Are You Trusting A Basic Antivirus Solution?

Tech Tip: Advanced Antivirus & EDR

Key points in this blog:

• Basic antivirus solutions won’t keep you safe.
• Cybersecurity solutions like these need to go beyond simple protection.
• Nextgen antivirus solutions offer EDR capabilities as well.

Check out our latest video to discover more:

Basic Antivirus Solution?

It’s not uncommon for businesses to cut corners here and there. Especially when it comes to saving money, many new and old businesses will opt for the cheaper two options if it keeps costs down.

This is especially true when it comes to IT. Businesses often choose free, consumer, and trial-based options instead of buying outright, paying for licenses, or investing in the premium solution.

Where this may occasionally be a practical decision, say, in terms of choosing a cheaper option because it fits the scope of a small business, there’s one area in which this will always be the wrong choice—cybersecurity.

It should go without saying, but you’d be surprised how many businesses rely on cheap or free consumer-grade security software to keep them safe. Case in point? Your antivirus.

You Need Advanced An Antivirus Solution

To fight rapidly evolving and diverse cybersecurity threats, you need enterprise next-generation endpoint protection that leverages the power of advanced AI engines, automated endpoint protection, and rollback capabilities to keep your business safe.

Known as “next-generation cybersecurity”, this advanced type of cybersecurity software uses artificial intelligence to predict better, and identify and eliminate harmful malware. This is what takes a basic antivirus solution and improves it with Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) technology.

What’s The Difference Between Antivirus And EDR?

Antivirus software is used with other security technology to defend against malware, adware, and spyware. Each of these cybercriminal tactics has the potential to do immense damage to internal processes and a company’s reputation.

The job of antivirus software is to spot, block, and isolate intrusive, malicious applications so they can’t damage your data and legitimate software. Because of antivirus’ limited capabilities, it’s unprepared to deal with a range of modern cybercrime threats:

Advanced Threats

An antivirus’s ability to spot threats depends on prior knowledge of those threats. Cybercriminals can easily circumvent basic antivirus defenses as they evolve their attack methods.

Polymorphic Malware

Again, the signature-based tools that antivirus software relies on can be negated by employing malware that avoids known signatures.

Malicious Documents

Antivirus programs can’t spot a threat when disguised as a harmless document.

Fileless Malware

By executing its processes in-memory, malware can avoid being spotted by antivirus programs that only scan files.

Encrypted Traffic

Cybercriminals can also hide their activity in encrypted traffic, preventing your antivirus from noticing them.

Antivirus, known as endpoint protection, is installed to protect at the user level. It is designed to detect and block a virus or malware from taking root on a user’s computer or accessing a network to which the user is connected. On the other hand, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a cyber technology that continually monitors and responds to mitigate cyber threats.

What Will EDR Do That Your Antivirus Software Can’t?

EDR Capabilities

• Mitigate ransomware threats by rolling back devices to a pre-infection state.
• Detects and prevents current and emerging threats with continually updated and improved artificial intelligence (AI).
• Monitor your network in real time and any ongoing processes to prevent new threats from slipping in.

Antivirus Vulnerabilities

• No capability to roll back devices to a pre-infection state.
• It has no capability to identify new threats, leaving you unprepared to mitigate cybercriminals’ latest strategies.
• It presents an entry point for new threats from active cybercriminals.
• Daily or weekly scans are required to be effective, increasing your risks and potentially slowing down your device’s performance.

Defend Your Data With Nextgen EDR

Standard, free trial, consumer-grade cybersecurity solutions won’t cut it anymore. Not when it comes up against the types of malware that cybercriminals use today.

To stay safe, you need to invest in something more advanced. If you’re unsure of where to begin with EDR, don’t worry, you don’t have to handle it alone.

Radius Executive IT Solutions will help you assess your security needs, consider your IT budget, and develop a robust cybersecurity defense, including EDR.