As the old adage goes, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” Inspired by this piece of wisdom, some businesses have felt confident to protect their endpoints even with 8+ year old versions of antivirus software, 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 cyber threats, along with the increasingly capable actors taking interest in cyber-espionage and attacks, have dramatically shifted the balance, where the risks from not updating quickly tip in the wrong direction.
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, even 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.
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 a cloud-based, anti-ransomware protection called ESET Dynamic Threat Defense.
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.
For further information about the protective features offered in the latest product versions, read more here!
Customers who can’t upgrade?
Some enterprise customers cannot upgrade. A leading example of those include networks with specific hardware limitations. As such, our older products do have a lighter hardware footprint. 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 thought of being modular and updatable in the future). In cases where there are sufficient customers globally, sharing the same constraints, then ESET will create a light version of our endpoint for this category of customers. Please be reminded that we have put in place a 12-month transition period to update.
During the transition period: All products that have lost or will lose limited or basic support status will still receive module updates (including virus signature updates). For further information concerning your upgrade, support or to discuss any barriers your organization may face in upgrading, please contact your local IT support team.
If your company’s approach to updating antivirus software can be summed up by “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”, then maybe do not read this. Or do. Depending on how courageous you are.