Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection: Types & Benefits

Every device, such as a laptop, smartphone, or IoT device that has network calls, is at high risk of being compromised by cybersecurity attacks. In order to tackle this problem, enterprises use cloud-based endpoint protection, which makes use of cloud computing to protect devices from different kinds of security threats. Cloud-based endpoint protection offers real-time threat detection, automated responses, and centralized management, which makes it easier for organizations to improve their security posture.

It is scalable, flexible, and is able to adapt to evolving threats. It provides protection against multiple threats across multiple endpoints, which not only increases an organization’s threat detection and response time but also helps security teams manage the alerts centrally.

In this blog post, we will learn what exactly cloud-based endpoint protection means and why it is important and better than traditional solutions. We will also discuss some best practices for the implementation of this technology. The goal of the blog is to help organizations understand how cloud-based endpoint protection can help with their cybersecurity defenses.

Traditional Endpoint Protection vs. Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection

Businesses should shift their focus on increasing their defense strategy using cloud-based solutions rather than taking the traditional approach. Let’s explore the differences between them, which can help organizations make a better choice according to their requirements.

Key Differences Between the two

The main difference between the two methods of protection consists of data processing and policy creation. As a rule, traditional endpoint protection is provided by locally installed software. In this way, devices process data and detect possible threats and malware using signatures. According to this approach, the software compares the threats it processes to a database of malware signatures known by the installed software. Data on these signatures are constantly updated, and additional signature bases are installed regularly.

Cloud-based endpoint protection offered by certain applications is organized using the computing capacities of the cloud. This method implies that thousands of server arrays scan the processed data to identify and fight against possible threats. In this way, processed data is used not only locally as a part of a single device but also on all the servers related to a certain application. At the same time, it is used to update devices simultaneously. Cloud-based solutions present more possible methods of threat identification, such as behavior analysis, protection based on machine learning, and many others.

Advantages of Cloud-Based Solutions

There are several advantages of cloud-based endpoint protection compared to traditional approaches. The most significant benefit is greater scalability, which allows the protection of all new devices that are connected to the organization’s network without requiring manual intervention. Many cloud-based platforms include features that allow remote monitoring, incident response automation, and updates, along with other advantages.

Core Features of Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection

Cloud-based endpoint protection provides some very advanced features using cloud computing to provide intelligent security. Let’s discuss some of those features:

1. Real-time Threat Detection

Cloud-based endpoint protection solutions are extremely effective at real-time threat detection because they continuously monitor endpoint activities and network traffic. These systems use powerful cloud processing to analyze great amounts of data from multiple sources at once. As a result, most potential threats, including zero-days and advanced persistent threats (APTs), can be detected almost instantly before they cause significant damage to the infrastructure.

2. Malware Prevention

Cloud-based endpoint solutions offer multi-layered prevention of malware. These include traditional methods like signature-based detection and heuristic analysis, combined with advanced machine learning algorithms that may stop previously unknown malware threats. Since most of these systems rely on the cloud, malware definitions and data detection models are updated automatically as soon as new threats are discovered.

3. Behavioral Analysis

Behavioral analysis is important for the operation of cloud-based endpoint protection because it monitors activities on the endpoint and attempts to detect suspicious patterns rather than a known signature.

To achieve this, the systems operate in the background and compare the activities they observe with established baselines. As a result, it can detect abnormal activities as they occur, reacting to zero-days and other previously unknown threats, fileless malware, or other attacks that are especially difficult to detect through other means.

4. Machine learning and AI Integration

It must be emphasized that the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence is critical in the cloud’s protection capacities. Learning from new data they meet on a daily basis from thousands of users, such systems adjust to the latest attack vectors and reveal any activity that is not recognized as dangerous yet.

5. Automated Response and Remediation

One more benefit of cloud-based endpoint protection is that it can help in an instant reaction to threats with the help of the automated incident response that may affect any endpoints.

How Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection Works

It is important for organizations to understand how cloud-based endpoint protection works. It helps them implement the technology effectively to protect their assets. Let’s discuss some of these key components and the architecture of this technology.

Cloud-based endpoint protection is based on a distributed architecture. It is a combination of a local agent that resides on the endpoint and a cloud-based service that is powered by analysis and management.  This solution is capable of providing real-time protection and offline capabilities. The architecture consists of three main layers:

1. Endpoint Layer: This layer consists of lightweight agents that are installed on devices that are responsible for monitoring activities, collecting data, and enforcing security policies.
2. Cloud Layer: This layer processes data, performs advanced analytics, and manages policies.
3. Management Layer: This layer consists of a centralized console that allows administrators to configure settings, view reports, and respond to incidents.

