Poor endpoint security can cost you millions in detection, response, and wasted time

A new study reveals organizations are wasting an average of $6 million on the time to detect and contain insecure endpoints, among other staggering findings that show endpoint threats are a growing concern, companies are not efficiently protecting their proprietary data, and the cost and complexity of reducing endpoint risks are at an all-time high.

Confidence in endpoint security

The study also revealed organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to identify dark endpoints — the rogue, out-of-compliance, or off-network devices that create blind spots and increase an organization’s vulnerability to attack.

While confidence in endpoint security ranked low, the IT security professionals surveyed believe that close to 60 percent of the hours currently invested in the capture and evaluation of intelligence surrounding the true threats, to both compliance and proprietary data, can be saved each week by deploying automated solutions.

“At the Ponemon Institute, we’ve followed the endpoint security industry closely for more than a decade. It’s clear that enterprises face real visibility and control challenges when it comes to protecting the data on corporate endpoints, ensuring compliance and keeping up with threats,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. “Enterprises need an automated approach to give IT pros visibility into endpoint security health and to better understand risk exposure, ensure compliance and improve visibility.”

Revelations from security practitioners

The study takes into account research into the security practices and budgets of more than 550 IT and IT security practitioners. The research did not take into account the liability associated with increased risks of data breaches that are becoming all too commonplace as workers place data at risk on laptops, mobile phones and tablets. Key findings from the study include the following:

• Blind spots are large and growing: 63% could not monitor endpoint devices when they left the corporate network, 53% of companies reveal that malware infected endpoints have increased in the last 12 months.
• Compliance and data protection is at risk: 56% of companies lack a cohesive compliance strategy, and 70% report a “below average” ability to minimize endpoint failure damages. Only 28 percent of respondents say their organizations rely upon automated analysis and inspection to determine compliance.
• Respondents believe automation increases efficiency and offers better visibility of dark endpoints: It costs organizations an average of $1.37 million annually in wasted time responding to erroneous malware alerts. Enterprises could save nearly $2.1 million annually with automated endpoint security solutions.

Managing endpoint security: A global business issue

“Managing endpoint security and protecting proprietary data is more than an IT issue, it’s increasingly a global business performance and national security concern,” said Geoff Haydon, CEO, Absolute. “This study along with recent ransomware attacks and high-profile data breaches show the danger of today’s endpoint blind spots, and underscore that automation and newer approaches to endpoint security are key to safeguarding endpoints and the sensitive data on them for optimal business performance.”