Endpoint Security Explained

By Zoe Wick

Posted On March 19, 2024

Endpoint Security Explained

What is Endpoint Security?

Endpoint security, or endpoint protection, refers to the security measures put in place to protect individual devices and systems from various cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, and hacking attempts. Endpoints are physical devices that connect to a computer network and exchange information, such as computers, laptops, smartphones, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices like cameras or security systems. Endpoint security solutions usually involve a combination of software, hardware, and best practices to help safeguard these endpoints against potential security threats.

 

Why is Endpoint Security Important?

In today’s interconnected world, businesses and individuals rely heavily on numerous devices to work and store sensitive information. The recent shift to remote and hybrid work has only increased the amount of endpoints used on a daily basis, which came with a rise of endpoint attacks.

In 2021, there was a 105% increase in ransomware attacks according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report. Out of the 93% of company networks that were penetrated, only 14% had endpoint protection solutions in place. 

It’s clear that endpoints are a weak link in the security chain and cyber criminals will jump on any chance they have to penetrate your network and access sensitive information. This is why it is so important to implement endpoint security software and prepare for these inevitable situations. 

 

Common Endpoint Security Threats:

  1. Phishing, a type of attack that deceives recipients into sharing sensitive information.
  2. Ransomware, malware that holds or destroys a victim’s information until a sum of money is paid.
  3. Malware ads, which uses online ads to spread malicious software.
  4. Device loss, lost or stolen devices can lead to data breaches or costly fines.
  5. Outdated patches, which expose vulnerabilities in systems and create opportunities for cyber criminals.
  6. Drive-by downloads, the automated download of software to a device without user’s consent.

 

Key Components of Endpoint Security Services:

  1. Antivirus software: used to detect and prevent the spread of malware and viruses.
  2. Firewall: a firewall is used to block unauthorized access to a network.
    • Browse different kinds of firewalls here.
  3. Intrusion detection system (IDS): an IDS is used to detect unauthorized access or other security incidents.
  4. Encryption: encryption is used to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access
  5. Remote wiping: remote wiping is used to erase data from a lost or stolen device.
  6. Security awareness training: It’s important to have training to educate employees on endpoint protection and best practices. 

 

What are Endpoint Security Best Practices?

In addition to the technical components of endpoint security, it’s also essential to follow best practices to further enhance the protection of your endpoints. Here are a few best practices to follow:

  1. Keep software and operating systems up to date: Software updates often include critical security patches.
  2. Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication: Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
  3. Track Devices: Keep track of all devices that connect to your network and make sure all endpoints have updated software.
  4. Encrypt endpoints: encryption adds another layer of protection to devices and data.
  5. Educate users: Employees are your first line of defense in endpoint protection. Require all employees to undergo security awareness training.
  6. Adopt zero trust: commit to the Zero Trust security model which manages and grants access with continual verification of identities, devices, and services.

 

What Kind of Endpoint Security Solutions do I need?

The type of endpoint security product or tools you need depend on the size of your business, how many endpoints you have, and the level of security you desire. Click here to see all different endpoint services available at Firewalls.com. 

 

Want Help From an Expert?

We have several certified security professionals that will create a customized endpoint protection solution built to fit your business’s needs. Visit Firewalls.com to chat with an expert or give us a call at 866-403-5305.

Types of Cyber Attacks to Expect in 2024

By Zoe Wick

Posted On March 8, 2024

Types of Cyber Attacks to Expect in 2024
Types of Cyber Attacks to Expect in 2024

Types of Cyber Attacks to Expect in 2024:
Insights from the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report

In today’s interconnected world, where digital transformation is rapidly evolving, cyber threats continue to pose a significant risk to businesses of all sizes. The SonicWall Cyber Threat Report for 2024 sheds light on the evolving landscape of cyber attacks, offering valuable insights into the types of threats organizations can expect to face in the coming year. Let’s delve into some of the key takeaways from the report and explore the potential types of cyber attacks on the horizon.

The Target: Small Businesses

Contrary to popular belief, small businesses are not immune to cyber threats; in fact, they are three times more likely to be targeted than larger organizations. SonicWall’s commitment to researching and publishing the latest threat intelligence is crucial, especially considering that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) make up 80% of their end users.

Trends from 2023

The year 2023 witnessed a significant acceleration in cyber threats, with an 11% year-over-year increase in malware attacks. Encrypted threats rose by a staggering 117%, while cryptojacking experienced an alarming 659% surge. Despite the overall increase in attack volumes, the report highlights a decline in never-before-seen malware detections by 38%.  This data implies that attackers are sticking to their traditional methods and constantly improving those instead of creating new never-before-seen malware.