Key Components of Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection Solution

The key components of a cloud-based endpoint protection solution are as follows:

1. Endpoint Agent: In order to protect a device, a small software application is installed on it, which helps monitor system activities and respond to threats.
2. Cloud Analytics Engine: Once the data is collected from different connected endpoints, it is processed by this engine to detect patterns or anomalies and decide accordingly what needs to be done about those.
3. Threat Intelligence Database: This database maintains the records of known threats and attack patterns and keeps the cloud analytics engines and endpoint agents informed about them.
4. Policy Management System: This helps in managing security policies centrally across all endpoints.
5. Reporting and Alerting System: In case threats are detected, this system helps properly alert and report on security events.
6. API Integrations: This component helps interact with security tools and systems for better organization security.

Data Collection and Analysis Process

Data collection and analysis for cloud-based endpoint process can be broken down as:

1. Data Collection: System data collected through endpoint agents includes file, network, process, and user tracking data.
2. Data Transmission: System data is sent to the cloud. The amount of data transferred is based on the network, security posture, and company security standards.
3. Data Aggregation: In the cloud, data can be analyzed after it is normalized and aggregated.
4. Advanced Analytics: The cloud solution analyzes system data to trace known and unknown threats using machine learning models.
5. Threat Intelligence Integration: Results of the data analysis are compared with databases for known threats and alerts.
6. Decision Making: Based on the analysis, the decision is taken on how to resolve the threat. For example, endpoint isolation can be a decision based on threat scenarios.
7. Response Execution: The decision turns into an execution, which is either done locally or on the cloud.

Types of Threats Addressed by Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection

Cyber threats are increasing day by day. Let us explore some threats that cloud-based endpoint protection protects organizations from.

1. Malware (viruses, trojans, ransomware)

Cloud-based endpoint protection makes it possible to prevent any type of malice in the form of malware, which might include viruses, worms, trojans, backdoors, ransomware, or any other kind of infectious software of such type, which can lead to data loss.

The system of protection helps with the real-time scanning of the data that is present on the device, carrying out further analysis of the behavior of what is outlined as a potential risk and predicting if there is a new kind of malware that the device is about to come across. With the help of real-time analysis, the cloud-based endpoint protection platform might be able to understand and tackle malware before it comes to execution or before it is able to spread.

2. Phishing Attacks

Although it is a traditional way to fool employees into getting access to employee data, modern cloud-based endpoint protection also supports phishing detection and prevention. This can be achieved by scanning multiple URLs and website content in real-time, which will block access to phishing websites.

3. Zero-Day Exploits

Cloud-based endpoint protection is particularly effective against zero-day exploits, which are newly discovered vulnerabilities that hackers exploit before patches are available. The analysis of user behavior and machine learning algorithms makes it possible to detect anything unusual in the pattern of attack and recognize an attempt to use an unknown vulnerability.

4. Fileless Attacks

Since fileless attacks do not place files on the system, it becomes difficult to detect them for traditional protective systems with the help of searching through files. However, as a lifeless attack initiates system processes, uses system memory, and goes online, cloud-based endpoint protection can register the attack by simply observing these activities. This can be accomplished by applying a system of behavior analysis rather than file signature analysis.

Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection Benefits

Cloud-based endpoint protection helps protect an organization’s security, along with many other advantages.

1. Enhanced Scalability: As the number of businesses grows, the number of devices that need protection increases as well. Thus, it is important for the cloud-based system to scale on demand without any physical changes.
2. Real-time Updates: To decrease the chances of vulnerability, this technology can push real-time updates to all endpoints simultaneously.
3. Improved Threat Intelligence: With the help of data from various endpoints, this technology can identify and respond to new threats using artificial intelligence.
4. Reduced Hardware Costs: There is no need for physical infrastructure for endpoint protection. Thus, it reduces the capital and operational costs of an organization.
5. Advanced Analytics: Cloud-based endpoint protection solutions provide great processing power for data analytics, which helps organizations gain deeper insights into security events and trends.
6. Automated Backups and Recovery: Cloud-based endpoint protection solutions offer automated backup and recovery in case of a successful attack or device failure.

Best Practices for Implementing Cloud-Based Endpoint Protection

Implementing cloud-based endpoint protection is a strong measure for securing an organization’s infrastructure. However, its effectiveness depends greatly on the way it is deployed and administered. Let us explore some of the best practices to follow.

