A study by Enterprise Services Group has revealed that companies that utilize endpoint security and management technologies face a growing issue of “sprawl” in the marketplace, as more and more new tools are becoming available. With the rise of remote work and IoT, the number of computers that need to be managed by these technologies has increased, resulting in an increase in the number of available tools to manage them.
An ESG survey of 380 security professionals in North America, commissioned by cybersecurity company Syxsense, showed that companies using a large number of different tools to manage their endpoints had higher proportions of unmanaged endpoints, compared to those using fewer tools. The complexity of the current computer environment is leading to worse security, according to the study.
Device diversity has also risen sharply, particularly in IoT computers. Windows PCs are still the most common type of computers being managed, with 65% of survey respondents managing one or more, followed by IoT computers at 61% for general purpose computers and 54% for specialized devices. Chromebooks, Android computers, and phones and tablets running iOS are also commonly managed.
Despite the growing complexity, 56% of respondents said that endpoint security is either “somewhat” or “much” easier to handle today compared to two years ago, while 58% said the same about endpoint management. A third of organizations have experienced multiple endpoint-related security incidents, with more than 20% of their overall endpoints being unmanaged, and this appears to lead to a greater likelihood of a cyberattack.
Implementing dedicated endpoint protection solutions can have a positive effect on security, as 44% of respondents discovered unsecured systems and 40% found sensitive data in places it should not be. The biggest challenges in endpoint management, according to ESG, are centered on patch management. 34% of respondents said that aligning IT and security priorities for patching was a major challenge, while a similar number said tracking specific vulnerabilities and patch management were the most serious issue. 31% rated unpatchable vulnerabilities as highly difficult, and 30% cited automating the endpoint management workflow as a challenge.
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