Malware Landscape

Malware attacks reached a global volume of 6.06 billion in 2023, marking the highest since 2019. While Asia and Europe experienced a decrease in malware, North America and LATAM saw increases of 15% and 30%, respectively. Interestingly, malicious OneNote files emerged as a popular initial threat vector, showcasing threat actors’ adaptability.

Ransomware Resilience

Ransomware attacks totaled 317.6 million, indicating a 36% decrease year-over-year. Despite this decline, Asia witnessed a record high in ransomware volumes, rising by a staggering 1,627% since 2019. LockBit remained a formidable ransomware group, showcasing consistent innovation with bug bounty programs and regular toolkit updates. Threat actors aren’t slowing down, but for the time being, they’re finding variants that work and using them repeatedly.

Intrusion Attempts on the Rise

Intrusion attempts continued to climb, reaching 7.6 trillion in 2023, a 20% increase over the previous year. Malicious intrusion volumes rose across various industries, contributing to alert fatigue and potential data breaches.

Encrypted Threats Surge

Encrypted attacks more than doubled in 2023, reaching 15.7 million. While North America saw a 30% increase, Europe, Asia, and LATAM experienced triple-digit spikes. Industries such as healthcare, education, government, and retail witnessed significant encrypted threat surges. 

Attackers are using encryption protocols more frequently to hide malware, ransomware, zero-day attacks and more. Older generation firewalls and other traditional security controls lack the capability to detect, inspect and mitigate threats sent over HTTPs traffic. This means the older the hardware and software you have, the easier it is for attackers to deploy and execute attacks on your business. If you have outdated firewalls or software, take a look at SonicWall’s Gen 7 Firewalls and other licensing here. There are affordable options for any size business that will protect you from these types of cyber attacks.

Cryptojacking’s Unprecedented Growth

Cryptojacking hits skyrocketed by 659% in 2023, reaching 1.06 billion. XMRig, a legitimate tool often abused by threat actors, remained a prevalent choice for cryptojacking attacks. The environmental and financial costs associated with crypto mining underline the seriousness of this growing threat.

 

Looking Ahead to 2024

As threat actors continue to adopt advanced technologies, the future threat landscape is expected to evolve rapidly. The use of AI in refining phishing attempts, executing convincing Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, and generating malicious code poses new challenges for defenders. 

Recommendations for Enhanced Cybersecurity

  • Enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA): Strengthen authentication security by implementing MFA to prevent unauthorized access.

  • Patch Promptly: Stay vigilant in applying patches promptly, as most exploit attempts target vulnerabilities that may have been known for months or years.

  • Conduct Regular Security Assessments: Identify vulnerabilities, assess risks, and fortify defenses through regular security assessments.

  • Ongoing Security Training: Educate employees on cybersecurity best practices to build a vigilant and informed workforce.

  • Scan Encrypted Traffic: Given the rise in encrypted attacks, ensure that all network traffic, especially encrypted traffic, is regularly scanned for potential threats.

  • Extend Protection to the Cloud: With the increasing adoption of cloud services, implement comprehensive security measures such as Security Service Edge (SSE) and Zero-Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA).

  • Update Security Appliances and Software: Legacy firewalls and software do not detect or mitigate threats as well as new generation products. Secure your business with updated firewalls now.

In conclusion, the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report for 2024 highlights the persistent and evolving nature of all types of cyber threats. By staying informed and implementing robust cybersecurity measures, businesses can enhance their resilience against the ever-changing threat landscape. 

Unsure About Your Network Security?

If you’re unsure about the security measures you have in place, our team can assess what you currently have and help patch any holes. Give us a call or send us an email and we would be happy to help. 

 

You can also browse the newest SonicWall products that are sure to detect and mitigate all types of cyber attacks that threaten your business. 

Chip Shortages & Firewalls: What You Need To Know

By Andrew Neita

Posted On August 25, 2021

Chip Shortages & Firewalls: What You Need To Know
electronic chip shortage firewalls inventory supply chain

Why Is There A Shortage Of Firewall Inventory & Other Network Security Products

Since 2020, we’ve seen the global supply chain get disrupted, which in turn created shortages of products in most sectors. Although network security products have been readily available, we are now seeing shortages in firewall inventory and other network security products as well. The primary reason for the shortage in firewall inventory is because of their internal electrical components. Firewalls – like other electronic devices – require electronic chips to function. Currently there is a backlog of orders and supply is tight for electronic chips. In turn, that limits the manufacturing of all electrical products including firewalls.

