Absolute Software publishes results from the latest IT security study: Increasing device mobility together with the vulnerability of security controls underlines the need for robust endpoint and secure access solutions.
Absolute Software shares its in-depth insight into the increased risk organizations face as the ongoing shift from work from home to work from anywhere. Absolute is a leading provider of self-healing endpoint and secure access solutions.
The Value of Zero Trust
A new report titled “The Value of Zero Trust in a Work-from-Anywhere World” shows that as of March 2022, the average enterprise IT endpoint was connected from at least four different locations. This represents an 18 percent increase from January through March alone, underscoring the increasingly mobile nature of today's hybrid workforce. Absolute's analysis also found that 16 percent of corporate devices are unencrypted and the average current patches are 77 days old. This underscores both the vulnerability of critical security controls and the need for robust security tools to protect remote devices, data, and network connections.
IT and security managers are still facing major challenges. It's a matter of balancing risk mitigation with the need to provide employees with seamless, secure access no matter where they're connecting from. In a recent survey, 42 percent of respondents said risk management is the top downside of remote and hybrid workspaces.
Zero Trust Security Approach
A robust Zero Trust security approach enables IT teams to go beyond securing and validating every connection to the corporate network and extend their contextual parameters to account for an endpoint's security posture.
"The shift to remote and hybrid working has fundamentally changed the nature of endpoint and network security and has brought a sharp focus on Zero Trust," said Christy Wyatt, President and CEO of Absolute. “However, implementing a Zero Trust security strategy cannot be accomplished in one fell swoop and with the purchase of a well-defined set of tools; there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every organization should redesign their Zero Trust architectures to start at the endpoint, which can range from device firmware to the network edge - and with a clear focus on resiliency.”
Necessary endpoint security controls
Among other notable findings, Absolute's report includes a detailed look at the health and performance of five critical endpoint security controls - such as Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solutions, Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPPs), and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), to name just a few. Those without the option of self-maintenance through Absolute's Application Persistence Service had compliance rates of just 27 percent over a two-week period. Those who had application persistence enabled consistently reported compliance rates in excess of 90 percent.
More at Absolute.com
About Absolute Software
Absolute Software accelerates its customers' transition to remote working with the industry's first self-healing Zero Trust platform that ensures maximum security and uncompromised productivity. Absolute is the only solution embedded in more than half a billion devices providing an always-on digital connection. It can intelligently and dynamically apply visibility, control, and self-healing capabilities to endpoints, applications, and network access to ensure cyber resiliency of distributed workspaces.