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Most enterprise cyber attacks strike at the endpoints first, with nearly 70% of breaches hitting these devices, according to a report by IDC. These attacks find their footholds on poorly configured systems, outdated operating systems, unapproved software installs, or poor user behavior.
For years, endpoint security tools have attempted to rein these vulnerabilities in, but now a relatively new player attempts to distinguish itself through a more comprehensive approach to locking down systems and keeping them up to date.
Syxsense Secure bills itself as an “IT management and security solution that combines vulnerability scanning, patch management, and endpoint security in a single cloud console.” It’s a feature-rich product that empowers IT administrators to monitor and control endpoint systems, but how does it stack up to the competition?
The Endpoint Security Market
Endpoint protection is a large market, dominated by familiar names, like Kaspersky, Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft, and Trend Micro. As the number of remote devices rises in relation to remote workers, investments in antivirus softwares and endpoint security solutions continue to rise proportionally. The typical culprits of endpoint vulnerabilities include laptops and smartphones, but the rise in Internet of Things (IoT) devices creates new threats as well. While the U.S. occupies the top spot of this marketplace, China’s needs are growing rapidly, as the country modernizes its computing infrastructure. These problems aren’t going away, and even in a crowded security market, Syxsense has opportunities to distinguish itself.
Syxsense Key Features
Syxsense aims to combine threat detection and prevention, patch management, and remote management capabilities. From a single console, it can control Windows, Mac, and Linux devices. The system is cloud based, running in Microsoft Azure. Among its key features:
- Software Vulnerability Scanning: Detects out of date or unpatched software.
- Scanning for Security Compliance Violations and Open Threat Vectors: Syxsense is able to determine if inappropriate software is installed or running on a system, such as the popular gaming platform Steam, or even the launch of a browser-based gaming instance such as Fortnite. Syxsense can be configured to deactivate or uninstall this software or to merely send an alert to an administrator.
- Deploy Operating System and Third-Party Patches: Patching is intelligent, conducted in sequence, and can be scheduled to minimize footprint on end user.
- Deploy Windows 10 Feature Updates
- Patch Any Major OS
- Discovery and Inventory: Real-time device discovery as well as a device timeline and inventory history.
- Automated Scanning for Brute-Force Attack Vectors and User Account Violations
- Lockdown Insecure Passwords and Ineffective User Account Policies
- Remote Archiving of Unused Systems
- Device Quarantining: Infected or threatened devices can be quarantined, repaired, patched, and brought back online.
- At-a-Glance Auditing: Single pane inspection of device compliance and system health.
- Remote Control: Syxsense has a built-in RDP client and logs all RDP activity.
- Firewall Monitoring: Scans for open ports and disabled firewalls, can remotely reenable firewalls.
- Simple Collaboration: Through the cloud console, IT and security teams can automatically collaborate to identify and close attack vectors.
- Device Location Maps: Intuitively displays the location of all known devices.
- Unlimited User Accounts
- Voice/Artificial Intelligence (AI) Control
- Logical Air Gap Relays
Overall, these features give administrators simple yet powerful tools to enact and enforce policies, audit systems for compliance, and maintain software patching with the desired level of frequency. The software is also designed for compliance with major regulatory protocols, such as HIPAA, along with regulations that affect the banking and financial sector, such as Sarbanes Oxley, and laws governing the energy sector.
Use Case
Syxsense Security is a highly scalable endpoint security solution that’s easily monitored and managed by small IT teams. The software was built with remote work and stray devices in mind, rather than as a security measure for massive inventories of in-office computers. Companies with a predominantly remote workforce will want to consider Syxsense Security as a product highly tailored to their needs.
This is particularly true in the energy sector, where computing systems are distributed over vast geographic regions, and often left unmonitored. Oil pipeline operators may run thousands of miles of infrastructure, with sparse manpower stretched thin to monitor and maintain their assets. Pump houses and valve sites can run largely unattended, but the computers on these sites need to be protected and maintained by remote, often small IT teams. The real-time monitoring capabilities of Syxsense gives these teams quick insights and equally quick responsive capabilities, helping avoid another shutdown like the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack of 2021.
Differentiators
Syxsense leans heavily on the simplicity of its user interface, granting users at-a-glance management of remote systems, in real-time — whereas many of its competitors provide snapshot analysis of these systems. When it comes to patching systems, the company retains the update catalog, removing the need for the IT team to manually download patches and push them across the network. Remote desktop works well, even with off-network clients, so long as both computers are connected to the internet. Furthermore, the software is able to handle multiple operating systems from a single pane, without requiring additional bridges to make the whole thing work.
Ratings
Nearly 60 reviewers on Capterra have left a collective 4.6/5 rating for Syxsense. One of the most frequent items praised is the system’s web console, along with its ease of deployment, considering Syxsense is cloud based and does not require on-premises server configuration. Users are also impressed by the remote access feature and automatic patching. Some reviewers feel analysis paralysis, having been overwhelmed with the number of configuration options available to them. Many users switched to Syxsense because it is a cloud solution, and the product plays nicely with off-premises devices.
Some of Syxsense’s most notable customers include Goodwill, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Five Below, and Citizens National Bank.
Pricing
Syxsense Secure starts at $960 per year for 10 devices. For further pricing info, prospective customers may fill out a form on the company’s website to request a quote. Syxsense also offers a free, full-featured, 14-day trial period, good for up to 100,000 devices.
Conclusions
After the pandemic, we’ve scattered a zillion enterprise devices to the wind, creating an equal number of new vulnerabilities that will almost certainly be exploited without proactive action. There’s a clear need for what companies like Syxsense provides.
Syxsense rises to that challenge with a powerful endpoint protection solution, and one that is geared for the modern hybrid or remote workplace. It’s a comprehensive package, in that it attempts to be the world’s first security software that manages patching, endpoint security, and vulnerability scanning in a single cloud console. It’s a trusted name in sensitive fields like health care and finance and has glowing reviews from its current and past users. It exists among steep and entrenched competition, but Syxsense’s value proposition is a compelling one and definitely worth checking out.