The Electronic Chip Shortage Explained

Electronic chip production has long played a major role in day-to-day life, as these chips make so many everyday items tick. These chips are used in phones, alarm clocks, cars, computers, and TVs to name just a few essentials. Fast forward to 2020, and manufacturing delays show how these electronic chips may have been taken for granted. By now, it is clear how important these products are to daily life and how hard things can sometimes be without them.

Electronic chip factories, mostly located in Taiwan, were not immune to the global effects of the pandemic, which led to downtime in production. Since most manufacturing – like the rest of the world – came to a halt for awhile, these factories also had their supply of raw goods limited as well. One could simply say that the shortage of electronic chips is due to the downtime of factories and their inability to receive raw materials needed for production.

When Will Electronic Chip Production Improve

With electronic chip demand being as high as it is and continuous delays in production, the world is in the midst of a widespread supply shortage. In turn, products – like firewalls – that require these chips have slowed down in production because they simply won’t work without them. Until backorders catch up and a steady supply of electronic chips returns, manufacturers will likely continue to experience inventory issues with firewalls and other network security products.

The condition will simply improve with time and continuous production. At the moment, there is still a massive backlog of orders with the ever increasing weight of growing demand for electronic goods. If factories stay open and chip prioritization continues, this issue should solve itself moving forward. As far a timeline for when this will end, the future is murky. But conditions do look better ahead than in the rear view mirror.

Who Has Firewalls In-Stock & How To Check Their Inventory

It’s important for buyers to know that not everyone who sells firewalls or network security products has the same access to inventory or variety of products. Here at Firewalls.com, we are top tier partners with all of the manufacturers we sell, which gives us better access than most. With that being said, there are still products that may simply be unavailable. We suggest reaching out to our team of certified experts and telling them about your needs.  Rest assured, we’ll work with you to find the right solution. Give us a call at 317-225-4117 or browse our inventory at Firewalls.com.

Palo Alto PA-3220 Firewall Overview

By Andrew Neita

Posted On June 4, 2021

Palo Alto PA-3220 Firewall Overview
firewalls palo alto

PA-3220 Overview

The Palo Alto PA-3220 is a powerful mid-range firewall engineered to perform in the strictest of business environments. To begin, Palo Alto is known as one of the leaders in the network security industry, and their firewalls have garnered the respect of many IT professionals. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the PA-3220 and providing key information about its security features, specs, form factor, and price.

Key Security and Connectivity
Features

Machine Learning-Powered Firewall

Deep within the core of the PA-3220 is machine learning technology. This technology leverages a cloud-based machine learning process that delivers instant signatures and instructions back to the firewall. On top of that, there is behavior analysis to identify IoT devices and even make policy recommendations.

Full 7 Layer Inspection

The PA-3220 categorizes all applications on every port ALL THE TIME! This security feature uses the application and not the port as the framework for all safe enablement policy decisions.

Unique Packet Processing with Single Pass Architecture

Efficiency and performance is a strength for the Palo Alto PA-3220. In a single pass, networking, policy lookup, application & decoding, and signature matching is done. What this means to the network and firewall is that this greatly reduces the amount of processing time and other functions needed for a speedy network environment.

PA-3220 Specs

  • Recommended Users: 200-300
  • Max Sessions: 1,000,000
  • New Sessions Per Second: 57,000
  • Firewall Throughput: 4.5 Gbps
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 2.2 Gbps
  • VPN Throughput: 2.8 Gbps
  • Storage Capacity: 240 GB SD
  • Max BTU/hr: 819
  • Weight: 29 lbs

Palo Alto PA-3220 Front Panel

Palo Alto PA-3220 Firewall

The front panel on the PA-3220 comes with a variety of different ports. Below is a list of hardware capabilities;

  • 12 – 1 G ports
  • 4 – 1 G SFP ports
  • 4 – 1 G/10G SFP/SFP+ ports
  • 1 – Out of band management port
  • 2 – 10/100/1000 high availability ports
  • 1 – 10G SFP+ high availability port
  • 1 – RJ-45 console port
  • 1 – Micro USB port

View Datasheet

PA-3220 Price

The Palo Alto PA-3220 is priced at $18,900 MSRP as an appliance only. But of course, you’ll also need a security services subscription or subscriptions to maximize its performance – Shop PA-3220 security services.

