Once upon a time, there was no use distinguishing between endpoints in a public network or self-contained local area network (LAN). The network extended no further than the room in which the computers were located. We called these bizarre rooms “computer labs.” The extent of the sophistication of the network allowed for the amazing task of multiple personal computers controlling a series of maybe four or five printers. Few ever dreamed of manipulating the software from one of the end points in order to corrupt the network and its function. We did not know to call them “endpoints.” And endpoint security solutions were the last thing on our minds then.

Everything sure is different now. Networks are beyond sophisticated. We must talk about endpoint data protection these days. Believe it or not, we live in a computer age of endpoint threat detection and response. WIFI is not some weird thing to do with our noses. We live in a computer age of wirelessly connecting to networks, hopping on and off anytime at will. What used to take miles of wires and gawky, bulky hardware now only needs a software driver and your desire. The ease of access to the benefits that come from this wonderful technology has made for the ease of access to the ability for causing havoc. The endpoints are numerous now. The endpoints are constantly changing throughout shorter time spans. Think of how many folks log on and off of a public WIFI network in a department store or coffee shop throughout the day. So the need to detect and secure a network from malicious software coming from endpoints is crucial.

Endpoint security is like apartment living. In an apartment complex, a resident could be a good overall resident, minding his or her own business while paying rent on time. Maybe she or he is very considerate of others, keeping the noise level low, abiding by guidelines, and even kindly sharing goodies door to door with neighbors. But say this great renter lives upstairs. And imagine for a moment this resident has leaky plumbing hidden behind the walls. That water trickles down onto the ceiling of the downstairs neighbor. Overtime, the downstairs neighbor’s ceiling gets discolored, softens, and collapses. The upstairs resident had no ill intent. But the downstairs neighbor has a collapsed ceiling nonetheless.

Detection and response software catches the leaky malware of users unaware, eliminating threats and restoring the security to the cyber neighborhood.