Month: December 2017

There have been so many publicised data breaches in 2017 that we didn’t even have enough space in our latest report to provide a basic summary. In many cases a business network was breached. Business networks comprise endpoints (usually Windows PCs), servers, Point of Sale computers and a range of other devices.

Latest reports now online.

In this report (PDF) we explore the effectiveness of network appliances designed to detect and block attacks against endpoint systems. Who wins in the battle between network appliances vs. targeted attacks?

One approach to compromising a business is to hack an endpoint (PC) and then to use it as a platform from which to launch further attacks into the network. For example, rather than going straight for a company’s main servers why not trick a user into infecting his/ her computer with malware? We can then scan and infect the entire network, stealing information, causing damage and generally behaving in ways contrary to the business’ best interests.

There is some really good endpoint software available, as we see in our regular Endpoint Protection tests, but nothing is perfect and any extra layers of security are welcome. If one layer fails, others exist to mitigate the threat. In this report we explore the effectiveness of network appliances designed to detect and protect against attacks against endpoint systems.

Network appliances vs. targeted attacks

The systems we have tested here are popular appliances designed to sit between your endpoints and the internet router. They are designed to detect, and often protect against, threats coming in from the internet or passing through the local network. Their role is to stop threats before they reach the endpoints. If they fail to stop a threat, they might learn that an attack has happened and generate an alert, while subsequently blocking future, similar attacks.

There are no guarantees that technology will always protect you from attackers, but our results show that adding layers of security is an effective way to improve your prospects when facing general and more targeted attacks.