PA-3220 Hardware Guide

Navigating your way around the PA-3220 may be difficult for some. To make it easier we’ve included a link to the hardware guide on PaloAlto.com for reference.

SonicWall NSa 3700 – Advanced Networking for the Advanced Threat Era

By Andrew Harmon

Posted On April 15, 2021

SonicWall NSa 3700 – Advanced Networking for the Advanced Threat Era
3700 firewalls ngfw nsa nsa 3700 os 7.0 sonicos SonicWALL

SonicWall NSa 3700 – Advanced Networking for the Advanced Threat Era

SonicWall NSa 3700 firewalls are designed to secure mid-sized businesses, distributed enterprises, and large branch office locations while delivering performance superior to even recent generation firewalls. Featuring SonicWall’s SonicOS 7.0 operating system and its slew of new management and control features, the NSa 3700 sets itself apart from its NSa firewall predecessors.

The SonicWall NSa 3700 is ready to tackle SD-WAN deployments, security layer clustering, high-speed remote access through site-to-site and DPI SSL VPN, and more. In addition, the SonicWall NSa 3700 enables admins to monitor and manage all network traffic through a simple dashboard interface that prioritizes displaying fast, intuitive information right up front.

With multi-gigabit threat prevention throughput and super fast encrypted traffic scanning, you won’t lose all the bandwidth and speed you pay out to your ISP each month. On top of that, the SonicWall NSa 3700 features physical upgrades as well: 24 Gigabit ports, 6 10-gig ports, and 4 SFP+ ports capable of working on a 5G network.

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SonicWall NSa 3700 Spec Snapshot

SonicWall NSa 3700 At A Glance

SonicWall NSa 3700 Next Generation Firewall

Max Firewall Throughput: 5.5 Gbps

Threat Prevention Throughput: 3.5 Gbps

Application Inspection Throughput: 4.2 Gbps

Network Interface Ports: 24x1GbE, 6x10GbE, 4x5G SFP+, 2 USB SuperSpeed 3.0, 1 Console, 1 Management

DPI Maximum Connections: 750,000

Connections per Second: 22,500

VLAN Interfaces: 256

Site-to-Site VPN Tunnels: 3000

Hardware-Only MSRP: $4095

View the SonicWall NSa 3700 Datasheet

Shop the SonicWall NSa 3700

Check out our latest video on the SonicWall NSa 3700:

What’s New in SonicOS 7.0?

SonicWall’s Gen 7 firewalls feature a brand new operating system that simplifies network security management while focusing on the most pressing threats facing small businesses. TLS 1.3 decryption aims at hunting down and snuffing out elusive encrypted threats. This increased visibility is right at your fingertips. The SonicOS Capture Threat Assessment Report provides summarized insights into traffic, applications, and a variety of advanced threats, ensuring you know exactly what’s lurking on your network.

The learning curve for SonicOS 7.0 is extremely user-friendly, with auto-provision VPNs and the SonicExpress app that make zero-touch deployment a reality. In the era of remote work, the ability to quickly and easily deploy a high-performance, high-security appliance without needing a technician at each site is crucial.

Check out our article SonicOS 7.0: 7.0 Reasons Why This SonicWall OS Rocks to learn more.

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TotalSecure Advanced Edition & Essential Edition

So many new advanced features and services arrived with the SonicOS 7.0 appliances that SonicWall had to make brand new licensing bundles to house them all. With the NSa 3700, you have two bundle options. The more basic bundle, called the TotalSecure Essential Edition Bundle, includes these SonicWall security services:

  • Gateway Anti-Virus, Intrusion Prevention, Application Control
  • Content Filtering Service
  • 24×7 Support
  • Network Visibility
  • Basic DNS Security
  • Anti-Spam
  • Capture ATP (Multi-Engine) Sandboxing
  • RTDMI Technology

The TotalSecure Advanced Edition includes everything in the Essentials Edition, with the added bonus of SonicWall Network Security Manager (NSM) Essentials. NSM features:

  • Cloud Management
  • 7 Days Cloud-based Reporting

Optionally, services can be purchased a la carte as well.

Looking for More Firewall Solutions from SonicWall?

Shop SonicWall NSa firewalls if you’re looking for enterprise-grade protection at SMB prices.

Future-proof your setup with secure, scalable SonicWall Network Switches.

Or browse all of our SonicWall products to find the perfect solution for your unique network needs.

 

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