesses. On top of this, there are stiff penalties for exposure for every company. For example, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) secures cardholder data that is stored, processed or transmitted by merchants and other organizations. Consequences are costly and can include lawsuits, insurance claims, cancelled accounts, payment card issuer fines and even government fines of up to $50k per day, and a breach can cost up to $500k per incident.
All of this – especially when coupled with the latest mobility and BYOD trends highlighted by our Evolving Workforce research – has placed an added importance on endpoint security strategies.
Research shows that businesses are finding it difficult to keep up and manage all their endpoint security needs. Some of these common pain points faced by businesses include difficulty of setup and deployment, a lack of consolidated management and reporting, complex workflows and an overall difficulty of use. Dell third-party research has indicated that 61 percent of organizations prefer an integrated end-to-end solution from a single provider for hardware and endpoint security rather than individual products from multiple vendors. We also discovered that organizations prefer a single point of contact and a single source for purchase and support, all from the same vendor.
This is why Dell recently launched Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Security Suite (DDP | ESS), available with your Dell hardware purchase or as software for Dell and non-Dell systems. DDP | ESS provides industry leading encryption, authentication and threat protection, all managed via a single console with enterprise-wide status and compliance reporting. High priority threat alerts are immediately sent to the centralized management console so IT can respond quickly to remediate the problem. Pre-set policy and report templates provide built in security that can be used as-is or customized to fit any organization to help improve IT efficiency and avoid costly fines. This helps IT administrators to more easily deploy and manage their endpoint security with a single, integrated client and built in security expertise. Our Dell Data Protection endpoint security portfolio and broad range of authentication and malware protection allows us to deliver a trusted and proven solution.
DDP | ESS is a truly integrated solution for businesses who prefer a single solution for all their hardware and security needs. In fact, Dell is the only Tier 1 hardware manufacturer offering a single source for purchase and support of client systems and our own integrated endpoint security solution. Having access to the most secure solutions possible is critical for businesses, and that’s why Dell is committed to continuing to deliver the most secure commercial PCs on the market. The mix of best of breed security and simplicity available in the new DDP | ESS is the latest example of how we’re continuing to listen to customers and deliver solutions we all need in this ever-changing technological landscape.
