When Security Hands You Drawbacks, Redraw Your Security
The explosive growth of device mobility, then BYOD, and now unmanaged connected devices all stand out as inflection points for cybersecurity. That's because new technologies almost always outpace the ability of security organizations to keep up.
Take, for example, where we're at today. Traditionally, IT and security solutions that provide endpoint monitoring capabilities require that an agent be installed on the device to be monitored. These agents will record the local device's activity from a network, application, and operating system perspective and then forward that information to a monitoring server.
While agent technique is effective, it has several drawbacks:
- Agents have to be deployed and managed.
- Agents with configuration errors or agents that aren't running or were never installed (or uninstalled!) can't collect device data to assess risk and threats.
- Agents typically only run on supported operating systems (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, etc.), and most IoT, medical, and OT/ICS devices don't run on those operating systems.
This situation leaves devices like IP Cameras, printers, PLCs invisible to security teams with no monitoring capabilities. But with an agentless security solution, the ability to monitor all devices, regardless of type or OS, does not have these limitations.
How our agentless visibility and security platform works
The Armis platform's agentless monitoring capabilities allow customers to quickly discover, monitor and assess all devices—regardless of device type. The capability to discover and monitor any device is important, as threat actors are now targeting unmanaged and IoT devices to gain a foothold in an organization to launch their attacks. In addition, without the need to leverage and install agents, deployment of the Armis platform is simple and quick – providing immediate, low-friction insights into Armis discoveries and the overall value of the platform.
The Armis platform uses the infrastructure and tools you already have instead of complicated agents. It analyzes wired and wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) network traffic to detect, identify, and classify devices. And it pulls in information from your IT and security tools to provide a single view of every thing. And, by analyzing all device traffic passively, the Armis platform can also assess device risks and threats in real-time. This analysis provides critical insights like device category, type, Operating system, etc.). This information helps provide complete visibility into what a device is, what it's doing, and its inherent risks and threats to the organization. The platform even performs deep packet inspection to add a layer of security by detecting behavior that might indicate some kind of compromise.
Armis leverages its proprietary Device Knowledgebase— which is currently tracking over one billion devices worldwide. The knowledgebase also eliminates the need for any learning or baselining periods, so customers can get started seeing value right away. And since the Armis platform does not require agents, it removes the burden and risk of deploying agents across the environment and constantly ensuring that agents are operational and up-to-date.
You can learn more about Armis and our platform at armis.com.