Antivirus software has been the subject of a long debate for a while now. Previously, Antivirus was the cornerstone of security methods for most enterprises and residential users. AV technology is likely in use for many years than most people think; it was first developed in 1987 by developers who, curiously, later made a virus publishing kit.
On the internet, things are constantly changing. Every day, discoveries are made, and our news is flooded with stories about how threat actors have used vulnerabilities to attack a corporation with ransomware. With the usage and dependency of the internet, these threats will continue to grow.
Hackers prowl around on the internet, yet the public may frequently see their tactics as mysterious and cloaked in mystery. Although technology has advanced throughout time, its basic concept has never changed. This antivirus strategy was effective for many years in preventing the compromise of numerous endpoints. But with the advancement in technology, it seems we need something better than Antiviruses, maybe Endpoint Security. To come up to a conclusion, we first need to understand the threat landscape and what malware is, so let’s get started.
The Threat Landscape
Any invasive program created by cyber criminals (often referred to as “hackers”) to steal data and harm or destroy computers and computer systems is referred to as malware, which is short for “malicious software.” Malware types often encountered include worms, trojan horses, spyware, adware, and ransomware. Recent malware attacks have exfiltrated massive quantities of data.
In the past, antivirus firms could immediately detect a new malware entity and modify their signatures before the average infection could spread throughout the internet.
But after significant progress, malware may now spread over the internet at a rate never thought conceivable. Today, new malware may propagate widely online before antivirus companies even know it. Second, virus writers have discovered how to create variants, which are versions of their illegal programs that perform similarly but have purposeful alterations to their signature to avoid detection by antivirus software. Because so much of our malware is now sold in kits, anyone, even a beginner, can create a malware variation and swiftly spread it online.
To top this up came ransomware, which according to some recent estimates, evades all antivirus software. Its success is attributed to the frequent release of new variations.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software which locks up data in return for a fee called “ransom.” If the target doesn’t comply with the attacker’s requests, it threatens to publish, block, or corrupt data—or to stop the user from using or accessing their machine.
How does ransomware function? No matter how ransomware is defined, it infects your computer once entered. The malware then attacks files, gains access, and modifies their credentials without the user being aware. As a result, the person in charge of the infection holds the computer system hostage.
Protection Methods
The fundamental strategy of antivirus has not changed throughout time. It scans incoming data from downloads, removable media, and other sources for character patterns known as signatures that signify malicious files. Any such files are quarantined as soon as they are found to avoid system compromise. The database of known signatures is frequently updated to account for new signatures.
This antivirus strategy was successful for many years at preventing the compromise of numerous endpoints.
EDR software is a category of security software that aids in detecting, investigating, and reacting to attacks on a company’s computer networks. EDR software has malware detection, vulnerability scanning, and network monitoring capabilities. By locating the origin of assaults and aiding in the containment of malware distribution, it can also assist businesses quickly responding to threats.
Organizations of all sizes that want to strengthen their security posture and safeguard their networks from potential threats can benefit significantly from using EDR software.
How an EDR protects an organization
- Comprehensive data collection and monitoring – EDR solution also gathers in-depth information about prospective assaults. It continuously checks all of the online and offline endpoints of your digital perimeter. The information gathered makes investigations and incident response easier. On the endpoints, the data is collected, stored, and mapped against security threats to identify threats.
- You can gain a thorough grasp of the peculiarities and weaknesses in your network and develop more effective defenses against cybercriminals.
- Detection of all endpoint threats – The capacity of EDR security systems to identify all endpoint threats is one of their main advantages. You can see every endpoint of your digital perimeter, thanks to it.
- In terms of spotting possible risks, it is superior to conventional antivirus software or other tools that rely on signature-based or perimeter-based solutions. Your IT teams may benefit from this to better comprehend the nature of prospective threats and plan a suitable defense.
- Provides real-time response – Real-time response to various potential dangers is possible with the help of EDR systems. You can keep track of prospective assaults and threats in real time as they develop in network environments.
- EDR solutions provide a real-time response function that is highly helpful and can stop an attack in its early stages before it becomes catastrophic for the network. Finding the source of the threat and identifying suspicious and unauthorized activity on your network will help you take better action. When you compare antivirus with EDR, this is a significant advantage.
- Compatibility and integration with other security tools – EDR systems are being developed to be interoperable with and integrated with other security solutions, which have evolved significantly.
- This integrated strategy protects the network against future cyber threats and attacks. It enables the correlation of network, endpoint, and SIEM data. This allows you to have a deeper comprehension of the methods and behaviors that fraudsters employ to breach your network security.
Suggested Reading: Ransomware Protection: What You Need To Know in 2022
Conclusion
Antivirus software, despite its flaws, can have a place in our defensive strategy—but only as a portion of it. It has to be paired up with multiple technologies to work and safeguard confidential assets appropriately, such as Endpoint Security. In contrast, EDR systems are better and frequently installed on corporate networks, where they can offer complete device protection.
Malicious actors are trying hard to find methods around promising new technology for malware detection and prevention as they become available. As a result, we must keep building up our toolkit, including antivirus, if we want to stand the best chance of defeating hackers. Having said that, Antivirus is still useful but not alone because it is just one layer of security for your systems. To have an advanced level of security, you can always look for a managed EDR solution paired with Antivirus. Get in touch with our security experts today to assess your security posture and have recommendations to improve with Ace Cloud Hosting!
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