Ben Franklin’s Endpoint Security Advice

Ben Franklin dished out some pretty good security advice in his day. In fact, he was one of the most well known security professionals of his time. Many of you may realize it was Franklin that coined the saying ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ but what you might not know is the origin of that phrase. It was actually something you, as a security professional, are very accustomed to - firefighting advice. For the residents of Philadelphia, fires were a huge problem in the 1700’s. If someone lost their home to fire they would often suffer irreversible economic damage. So, in 1736, Franklin organized Philadelphia’s Union Fire Company to respond to fires. Later, in 1752, Franklin also helped to create the Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire. This was fire insurance to protect against a complete economic collapse in the event a home or business was destroyed by fire. We still have fire insurance, and insurance of all kinds, to protect us against loss.
But, what about fire insurance for your network endpoints? What if you experience a breach of your network endpoints and your valuable data is stolen? Would you suffer irreversible economic damage? Would you recover from such an incident and be able to continue with your business? Just like the Philadelphia residents back in the 1700’s, (continue reading...)