Zero trust for endpoints: Building a resilient security strategy

Cyber threats are one of the top risks facing organisations today. According to research from the World Economic Forum, 72% of security leaders report an increase in cyber risks. The report suggests that growing geopolitical tensions are creating new uncertainties, while the growing dependence on increasingly complex supply chains is leading to a more unpredictable risk landscape.

Most nations depend on technology built overseas, making regulation a critical lever in ensuring technology is secure by design and throughout its entire life cycle and there is sufficient accountability across supply chains. “By increasing security maturity collectively, organisations protect critical infrastructure and consequently the safety of society itself,” says Pelle Aardewerk, Cyber Security Consultancy Lead at HP.

Endpoints: the missing piece in enterprise security

Although most organisations are capable of managing their networks, data and applications, many struggle with endpoint security. This is largely because the rise of hybrid working means many employees now fall outside the secure enterprise perimeter. Concurrently, critical applications and data have moved to the cloud and are often hosted by providers based outside of national borders, raising questions about data sovereignty and who has access to sensitive information.

It’s little wonder that 61% of organisations believe their mobile workforce is likely to expose them to a future breach, according to figures from Apricorn.

 “As the place where the internet, data, applications and users converge, the endpoint has become an increasingly critical element of security, and the weak link that hackers are increasingly looking to target,” says Aardewerk. Today, already more than 70% of cyber incidents start at the endpoint, and AI will further increase successful attacks and the need for stronger endpoint security.

Applying zero-trust principles to endpoints

Aardewerk explains that the most secure approach is to extend zero-trust principles to the endpoint. This involves four elements:

1. User identity and access control. With passwords no longer sufficient, multifactor authentication and biometrics are essential to verify users and prevent unauthorised device and BIOS access. For business-critical operations, solutions such as HP Sure Access Enterprise provide additional security, creating secure, isolated (remote) sessions to critical applications that cannot be tampered with, altered, viewed or hijacked. This ensures that even if a device is compromised, such critical (admin) sessions and their sensitive credentials and data remain protected.
2. Endpoint integrity control and verification. Ensuring the integrity of endpoint devices is vital to maintaining trust across the technology supply chain. Devices must remain secure both during manufacturing, through to shipping and their entire life cycle. HP leads the industry with its enterprise quantum resistant security chip, which continuously verifies firmware and BIOS integrity at every device startup, detects device tampering beneath the operating system and ensures ongoing integrity validation of removable components and rapid recovery in case of attacks.
3. Data protection for lost/stolen devices. Laptops are often left unattended in hotels, offices or public spaces, creating a theft risk. Traditional remote protection tools rely on the device coming online, which doesn’t always occur. HP’s approach embeds a cellular connection at the factory, allowing IT administrators to locate, lock or remotely wipe a device, even when it’s powered off, to ensure sensitive data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
4. Zero-day malware and ransomware threat protection. Protecting users and devices from zero-day attacks has become increasingly critical. Traditional antivirus and even next-generation detection tools rely on known threat signatures, but with hundreds of thousands of new attacks launched daily, scaled by new AI tools, many go unseen. HP’s Sure Click Enterprise takes a preventative approach by opening every link, document or browser session in a secure micro-virtual container. Containment ensures that even if a file or website is malicious, it cannot infect the device, consequent company network or enable access to sensitive data.

With the cybersecurity threat growing by the day, organisations need an end-to-end security posture that starts with the device. By adopting zero-trust principles and investing in secure, reliable devices, organisations can embed the digital resilience needed to protect both their corporate interests and the people who rely on their services.

To find out more about how HP Wolf Security can help protect your enterprise please schedule a meeting with an endpoint security expert and visit https://www.hp.com/us-en/security/solutions.html.

To find out more about how HP Wolf Security can help protect your enterprise, please schedule a meeting with an endpoint security expert using the form below.