What Is the Difference Between Endpoint Security and Antivirus Software?
In today’s cyber landscape there are many more complexities and vulnerabilities when it comes to staying safe from an attack and your data being secure. Previously, companies only needed minimal protection like an antivirus and firewall to combat cyber-attacks. Today, as cyber threats are ever-increasing, companies need more to protect themselves and their data.
Determining what is needed to safeguard your business can be challenging with so many options available. It’s important to know the differences between some of the common terminology being used, as they are not all the same or interchangeable. Many people treat the terms ‘endpoint antivirus’ and ‘endpoint security’ as the same to describe solutions that protect endpoints in a network from malware attacks, when in fact they are not the same. The correct terms are ‘endpoint security’ and ‘antivirus software.’ So, what’s the difference between the two?
You might also like: 5 Myths About Outdated Tech in the Workplace & What It’s Costing You
What Is the Difference Between Endpoint Security and AntiVirus?
Antivirus Software
First off, antivirus software is only one part of the solution when it comes to protecting your business. It serves to protect only one endpoint; the individual workstations, leaving many other endpoints vulnerable. Its only job is to detect and remove malware - an overarching term to describe malicious and unwanted code.
Malware includes:
Viruses
Ransomware
Trojans
Keyloggers
Worms
Antivirus protection works in the background while your other applications are running. Whenever you download and open a file or program your antivirus software is scanning it for any malware. The problem here is that nearly 1 million different types of malware are being released every day, thus your antivirus software must be constantly updated, which isn’t realistic or possible, to ensure it is defending against all the malicious code. Also, companies using legacy antivirus software depend on signature-based detection and protection of malware which is not the case anymore. Threats are increasingly becoming signature-less or file-less, allowing for more malware to go undetected. As a result, antivirus operates best in environments with unencrypted data flows and for detecting simple threats.
While it is important to have an antivirus software it is not the end all when it comes to ensuring total protection for your business.
Endpoint Security Protection
To ensure complete network security, more is needed than just malware detection and virus protection. This is where endpoint protection comes in to play. Endpoint security is made up of antivirus, firewalls, intrusion detection, and anti-malware tools. This allows for the execution of more than just that of the antivirus, but data loss prevention, sandboxing, next-generation firewalls, and endpoint detection and response. Unlike antivirus, endpoint security aims to protect the I.T. infrastructure as a whole instead of just one endpoint. Any device used by an end-user that is connected to a corporate I.T. network is considered to be an endpoint, such as PCs, workstations, mobile devices, and IoT devices.
Endpoint security software also allows your I.T. department a centralized management portal, to track all endpoint devices and maintain visibility of each. This makes it easy to monitor problem areas, suspicious data, traffic movement, and protect remote endpoint devices, unlike many antivirus products. Furthermore, endpoint security limits which devices can and cannot connect to your endpoints. So, random USBs can’t be connected unless granted access to do so. Not only will this save you from a major headache, but from a computer virus exposing company or personal data.
See also: 4 Reasons Why Cybersecurity Is More Important Than Ever
Which One to Use
Deciding between antivirus and endpoint security might seem like an obvious answer after reading the above paragraphs, but not all businesses have the same needs. Deciding between an antivirus software or endpoint security solution depends on a few things like:
The size of your network
Presence of remote workers
Business policies like BYOD
A need for centralized security controls
Required security features
In short, an antivirus is a great option for startups or very small businesses without a network architecture in place. Such companies that have primary business security functions that only need to protect individual devices, detect and remove malicious files, and provide security solutions for each workstation can benefit from just utilizing an antivirus. Otherwise, an endpoint security solution would better benefit companies with networked systems of at least five devices, companies with primary business security functions to protect the complete network, remotely controlled security operations, and companies that offer a security solution for the entire organization.
After determining whether your business needs an antivirus or endpoint security solution, comes the tricky part of deciding which one to choose. There are so many options out there available for each, how do you know which one is the best solution for your business? Aside from price, you should make sure that the security features in each solution align with your business needs and goals. An endpoint security solution like SentinelOne is a great option because they guarantee ransomware protection and offer up to $1 million in warranty protection against ransomware attacks. Some other options for endpoint security protection are Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud and Bitdefender GravrtyZone Business Security.
