One look at any mainstream news outlet will convince anyone that cybercriminals pose a natural and present danger to organizations. High-profile hacks affect millions of people each year and cost organizations significant amounts of money, business, and reputation.
Today’s hackers are so sophisticated that most organizations have advanced defense systems and working methods to reduce their chances of falling victim to cybercrime. Securing dynamic networks presents unique challenges, so security teams must choose their tools carefully.
identity and trust
Traditionally, cybersecurity has focused on perimeter and node-based protection. Heuristic scanning, pulling or pushing updates, and powerful locally installed agents provided protection based on past incidents.
It is becoming increasingly clear that barrier-based defenses are ineffective, especially against zero-day attacks such as phishing and misuse of personal information to gain trust, as well as user error.
Zero Trust frameworks provide parity between machine and human identities, so a compromised device is as good to an organization’s assets as a member of staff who is fooled by sophisticated social engineering into downloading a malicious application. accept that it can be very dangerous.
Many zero trust cybersecurity solution providers are not well suited to modern cybersecurity demands. For medium to large organizations and their MSPs, hybrid topologies and separate business units that function across numerous cloud services, the solution fails in two ways.
- Endpoint definition. Endpoint instances are static (desktops, servers, network infrastructure), while mobile devices and devices used for remote/hybrid work are a third device classification. These all belong to the same category as endpoints.
- historical heritage. Many cybersecurity solutions have evolved from perimeter/client platforms that lack the flexibility to adapt to the speed of change of attackers and the introduction of advanced technologies such as AI.
Validity starts with Deny by default
Zero Trust frameworks work on the basic principle of default denial. The concept of default denial allows compromised devices (such as Windows PowerShell, which are often shipped by default) to spread malicious code, such as ransomware, across networks that are no longer bound by organizational boundaries. It is based on the recognition that it is possible.
This means that an infected device can impact cloud-based assets as easily as it can access a local node on the LAN. ThreatLocker allows cybersecurity teams to control who and what can exist on distributed networks and what they can do by denying actions such as running code, downloading files, and connecting to other applications. you will be able to control. You can also prevent users from gaining basic access with conditional access using geofencing.
ThreatLocker Ringfencing™ prevents applications from running unauthorized binaries and only grants access to assets given the appropriate set of circumstances. Administrators can define these as simple (for example, after the machine identity has been verified) or more complex (allowing read-only access at certain times, emanating from a certain IP block) .
Policies encompass all devices used in a distributed network, including remote access, such as telecommuters and mobile workers, and can be applied to various nodes such as servers, network gear, mobile devices, laptops, and IoT devices. . This prevents a single compromised device from executing the payload or moving beyond the restricted subnet. The applied controls address issues such as joining devices to unprotected networks, hopping infected devices from node to node, and executing payloads with delayed execution.
Modern ransomware tactics have moved beyond encryption and extortion to include data exfiltration and blackmail for sending it back. Zero Trust environments, such as those protected by ThreatLocker, prevent even compromised machines from connecting beyond the LAN, making data exfiltration impossible. And that’s even assuming malicious code is deployed.
Industry matters
Creating secure policies for specific industries (such as healthcare, finance, education, etc.) depends on the level of threat, governance factors, and level of data access required. The ThreatLocker management dashboard simplifies policy creation and exceptions while delivering powerful results.
Finding an endpoint balance between usability and security has traditionally involved rolling back access (such as to the Internet) and blocking client actions. In a ThreatLocker Zero Trust environment, policies are defined by what is allowed. This is determined by intelligently designed templates that can be customized according to your specific organization or industry.
To learn the difference between traditional cybersecurity and the new paradigm of Zero Trust, reach out a hand ThreatLocker Cyber Hero Team Member or Sign up for a free trial This allows teams to test the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection platform within their environments.