As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Inspired by this piece of wisdom, some businesses have felt confident in protecting their endpoints even with versions of antivirus software that are more than eight years old, so long as business operations could continue unaffected. After all, they’ve all heard the horror stories of update failures.
That might have worked in previous times, when computer viruses were still in fledgling form. But the rapidly evolving nature of cyberthreats, along with the increasingly capable actors taking interest in cyberespionage and attacks, have dramatically shifted the balance, and now the risks from not updating quickly tip in the wrong direction.
To address this, ESET has endeavored to simplify its product offering via a new End of Life (EOL) Policy. At present, ESET still supports version 4 of ESET Endpoint Security, a product that was built back in 2009. Surprised? Some enterprises with a penchant for the antique continue to cling to version 4 for dear life. Eleven years on, ESET Endpoint Security version 7.3, freshly released this May, packs a powerful punch of protection, truly unmatched by 2009 technology. In response to the threatscape, we’ve added seven critical features that are not even implemented in the more recent version 6.5.
Learn more about remotely managing your upgraded endpoints here.
For some, a step; for others … a leap
These aren’t bells and whistles; they are powerful technologies and transformative integrations that include Windows updates day 1 compatibility, an advanced machine learning endpoint-based module, deep behavioral inspection, brute-force attack protection, UEFI scanner, and both an endpoint-based ransomware shield and ESET Dynamic Threat Defense, which offers cloud-based anti-ransomware protection.
See additional information about the protective features offered in the latest product versions here.
Managed service providers (MSPs) will also experience an immediate improvement in service via the upgrade to ESET MSP Administrator 2 (EMA2). All active license holders of EMA1 will have access to extended protection via two-factor authentication (2FA) and ESET Full Disk Encryption (EFDE). Further efficiencies are also made possible via an automatic structural sync with the ESET Security Management Center integration with EMA2.
Again, the new EOL Policy is there to simplify our product offer and to improve security for all ESET customers. At the same time, we understand that every business or institution has challenges that are unique to its vertical and/or area of operation.
Customers who can’t upgrade
Some enterprise customers cannot upgrade; a leading example are those whose networks have specific hardware limitations. Other customers run software built for purpose-specific devices like ATMs, POS terminals and assembly lines (designed with long life spans in mind, and without having been designed to be modular or updatable in the future). As such, while our older products do have a slightly lower hardware footprint than the current ESET offerings, our latest software continues to be recognized as among the lightest (aka “low-impact“) on the market as recognized by several independent tests. In cases where there are sufficient customers globally, sharing the same constraints, ESET will be discussing alternatives with the customers to ensure they continue to be protected with the most up-to-date technologies from ESET.
*Please be advised that we have put in place a 12-month transition period to upgrade.
During the transition period: All products that have lost or will lose limited or basic support status will still receive module updates (including detection updates). For further information concerning your upgrade, to get support or to discuss any barriers your organization may face in upgrading, please contact your local IT support team.