Endpoint Cybersecurity in the Saas World
In the early days of corporate IT, security was built around a perimeter with a corporate network protected by firewalls, VPNs, and on-premise infrastructure. But today, that perimeter is disappearing for more organisations at accelerated rate. More companies are moving entirely to “remote-first / coffee shop” model with primarily Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and cloud-native collaboration platforms, while employees access resources from anywhere and on any device.
Most organisation adapted to hybrid work environment and reduced the size of on-prem and IaaS Clouds with traditional network boundaries shrinking or totally disappearing, yet cyber threats haven’t gone away. Instead, attackers maximise their ROI and target the weakest links: users and the endpoints themselves. Social engineering is harder to execute and less predictable than many other techniques. Endpoints have become the de facto front door to corporate data and assets that can go undetected for much longer.
The Growing Importance of Endpoint Security
Endpoint security solutions are designed to protect devices as they interact with cloud services, users, identities and corporate data. Without strong endpoint defence, attackers can exploit unpatched vulnerabilities, execute ransomware and many other nasty things.
Because endpoints represent the primary attack surface in distributed environments, robust endpoint security is not just part of a corporate defence — it is the primary defence. This shift is acknowledged across the industry: endpoint security is now central to modern cybersecurity strategies, even as companies adopt zero-trust approaches and cloud-centric architectures.
Default Tools & MDR Services
Many organizations rely on built-in tools like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint as a baseline. Defender provides next-generation antivirus, threat detection, and response capabilities. For many companies, especially those without large security teams, this tool offers sufficient foundational protection.
However, Defender like any endpoint product is only as strong as the experts that manages it. That’s where Managed Detection and Response (MDR) comes in.
MDR is a service model that combines technology with expert human threat hunters who monitor, detect, investigate, and respond to threats on your behalf. These services typically include:
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting.
- Threat hunting and prioritisation.
- Investigation and guided remediation.
- Expertise without having to build an internal SOC.
Many well-known security vendors including Sophos, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and others offer MDR packages either bundled with their platforms or as a service that can work with virtually any existing tool like Defender. MDR is particularly useful for organisations that lack deep security staffing or want to bring in external expertise to help them to manage endpoints correctly.
MDR adoption is accelerating as organisations recognise that detection and response are not just prevention. It allows organisations to step-up their cybersecurity posture without team expansion.
A Fundamentally Different Approach: Allowlisting (Deny-by-Default)
Most endpoint solutions whether traditional antivirus, EDR, or MDR are still largely reactive or detective in nature: they look for known malicious patterns, anomalous behaviours, or threat indicators, often using AI/ML to spot unusual activity.
A fundamentally different model is application allowlisting often described as a deny-by-default approach.
Allowlisting means that only explicitly trusted applications, scripts, and executables are allowed to run everything else is blocked by default. If it’s not on the trusted list, it simply won’t execute.
This proactive prevention model doesn’t rely on signatures, AI, or behavioural analysis to identify threats. Instead, it reduces the attack surface by default including zero-day exploits, ransomware, and unknown malware because they’re never got a space to run in the first place.
Platforms like Airlock Digital offer allowlisting with scalability even in air-gapped networks and provide ease of exceptions management (e.g., One-Time Passwords) to smooth organisational needs.
Allowlisting technologies like this have been recommended by security frameworks (including NIST and other models) because they proactively block unknown and emerging threats outside a “cat and mouse” usual game.
MDR vs Allowlisting: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Endpoint approaches like MDR and allowlisting address different security needs and they can be complementary:
| Capability | MDR | Allowlisting |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Goal | Detect + respond to threats in real time | Prevent unknown/untrusted code from running |
| Approach | Reactive + detective | Proactive + preventative |
| Human Expertise | Central to service model | Policy management focused |
| Best For | Organizations needing 24/7 monitoring | High-security environments needing strict control at scale |
While MDR excels when you need expert analysis against sophisticated threats, allowlisting prevents those threats from ever executing. In an era where zero-day exploits and fileless attacks are common, many security leaders see allowlisting as a powerful complement.
CISOs recognise that detection must be paired with prevention. Tools that block execution of unknown software (allowlisting) alongside detection and rapid response (MDR) produce stronger outcomes.
As companies abandon the old corporate perimeter and embrace cloud-native, remote-first operations, endpoint security has risen as the cornerstone of modern cybersecurity.
- Built-in tools like Microsoft Defender provide solid baseline protection and integrate well into existing SaaS ecosystems.
- Managed Detection and Response (MDR) bring expert detection, analysis, and remediation that are essential for organisations without large in-house teams.
- Allowlisting represents a preventive shift that blocks threats before they execute stopping zero-day and unknown attacks without relying on detection alone.
A good endpoint security lies in a combined approach of blending prevention (allowlisting), detection (EDR/MDR/XDR), and ultimately defend the business.
Talk to our experts to find what might work best for your organisation. https://www.virtualgraffiti.com.au/contact.php