Absolute
(TSX: ABT), the leader in endpoint resilience, today revealed that
endpoint security tools and agents fail, reliably and predictably, based
on findings from its new 2019
Global Endpoint Security Trends Report. From there, every additional
security tool only amplifies complexity and increases the probability of
failure and decay, in turn, exposing the dangers of equating IT security
spending with security and risk maturity. The study analyzed data from
six million devices and one billion change events over the course of a
year.
The endpoint has quickly become valuable real estate for security tools
and controls, as traditional network perimeters have given way to
cloud-based models in support of the digital workforce. Global security
spending is forecast to reach $128 billion by 2020 with endpoint
security spend comprising 24 percent of that total(1), and
yet, over 70 percent of breaches originate on the endpoint.
The complexity of endpoint device controls creates a false sense of
security among organizations while, in reality, causing security gaps
and significant risks due to regular and reliable tool failure.
Staggering findings on endpoint security degradation include:
- 42 percent of all endpoints are unprotected at any given time
-
Two percent of endpoint agents fail per week, meaning 100 percent of
endpoint security tools eventually fail – no tool is immune -
28 percent of all endpoints are unprotected by anti-malware with 21
percent of these endpoints unprotected due to outdated or broken
agents and 7 percent due to missing agents -
100 percent of devices will have failed encryption controls at least
once within one year -
Almost 1 in 5 devices become unreachable due to client management tool
failures -
Client patch management agents fail around 50 percent more often than
encryption agents
As cybercrime threatens to cost the world $6
billion annually in damages by 2021, organizations need to address
these issues. IT and security teams must be able to better understand
what is happening on their devices and respond to suspicious events to
reduce security failures. Organizations should analyze the tools already
in use to identify blind spots or opportunities to strengthen their
defenses before adding more security controls.
“Evolving security threats have caused enterprises to layer on more and
more endpoint controls, increasing complexity, impacting performance,
and in some cases the collision of these controls is leaving the
endpoint exposed,” said Christy Wyatt, chief executive officer at
Absolute. “This complexity of the landscape is making it increasingly
difficult for IT and security to have visibility and control. Our
research shows the vulnerability that is introduced when critical
security controls collide or decay over time. In other words, increased
security spending does not increase safety.”
The “2019 Endpoint Security Trends” report analyzes data compiled over
the course of a year by Absolute’s security research team. The devices
represent data from 12,000 anonymized organizations across North America
and Europe, and a third-party research organization was commissioned to
conduct in-depth, exploratory interviews with senior executives from
Fortune 500 companies to offer context to the findings.
For additional details or to review the findings, download the complete report.
About Absolute
Absolute empowers more than 12,000 customers worldwide to protect
devices, data, applications, and users against theft or attack—both on
and off the corporate network. With the industry’s only tamper-proof
endpoint visibility and control solution, Absolute allows IT
organizations to enforce asset management, security hygiene, and data
compliance for today’s remote digital workforces. Absolute’s patented
Persistence® technology is embedded in the firmware of Dell, HP, Lenovo,
and 22 other leading manufacturers’ devices for vendor-agnostic
coverage, tamper-proof resilience, and ease of deployment. See how it
works at www.absolute.com
and follow us on Twitter at @absolutecorp.
©2019 Absolute Software Corporation. All rights reserved. ABSOLUTE and
PERSISTENCE are registered trademarks of Absolute Software Corporation.
Other names or logos mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their
respective owners. For patent information, visit www.absolute.com/patents.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the
information contained in this press release.
(1) Source: Morgan Stanley 2016. Cybersecurity: Rethinking Security
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190417005811/en/