#1. Proper Configuration

Proper configuration is important for cloud-based endpoint protection. Organizations should start by assessing the state of their security and its specific needs. Then, they need to configure their system according to these needs. Some of the most important steps are setting up access controls and user permissions, configuring policy settings, enabling all necessary protection modules, defining alert thresholds and appropriate response actions, and connecting the solution to SIEM and other security systems and tools.

#2. Regular Updates and Maintenance

Although cloud-based endpoint protection systems often update automatically, it is important to keep them updated and functional. Some of the best practices are checking and applying updates to endpoint agents on a regular basis, making sure the management console and any on-premises components are updated, reviewing and updating security policies and rules on a regular basis, regularly checking the health of your system, and being aware of any deprecated features and announcements about end-of-life for some functions provided by your vendor.

#3. User Training and Awareness

Even the most advanced systems are vulnerable to attacks if organizations are unaware of the best practices. Therefore, they need to carefully develop a program for knowledge that is aimed at protecting the organization’s digital assets. It should deliver the significance of endpoint protection, knowledge of the most common attack formations such as phishing and social engineering, secure browsing, proper setup of passwords, and multi-factor authentication.

#4. Continuous Monitoring and Improvement

Cybersecurity is not a one-time measure but a long-term process. Monitoring and improvement in ongoing activities are required to ensure endpoint protection stays strong. Monitoring helps in the detection and response to threats, performing vulnerability assessments and penetration tests on a regular basis, and staying informed about new threats and attack methods, which will help increase the security of the organization.

Onboard SentinelOne for Endpoint Protection

SentinelOne is one of the most advanced AI-based cloud-based endpoint protection platforms. Adopting it can be very beneficial for the security of an organization and will improve its security. Here are some of the points that can help you implement this powerful solution effectively:

1. Assess Your Environment: It is important to understand the organization’s current IT infrastructure and how it correlates with SentinelOne’s tools. Calculate the number of endpoints being used, what operating systems they are on, what security tools are there, and how they will interact with the new tool. It will help understand the scope of the software and flag any potential problems.
2. Plan Your Deployment: Plan your implementation so as to not disrupt your operations. You may want to start with a small group to test the software. Decide whether you want a single-day deployment or a gradual deployment of groups over time.
3. Prepare Your Network: Ensure that you have firewall and proxy policies that fit the SentinelOne model and that your network supports it. Ensure that the bandwidth will be sufficient for the data to flow from endpoints to the SentinelOne cloud.
4. Set Up Your SentinelOne Console: Set up the initial configuration, i.e., create user accounts, set roles and privileges, as well as activate console-based policy configuration. Familiarize yourself with the console and the settings.
5. Deploy SentinelOne Agents: Organizations can download the SentinelOne agent and deploy it to their endpoints.
6. Configure Policies and Groups: Organizations may want to have different security policies, e.g., for different departments or different types of devices within your organization. In this case, they should create a group of devices and apply a proper policy.
7. Integrate with Existing Tools: Set up integrations between SentinelOne and your other security tools, such as SIEM systems, ticketing systems, or threat intelligence platforms. This creates a more cohesive security ecosystem.

Conclusion

One of the most essential pieces of technology in the modern cybersecurity industry is cloud-based endpoint protection, as it enables an effective counter to security threats. It is much better at detecting threats in real time via behavioral analytics, advanced AI, and continuous monitoring. These tools are more scalable and user-friendly due to a cloud-based delivery model. The centralized management and control also give it an edge in deployment compared to traditional solutions.

At the same time, the solution does not only improve upon existing technologies. It tackles a wide range of threats, including malware, phishing, zero-day exploits, and file-less attacks, in an efficient manner. SentinelOne is a tool facilitated by the best practices in configuration, maintenance, user training, and continuous improvement. As the frequency and complexity of cyber attacks will only continue to increase, it is clear that responsive, intelligent, and well-implemented endpoint protection is a security component that cannot be ignored.

FAQ

1. What is cloud-based EPP?

In order to protect the devices or endpoints that are connected to the corporate network, organizations can make use of a security solution called Cloud-based Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). The solution makes use of real-time threat detection, prevention, and response to incidents automatically by integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning.

2. Advantages of cloud-based endpoint protection

Scalability is the most obvious advantage of cloud-based endpoint protection. Managing 10 to 100,000 devices is much simpler with cloud-based platforms. It uses up-to-date intelligence databases to detect a growing number of threats, enables reduced hardware costs, and allows the use of advanced analytics tools running in a cloud.

3. Which is the best tool for endpoint protection and why?

The best use of features of any tool completely depends on the usage and requirements of an organization. SentinelOne is one of the most popular tools for cloud-based endpoint protection solutions. It makes use of the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for intelligent threat detection and automatic incident response handling