In the spirit of 2015 planning, now is the time of year when IT teams start to tackle big, complicated issues like: What are the coming situational issues surrounding the security of our data? How are we as an organization really doing in securing our valuable information today? What do we need to do in the future to do better? How will we pay for it?
From BYOD to Windows XP end of life, there is no shortage of situational issues. Meanwhile, the bad guys are getting better and data breaches around the world and across industries are significantly affecting the bottom line. Planning for improved security in 2015 is no easy task.
Some IT departments will look to invest in new approaches. That’s why Lumension has partnered with analyst and President of Securosis, Mike Rothman, for the 2015 Endpoint and Mobile Security Buyer’s Guide. In addition to outlining some of the hot issues and recommended strategies, Rothman also outlines 10 questions every buying IT department should ask vendors to receive the best value for your money.
Click through for 10 questions IT departments should ask vendors to receive the best value and security for your money, provided Lumension in partnership with Securosis.
What specific controls do you offer for endpoint management? Can the policies for all controls be managed via your console? How do policies differ based on device type? (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.)
Does your organization have an in-house research team? How does their work make your endpoint security product better?
How do you handle Zero-day malware? What about dormant malware that doesn’t execute immediately?
What products, devices, and applications can be patched with the offering? How quickly after the vendor issues a patch can we install it in our environment?
What standards and/or benchmarks are offered out of the box with your configuration management offering?
What kind of agentry is required for your products? Is the agent persistent or dissolvable? How are updates distributed to managed devices? How do you ensure agents are not tampered with? How do you handle mobile, remote, and disconnected devices?
How do you support mobile devices and/or virtual desktops (VDI)? Do you offer any capabilities specifically to handle employee-owned devices (BYOD)? Do you do anything to manage applications on endpoint devices?
Where does your management console run? Do we need a dedicated appliance? What kind of hierarchical management do you support? How customizable is the management interface?
What kinds of reports are available out of the box? What is involved in customizing specific reports?
What have you done to ensure the security of your platform? Is strong authentication supported? Have you performed a penetration test on your console? Does your engineering team use any kind of secure software development process?
