Did you know cyberattacks cost the U.S. economy a staggering $6.9 billion in 2021? With advanced technology, cybercriminals are smuggling themselves into devices all around the world. However, there is software available to block these cyberattacks in the form of antivirus and endpoint security software. Both systems work to protect your company’s data and the systems that support your business.
While they’re not interchangeable terms for the same systems, there’s quite a bit of overlap between them. To help you decide which product is best for you, we’ve broken down endpoint antivirus vs. endpoint security to highlight some major differences.
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What This Guide Covers
- What Is Endpoint Antivirus?
- What Is Endpoint Security?
- Endpoint Security vs. Endpoint Antivirus
- Needs Analysis
- Conclusion
What Is Endpoint Antivirus?
Endpoint antivirus is software that specializes in identifying, preventing and removing malware. Depending on the infrastructure, you can install it on individual devices and network servers, both inside and outside an organization’s firewall. It traditionally uses large malware databases to cross-reference virus definitions and signatures.
You can identify different types of malware and, in many cases, automatically remove or quarantine them. Antivirus software uses both generic and specific heuristics to detect behaviors and techniques that match malware definitions. Some systems alert users to take action to remove threats.
Malware is a program intended to harm endpoint devices, computer networks and their sub-components. Viruses are only one kind of malware, but today’s antivirus vendors typically protect against a wide variety of threats. The following are some of the most common threats you may encounter online:
- Viruses: This type of malware, aptly named after the biological agent, duplicates itself using the existing software on your computer. When you run the infected programs, the virus runs and replicates as well. Viruses cause damage in a multitude of ways. They can corrupt data, waste network resources and shut down your system altogether.
- Worms: Worms are similar to viruses but can replicate independently and don’t need to utilize any existing software.
- Bots: Bots are another type of malware when used for malicious activities. However, cyber attackers don’t always use bots for malicious attacks. For instance, Googlebot is used to index the internet for their search engine. Bots perform processes that an end-user would normally do on a computer. They can gather knowledge on sensitive information such as keystrokes, financial information, passwords and more. Botnet attacks use a network of infected devices to attack targets remotely.
- Trojans: Trojans are disguised to look like genuinely useful software but are harmful. This deception lulls the user into a sense of false security, so they execute the software on their device. Trojans spread through user action alone, as they cannot duplicate themselves or use other systems to do so.
- Ransomware: Cyber attacks use this type of malware to extort something of value from a user by threatening to publish user information or lock access to their files. In the past, cybercriminals have used trojans and worms as a delivery method for ransomware.
- Spyware: Spyware may use one or several different types of malware to gain and send information without the user knowing. Spyware can be hard to detect on your own since its primary goal doesn’t often involve harming any of your processes. Instead, spyware hides in your system so it can go undetected while it finds your valuable data. Some of its targets may include credit card or social security numbers in an attempt to steal your identity.
Traditional endpoint antivirus software can recognize known threats; however, automatic updates can also protect these devices against the latest threats. These solutions allow you to run scans manually or at scheduled intervals. They also offer internet security features that can identify malicious sites and block downloads.
What Is Endpoint Security?
Endpoint security is a platform that protects end-user and endpoint devices within a company via a central management portal. Most endpoint protection platforms (EPP) on the market today contain antivirus capabilities equal to what antivirus software can provide. They examine every file on the network against a cloud-based threat database to detect malware and other vulnerabilities in real time. Combined with endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, endpoint security systems can provide holistic protection against advanced cyber threats and polymorphic attacks.
In case you’re unfamiliar, let’s briefly go through what “endpoint” means. To put it simply, endpoints are any device an end-user utilizes, usually in a corporate setting. These devices commonly include desktop PCs, workstations, tablets, smartphones, servers and anything else that can connect to the internet.
Use a central management portal to remotely customize your security level.
Additionally, these systems emphasize protection against internal threats. For instance, endpoint protection provides administrators with device control, allowing only certain devices to connect. An admin might let a USB mouse connect while disabling a USB hard drive. These settings prevent employees from stealing large amounts of valuable data that could damage your company’s reputation or benefit the competition.
These tools also focus on the remote control of your devices. System administrators typically have access to all company devices through endpoint security software. This need has developed over the years as companies get larger and utilize more technology than your IT staff can manage individually. Additionally, more employees today can work remotely than ever before, and offices are becoming more spread out.
With devices so far apart, keeping software systems up to date is a major challenge. Some of the biggest cyberattacks target weaknesses in operating systems that the original developers have already discovered and patched. But of course, if you neglect to patch your own system, you’re left vulnerable. Central security management allows your system administrator to deploy patch updates to all computers at once, greatly reducing the staff necessary for this task as compared to using standard AV software.
For a comprehensive list of the features and capabilities that these systems provide, you can see our requirements checklist.
