Protecting the Perimeter: How Intel Empowers Endpoint Security

We’ve discussed the six domains of endpoint security for government as well as the role of Zero trust in enterprise security. Central to bolstering both endpoint and enterprise security? The human perimeter. In this final blog of this series, we’ll explore how agencies can fortify their cyber defense strategies by securing the “human factor” and how technology partners like Intel can help.

What Agencies Can Do to Bolster the “Human Perimeter”

Endpoint and enterprise security require the technical implementation of controls including multi-factor authentication and better tooling. While the technological solutions to help advance such capabilities are critical to government cybersecurity, agencies can’t forget to invest in their employees as the “human perimeter.”

Realistically, your agency will never be able to turn every end user into a security guru. The end goal is to help them be a better operator through the right education and training, so they’re equipped to both identify malicious activity as well as targeted social engineering scams to help reduce the occurrence of successful cyberattacks.

When considering your Zero Trust strategy, think of training end users so they’re less of an inhibitor and more of an enabler. Train them to understand why they need to be authenticated continuously. Help them understand how Zero Trust can empower them to do their jobs with an extra layer of security throughout their workflows. Otherwise, they will find ways to work around any controls they feel are inhibiting their productivity through shadow IT.

3 Ways Intel Can Help Agencies Empower Endpoint Security

How does Intel help agencies implement better end point security and risk mitigation? It all goes back to the six key domains of cybersecurity. The technologies we’re building into our chipsets, our software, and ecosystems hit all those key tenants.

We can help your agency advance your Zero Trust strategies by integrating security features deep into the platform, so users don’t have to see it. For example, low-level instruction features lock down the OS as well as lock down hypervisors so you’re secure and removing potential threats from the get-go. This creates a more secure foundation for Zero Trust.

Additionally, here are three ways Intel can partner with your agency to empower the human perimeter as well as your endpoint and enterprise security:

• Hardware-Based Security Features: Intel has embedded advanced security features directly into its hardware. This approach provides a solid foundation for endpoint security. We develop processors and chipsets that integrate robust security mechanisms such as secure boot, hardware-accelerated encryption, and control-flow execution enforcement. These features provide foundational security controls to help reduce and mitigate risks for government systems, making them more resilient against cyber threats.
• Threat Intelligence and Machine Learning: Intel client platforms provide hardware-based threat detection technology (TDT) that can detect anomalous behaviors and malware activity at the CPU level, where malicious code can’t hide. TDT uses CPU telemetry along with machine learning algorithms to identify unusual or malicious software execution. TDT provides security ISV software, such as EDR or AV, with alerts on malicious software activities and can identify Ransomware, Crypto-jacking, APTs, and software supply chain threats. Intel TDT also supports hardware accelerated memory scanning as a key tool in detecting fileless attacks and malicious code before it has a chance to gain persistence and stealth on a system.
• Below the OS defenses: Intel platforms come with built-in security controls that protect operating systems, hypervisors, applications, and user transactions using state-of-the-art techniques to enforce isolation, execution flows, integrity, and confidentiality. These features are pre-enabled into the OS and applications and provide a strong foundation of security for users and enterprises often without the need of the user or IT to configure or be aware of the protections that are in place.

Intel can help your agency through advanced solutions to protect critical systems and data. However, investing in your end users and bolstering the human perimeter first will be critical to the success of any endpoint, enterprise, and overall Zero Trust strategy.

Ready to take your enterprise and endpoint security to the next level? Reach out to see how our team of experts at Iron Bow Technologies and partners like Intel can help.