Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Security: Complete 2025 Guide

What is EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform)?

Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) are integrated security solutions designed to protect endpoints—devices such as desktops, laptops, servers, and mobile devices—from cyber threats. EPP combines multiple layers of protection, including antivirus, anti-malware, intrusion prevention, and EDR security, into a single endpoint protection platform, making it easier to manage and deploy security policies across an organization.

EPP solutions typically use signature-based detection to identify known threats and employ behavioral analysis or machine learning to detect new or unknown malware. They also provide tools for device management, threat monitoring, and response capabilities, often integrating with other enterprise security systems for comprehensive protection.

By consolidating these features, EPP helps organizations reduce the risk of endpoint-based attacks, streamline security operations, and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.

Why Are EPPs Important in Cybersecurity?

Endpoints represent the most vulnerable components of any network, primarily because they are the access points that connect users to the system. Each endpoint—whether a desktop, laptop, mobile device, or server—is a potential entry point for cyberattacks. This vulnerability arises from two factors: the diversity of devices and the variability in users’ cybersecurity awareness.

The human factor is a significant challenge in endpoint security. Employees may have varying levels of IT security knowledge, with some recognizing and avoiding threats like phishing emails, while others unknowingly compromise security by downloading malicious software or using insecure networks. For example, an employee might connect to the company’s network using an outdated device over unsecured public WiFi, exposing the system to potential attacks. With hundreds or thousands of endpoints accessing the network, each user-device combination becomes a unique security risk.

The large number and diversity of endpoints create a broad attack surface for cybercriminals. Even if most employees follow security protocols, a single misstep by one user can jeopardize the entire network. This is where an Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) proves critical. By centralizing the monitoring and management of all endpoints, EPP solutions help organizations mitigate risks effectively. They ensure that threats can be detected and addressed quickly, preventing potential breaches and minimizing the impact of human error on overall security.

EPP Security Features

EPP aims to prevent and block a wide range of threats, by providing:

• Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV) – detects and blocks new types of malware, and malware that evades detection by modifying its binary signature.
• User and Event Behavioral Analytics – to detect anomalous or suspicious behavior on an endpoint, and other measures to block evolving threats.
• Application control, browser control and whitelisting – restricts and blocks certain applications and websites on the endpoint.
• Device control and compliance – enables security teams to remotely control endpoints, gather data from endpoints for auditing, investigation and compliance purposes, and enforce policies.
• Sandbox – an isolated location on the device where potential malware can be contained, analyzed and “detonated” in a way that does not threaten the rest of the device.

EPP vs. EDR: What Is the Difference?

While Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions both aim to secure endpoints, they serve different purposes and operate in complementary ways.

Purpose and Focus

EPP focuses on prevention, aiming to stop cyber threats before they compromise an endpoint. Its primary role is to block malware, ransomware, and other common threats using preemptive techniques like signature-based detection, machine learning, and behavioral analysis.

EDR is designed to detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents that have bypassed initial defenses. It provides deep visibility into endpoint activity, enabling security teams to identify and mitigate threats that may have slipped through.

Proactive vs. Reactive Approaches

EPP employs a proactive approach, aiming to minimize the chance of an attack occurring in the first place. EDR takes a reactive approach, addressing threats that have already breached the system by analyzing their impact and facilitating remediation.

Integration and Usage

Modern organizations often deploy EPP and EDR solutions together. Many advanced EPP solutions now include EDR capabilities, offering a unified platform for prevention, detection, and response. This integration allows organizations to streamline endpoint security management while reducing the complexity of using separate tools.

Which Types of Attacks Can EPP Prevent?

Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) are designed to safeguard endpoints from a wide variety of cyberattacks. By combining multiple security measures, EPP solutions help prevent threats ranging from traditional malware to sophisticated, evolving attack vectors. Below are the primary types of attacks that EPP solutions can mitigate:

Malware and Ransomware

EPP solutions use signature-based detection, heuristic analysis, and machine learning to identify and block malicious software, including viruses, worms, Trojans, and ransomware. Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV) capabilities allow EPPs to detect malware variants and zero-day threats that evade traditional antivirus systems.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing remains one of the most common attack vectors targeting endpoints. EPP solutions help block phishing attempts by monitoring email traffic, inspecting web links, and identifying suspicious behavior in real-time, preventing users from interacting with fraudulent sites or downloading malicious files.

Exploitation of Software Vulnerabilities

Cybercriminals often exploit unpatched software vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to endpoints. EPP solutions can reduce this risk by incorporating application control and browser security features, which restrict the use of vulnerable applications and limit access to potentially harmful websites.

Insider Threats

Behavioral analytics integrated into EPP solutions detect abnormal user activities that may indicate insider threats or compromised credentials. By monitoring deviations in user behavior, EPPs can prevent malicious or unintentional actions that could jeopardize security.

Fileless Attacks

Fileless malware leverages legitimate tools and processes within an operating system to carry out attacks without leaving traditional malware files behind. EPP solutions detect these threats through behavioral analysis and event correlation, blocking malicious activities even in the absence of detectable files.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

EPP solutions employ sandboxing and threat intelligence integration to detect and neutralize stealthy attacks like APTs, which often unfold over extended periods. These features allow security teams to isolate, analyze, and mitigate complex threats before they can cause significant damage.

Unauthorized Access Attempts

Device control and compliance features in EPP solutions help prevent unauthorized access by enforcing strict policies on device usage, such as disabling removable storage or ensuring only authorized users can access sensitive data.

By addressing this diverse range of threats, EPP solutions play a vital role in maintaining the security and integrity of organizational networks, reducing the likelihood of breaches and minimizing their impact.

How to Choose the Right EPP Solution

Before evaluating EPP solutions, do some research about your needs:

• Take an inventory of your endpoints and understand which operating systems they are running, which are the applications most commonly used by your users.
• Investigate which threats have affected your company and industry in the recent path. Decide if fileless attack prevention and EDR are a priority for you.
• Understand which existing tools you have (for example, firewall, threat intelligence platform, SIEM) and how the EPP solution could integrate with them.
• Understand how many endpoints you have, now and in the foreseeable future, and what will be the license price for EPP, which may depend on capabilities used

Capabilities checklist
Create a checklist and identify which solution has the capabilities that are most significant for you:

Learn more in our detailed guide to advanced endpoint protection.

Endpoint Protection—Prevention, Detection and Protection with Cynet 360

Cynet 360 is a security solution that includes a complete Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP), including Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV), device firewall, advanced EDR security capabilities and automated incident response. The Cynet solution goes beyond endpoint protection, offering network analytics, UEBA and deception technology.

Cynet’s platform includes:

• NGAV—blocks malware, exploits, LOLBins, Macros, malicious scripts, and other known and unknown malicious payloads.
• Zero-day protection—uses User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) to detect suspicious activity and block unknown threats.
• Monitoring and control—asset management, endpoint vulnerability assessments and application control, with auditing, logging and monitoring.
• Response orchestration—automated playbooks and remote manual action for remediating endpoints, networks and user accounts affected by an attack.
• Deception technology—lures attackers to a supposedly vulnerable honeypot, mitigating damage and gathering useful intelligence about attack techniques.
• Network analytics—identifying lateral movement, suspicious connections and unusual logins.

Learn more about the Cynet 360 security platform.