Endpoint Security vs. Endpoint Antivirus
Endpoint antivirus and endpoint security shield your devices and data, but both are significantly different from each other. Generally, endpoint antivirus is a facet of endpoint security.
Choosing between the two becomes a little easier after understanding what each system does and its benefits. However, there are still a few key differences to discuss.
1. Aimed at enterprises
While enterprise virus protection software exists, security software is built exclusively with organizations in mind. Antivirus software typically deals with devices on an individual basis. This means threat-detection alerts will only be available on the device affected. To resolve issues, users will also likely need in-person access to the affected machine.
However, a security system administrator can monitor operations, investigate suspicious activities, manage updates or patches and remotely solve device issues. Security software provides an administrator or centralized portal through which security professionals can configure and monitor multiple company devices together. This is not a standard among antivirus software products and resolves the issue of managing individual devices.
Also, endpoint antivirus is operated as a single program, whereas endpoint security is often offered as a suite or with the capability to integrate with third-party solutions.
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2. Protection against internal threats
This was mentioned in the definition above but warrants a separate discussion. Did you know company insiders perpetrate over half of all cyberattacks? Most antivirus software vendors do little, if anything, to protect your data from those who access it every day.
Users can set allowances based on file extensions.
Endpoint security vendors provide a comprehensive suite of tools to prevent data loss. These tools include data access protocols which ensure that only authorized employees access certain data. They also include measures to encrypt data so that thieves cannot access stolen information.
However, endpoint antivirus software doesn’t provide as much protection against internal threats. Internal threats typically include cyberattacks from employees or outsiders infiltrating your systems, increasing internal threat vulnerability.
3. Customizable to fit your unique needs
This point goes along with the last one, as system administrators can block certain applications, unlike endpoint antivirus solutions that are only available with uniform capabilities. For instance, if you’re worried about your employees downloading files laden with malware, you can block torrenting applications to prevent them from accessing such files. Security also includes web filtering. Web filtering lets your system administrators block websites known to trick users into downloading harmful software.
System administrators can also set up policies to manage which employees are able to gain access to privileged information. But in opposition to this, overrides may be put in place so higher-ups can quickly retrieve important information. Furthermore, overrides come with auditing tools to prevent abuse.
4. Prevent known and unknown threats
Endpoint antivirus software can identify known malware and threats included in a database of known risks. This is largely because traditional antivirus platforms are signature-based solutions that focus on detecting and responding to known threats after they’ve entered your network.
With a massive increase in security breaches and an ever-evolving threat landscape, preventive techniques used by endpoint security can protect your organizations against advanced threats. Security solutions can safeguard users from unknown attacks, zero-day threats, fileless and signatureless malware, phishing attacks, drive-by malware and more.
Needs Analysis
Considering everything above, it looks like full security platforms provide the most capability between the two systems. However, more capability doesn’t always mean that one system will be better for your business over another. In fact, purchasing an overly complex system that you won’t end up using can end up costing you money without providing the benefits you need. Think about the following when choosing which type of solution to invest in:
Number of Users
One of the biggest benefits of endpoint protection is its ability to protect many devices from a central hub. But if only a couple of people use internet-connected devices, it might be advantageous to choose antivirus software. This is especially true if your employees are pretty tech-savvy and you trust them to maintain their systems and updates. However, if trust is an issue, we encourage you to keep reading.
Remote Employees
If your employees work from home or you have several offices, security software may be beneficial. Even if you don’t have many employees, the distance between them could make it impossible to manage their devices in person. Security software makes it possible for your system administrator to access the device remotely and solve any employee issues.
Information Value
If there’s any reason why someone with access to your company devices would steal information, we highly recommend a complete security system. Some businesses, like in the healthcare industry, house confidential information that could hurt clients if compromised. There’s also information that could damage your business reputation or benefit your competition. As you’ve read above, internal attacks are a major threat to businesses. In these situations, antivirus software just won’t cut it. To fully protect your information from those closest to it, you’ll need security software.
Regulatory Compliance
Compromised endpoints can get you in trouble with state and federal authorities if you access sensitive information on a daily basis. With great information comes great responsibility — so you must protect all kinds of personal information.
- Some common data privacy regulations include General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
- If your business handles financial transactions via payment cards, you may have to check your compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
- The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act or GLBA) makes it compulsory for financial institutions to implement administrative, technical and physical safeguards to prevent financial and personal information loss.
All these compliance mandates seem like too much to keep track of? That’s exactly why you need robust endpoint security software in place.
Conclusion
Ultimately, a good security system should encapsulate all the functions of endpoint antivirus software while also protecting against internal threats. Endpoint protection software also provides centralized security management, which is a highly valuable asset at the enterprise level. If you think endpoint security software is the right solution for you, make sure to check out our in-depth comparison report of the top systems on the market.
Which solutions works best for your business? Let us know why by leaving a comment down below!