One Solution Does Not Fit All

Stop for a minute to think about all the threats that surround us in our
day-to-day lives. It's scary to think how we are all so vulnerable, not just to
external but internal threats. One of the major problems faced by people today
is that of online or network security. Every day enterprises are plagued by spam
mail and viruses that threaten to hijack their entire business. While the
concept of endpoint security has picked up in India there is definitely a need
for more awareness.

According to a recent study by IDC security cannot be addressed by
implementing one solution that seeks to be the security holy grail. “Vendors
know this and there are many offers for bundled applications that pretend to
offer a complete security package. Defense in depth is a good approach and
choosing the correct tools that best fit your organization's requirements is no
easy task. The quest for security continues. At the end of the day, security
stands on the three main pillars of technology, process, and people. All the
three are extremely important for the desired results behind imple­menting
security solutions,” said the report.

Increasing need

What you need to convey to your customers is that while there are a lot of
vendors out there claiming to offer endpoint security, they need to select the
option that best suits them. There is a lot of confusion on the term endpoint
security. While it is a broad term, its meaning has also expanded due to the
fact that over the years network risks have changed. Simplified, the term refers
to the measures taken to secure all endpoints in an organization. Endpoints can
range from PCs to mobile devices like PDAs, connected to the network. “Over the
past three years, mobile computing devices such as laptops, personal digital
assistants and smartphones have become an indispensable part of corporate
lifestyle in India. This leads to information security risks posed by vulnerable
endpoints,” shared Tushar Sighat, VP-Operations, Cyberoam (India). He added that
endpoints are often mobile and remain outside the network, which makes them
susceptible to a variety of attack vectors, especially vulnerabilities in common
networking proto­cols that enable unauthorized access through open or
uncontrolled ports.

“Most endpoint devices lack the physical and security access controls
necessary to maintain security when the devices are re-introduced in non-secure
environ-ments-bringing threats within the network,” pointed out Sighat.

Speaking about the increa­sing need for endpoint security, Prateek Tokas,
Analyst-Software and Service Research, IDC India said, “The market has moved
toward consolidation and integration resulting in success of unified threat
management (UTM) appliances with multiple functions in a single box, rather than
standalone solutions. Due to the increase in online e-commerce transactions,
greater broadband penetration, increa­sing data thefts, and maturing attacks,
security solutions are turning up as 'need of the hour.' Solutions like data
encryption, data leak prevention (DLP), and endpoint security solutions are
expected to be increasingly adopted, as informa­tion security is turning up as a
major business concern for enterprises.”

More awareness

Increasingly, employees are being required to work on the go, which means
they need to have ready access to the Internet and the company's network. This
is often where viruses and all sorts of external threats enter the network. “As
enterprises open and extend their IT infrastructure to accommodate the demands
from their employees, customers, suppliers and partners, threats and
vulnerabilities increase exponentially. The Indian enter­prises have already
realized this threat. Certainly the awareness regarding this threat has
increased to a great extent,” said Rana Gupta, Director, India and SAARC,
Safenet.

According to Sighat, the scope of online security awareness in India varies
according to the size of an organization. “While most SMEs and enterprises have
warmed up to the concept of investing in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
appliances for safeguarding their business interests, many SOHO customers are
still limited to desktop security products,” he said. This is where solution
providers need to make inroads into this segment and create more awareness about
endpoint security solutions.

Different business also need different levels of security. Giving an example
of the level of security required by different verticals, Sighat said, “The
banking and finance sector in India, as of 2009, not only have stringent
security measures in place, but also extended themselves to securing the
customer. They are making efforts to create customer awareness against online
identity thefts and data frauds-this happened due to a 30 percent rise in
phishing attacks on major banks who took the threats seriously and immediately
tightened their security belts. Each vertical while they would be aware of the
need for online security, deploys the security that is necessary for their
particular industry.

Vendors claim that this is one sector where they are seeing good growth. “In
India, the demand for such products and solutions is on a rise. In the last few
years we have been experiencing a healthy double digit growth in this product
segment,” claimed Gupta. In fact, a fairly new player in the e-security space-ACPL
Systems, has been seeing a growth in access of 70 percent YoY, which shows that
customers in India are waking up to the fact that single security solutions will
not keep their networks save.

Changing mindsets

Hard times call for drastic measures, but this does not mean at the cost of
your customers business. It is a time when companies are pulling their purse
strings and being cautious in their spending. The message that one needs to pass
on is that opting for endpoint security solutions can eventually offer them good
return on investment. “The biggest challenge is that often the customer treats
this deployment as a cost. They feel that they can install any product and all
their issues will come to an end. What they fail to realize is that they need to
engage the experts who understand the security issues and have the capability to
resolve them. Most final negotiations happen with the purchase departments and
they end up buying inferior product from incompetent people,” averred Vishal
Bindra, CEO, ACPL Systems.

Gupta opined that by educating customers about the latest in security arena,
they will be able to differentiate between the most advanced technologies and
their predecessor. Adding to that, Signat said, “Customers need to understand
the motive behind network threats and embrace security solutions which can
enable them to keep logs of user activities on the entire corporate network,
thus, delivering comprehensive security.”

Securing a network is something that can not be put off for later, hence
despite the recession and other factors that are having a dampening effect on
the market, the sales of endpoint security solutions is still seeing a growth.
“Customers have not stopped endpoint security deployments but we have witnessed
a slowdown,” shared Bindra. Sighat added that most customers understand the need
to protect their networks from external or internal attacks, and thus, treat
investment in online security deployments as a necessary part of their business
proposition.

Trends in this space

According to Sighat, two major trends in this segment are mobile
environments in which endpoint devices function, and consequent information
security risks posed by vulnerable endpoints. Also, regulatory and compliance
measures are an important pre-condition to comprehensive security because modern
enterprises have to follow statutory norms such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, GLBA, CIPA
etc.

Also, users are adding additional features to their endpoint security such as
device control, application control etc. A lot of bigger enterprise have also
started to put endpoint encryption in place.

These clearly point to the fact that network security is catching up in
India, and as more and more companies understand the importance of deploying
endpoint security solutions, more opportunities will surface for solution
providers.

Ruth Samson

(ruths@cybermedia.co.in)