Endpoint Security Management Buyer’s Guide: the ESM Lifecycle
As we described in The Business Impact of Managing Endpoint Security, the world is complex and only getting more so. You need to deal with more devices, mobility, emerging attack vectors, and virtualization, among other things. So you need to graduate from the tactical view of endpoint security. Thinking about how disparate operations teams manage endpoint security today, you probably have tools to manage change – functions such as patch and configuration management. You also have technology to control use of the endpoints, such as device control and file integrity monitoring. So you might have 4 or more different consoles to manage one endpoint device. We call that problem swivel chair management – you switch between consoles enough to wear out your chair. It’s probably worth keeping a can of WD-40 handy to ensure your chair is in tip-top shape. Using all these disparate tools also creates challenges in discovery and reporting. Unless the tools cleanly integrate, if your configuration management system (for instance) detects a new set of instances in your virtualized data center, your patch management offering might not even know to scan those devices for missing patches. Likewise, if you don’t control the use of I/O ports (USB) on the endpoints, you might not know that malware has replaced system files unless you are specifically monitoring those files. Obviously, given ongoing constraints in funding, resources, and expertise, finding operational leverage anywhere is a corporate imperative. So it’s time to embrace a broader view of Endpoint Security Management and improve integration among the various tools in use to fill these gaps. Let’s take a little time to describe what we mean by endpoint security management, the foundation of an endpoint security management suite, its component parts, and ultimately how these technologies fit into your enterprise management stack. The Endpoint Security Management Lifecycle As analyst types, the only thing we like better than quadrant diagrams are lifecycles. So of course we have an endpoint security management lifecycle. Of course none of these functions are mutually exclusive, and you don’t may not perform all these functions. And keep in mind that you can start anywhere, and most organizations already have at least some technologies in place to address these problems. It’s has become rare for organizations to manage endpoint security manually. We push the lifecycle mindset to highlight the importance of looking at endpoint security management strategically. A patch management product can solve part of the problem, tactically. And the same with each of the other functions. But handling endpoint security management as a platform can provide more value than dealing with each function in isolation. So we drew a picture to illustrate our lifecycle. We show both periodic functions (patch and configuration management) which typically occur every day or every two. We also depict ongoing activities (device control and file integrity monitoring) which need to run all the time – typically using device agents. Let’s describe each part of the lifecycle at a high level, before we dig down in subsequent posts. Configuration Management Configuration management provides the ability for an organization to define an authorized set of configurations for devices in use within the environment. These configurations govern the applications installed, device settings, services running, and security controls in place. This capability is important because a changing configuration might indicate malware manipulation, an operational error, or an innocent and unsuspecting end user deciding it’s a good idea to bring up an open SMTP relay on their laptop. Configuration management enables your organization to define what should be running on each device based on entitlements, and to identify non-compliant devices. Patch Management Patch management installs fixes from software vendors to address vulnerabilities in software. The best known patching process comes from Microsoft every month. On Patch Tuesday, Microsoft issues a variety of software fixes to address defects that could result in exploitation of their systems. Once a patch is issued your organization needs to assess it, figure out which devices need to be patched, and ultimately install the patch within the window specified by policy – typically a few days. The patch management product scans devices, installs patches, and reports on the success and/or failure of the process. Patch Management Quant provides a very detailed view of the patching process, so check it out if you want more information. Device Control End users just love the flexibility their USB ports provide for their ‘productivity’. You know – the ability to share music with buddies and download your entire customer database onto their phones became – it all got much easier once the industry standardized on USB a decade ago. All kidding aside, the ability to easily share data has facilitated better collaboration between employees, while simultaneously greatly increasing the risk of data leakage and malware proliferation. Device control technology enables you both to enforce policy for who can use USB ports, and for what; and also to capture what is copied to and from USB devices. As a more active control, monitoring and enforcement of for device usage policy eliminates a major risk on endpoint devices. File Integrity Monitoring The last control we will mention explicitly is file integrity monitoring, which watches for changes in critical system files. Obviously these file do legitimately change over time – particularly during patch cycles. But those files are generally static, and changes to core functions (such as the IP stack and email client) generally indicate some type of problem. This active control allows you to define a set of files (including both system and other files), gather a baseline for what they should look like, and then watch for changes. Depending on the type of change, you might even roll back those changes before more bad stuff happens. The Foundation The centerpiece of the ESM platform is an asset management capability and console to define policies, analyze data, and report. A platform should have the following capabilities: Asset Management/Discovery: Of course you can’t manage what you can’t see, so the first critical
