BRATISLAVA — May 9, 2024 — ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, has been included in Forrester’s Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) Solutions Landscape report, Q1 2024. Forrester, a respected analyst firm, provides an overview of 16 vendors in the field, including ESET, which, in our opinion, makes ESET a valuable player in this established market.

The importance of mobile malware protection is highlighted in the Forrester’s MTD Solutions Landscape report,¹ which states: “Mobile devices are just as vulnerable to attacks as traditional endpoints like laptops and servers, whether through malicious applications, operating system (OS) vulnerabilities, phishing through messaging applications unique to mobile devices, or web-based attacks.” The report also emphasizes the comprehensive capabilities of MTD solutions designed to protect mobile devices with a level of rigor traditionally reserved for enterprises.

This inclusion comes shortly after the successful launch of the ESET’s Mobile Threat Defense module, a testament to ESET’s commitment to advancing mobile security. The module integrates seamlessly with the ESET PROTECT Platform, ensures comprehensive coverage of the mobile fleet attack vector with a one-to-one ratio to endpoints, and is included in all cloud subscription tiers starting from ESET PROTECT Advanced with no increase in price. This integration ensures unified security management and eliminates the need to juggle multiple consoles or platforms.

“The recognition in Forrester’s MTD Solutions Landscape report underscores for us the necessity of robust mobile threat defense in today’s security ecosystem,” explained Jakub Debski, Chief Product Officer at ESET. “With remote work expanding the scope of corporate networks, mobile devices have become prime targets for attackers. Our Mobile Threat Defense module not only addresses traditional threats but also adapts to the unique characteristics and challenges of mobile platforms, offering a solution that is both comprehensive and compliant with the evolving market needs.”

The report outlines three core and five extended use cases that underline the critical focus areas for organizations looking to strengthen their mobile security. Support for remote work, bring your own device policies, and mobile app security has been identified as core use cases, which are primary buyer expectations. Beyond these, the analysts have noted extended use cases like compliance assurance, contractor security, executive protection, and Zero Trust endpoint security. While not all MTD solutions cover these extended areas, they represent growing buyer interests alongside the core functionalities. ESET self-reported the extended use cases of compliance assurance, executive protection, and mobile knowledge worker as the top use cases for which clients select them.

For more information about ESET and its recently launched ESET Mobile Threat Defense module, please read here. The full report is available to Forrester clients with a valid subscription or for purchase.

¹Forrester: Mobile Threat Defense Solutions Landscape, Q1 2024. Paddy Harrington and Team. March 18, 2024

The continued shift to hybrid work (and play) marked a significant departure from pandemic norms. While health protocols reverted, the digital realm saw enduring changes. Amidst this transformation, security has emerged as a crucial but often overlooked aspect of personal and business computing, joining (speed) processor power as a significant factor in users upgrading PCs.

And, despite the recent passing of co-founder Gordon Moore, Intel has continued to advance in its approach to innovation, including prioritization of attributes like security and efficiency, which speak to the needs of modern computing.

Looking back, PC sales surged during the peak of COVID restrictions in 2020 and 2021.¹ They saw a significant decline by 13.7% in 2022 and the first half of 2023 as restrictions eased, according to International Data Corporation data from August 2023.

This post-COVID normalization of PC sales may have served to mask a notable transformation underway in the form of hardware-based threat detection. For the past several years, business PCs have shipped with Intel Threat Detection Technology (Intel TDT), providing an added layer of security. This enhanced protection may already be integrated into your endpoint security software, which when paired with an Intel vPro powered machine can deliver an effective hardware plus software solution, helping to keep you safe from advanced threats.

<image1. Canalys estimates (sell-in), PC Analysis, January 2024>

Enabling security directly from the silicon layer adds a hardware ‘eye’ for malicious payloads like cryptomining and ransomware by applying AI to low-level silicon data for runtime threat execution monitoring. Intel is the world’s only chipmaker that has developed the capability to enable CPU-level telemetry to assist endpoint security software from leading vendors.

In order to avoid potential strain on computing resources from AI computations, Intel’s optimization of Intel TDT can shift compute-intensive workloads from the CPU to the integrated GPU, allowing threat detection to operate at high performance, while ensuring little to no impact on the end user’s other critical tasks. Integration with endpoint security software like ESET PROTECT also allows for shared detections, enhancing security for PC fleets.

When coupled with modern endpoint software like ESET PROTECT, recognized for its low impact on performance, low false positives rates, and multi-layered technology fed by industry-leading malware and threat research, security receives an immediate boost. While PC fleets with integrated security are becoming increasingly widespread in 2024, the ongoing demand for compute power highlights that security remains a journey, especially in the context of the demanding hybrid work model, which introduces new threats and demands for both processor power and efficiency.

Intel engineers aim to establish collective security through Intel TDT’s integration with leading security software vendors, delivering scalable protections primarily tailored for business fleets. ESET, with millions of business endpoints in the SMB segment alone, integrated Intel TDT with ESET PROTECT in March 2022 via ESET Endpoint Security. This integration allows the ESET detection engine to co-validate threats with Intel TDT, leveraging ESET’s telemetry and both protection and prevention capabilities, and simultaneously ensuring high efficacy security without compromising system performance.

The collaboration extends from select 9th Gen Intel® Core™ processors to the latest Intel® Core™ Ultra processors, leveraging improved hardware telemetry capabilities in Intel’s processors for enhanced threat monitoring. These enhanced detections leveraging TDT’s CPU telemetry + AI-based technology and ESET Endpoint Security provide an additional layer of security for SMBs, augmenting ESET’s multilayered security solution without requiring additional micromanagement by security admins.

Hybrid work necessitates steady advances in performance, efficiency, and security, which means that Moore’s Law remains relevant in supporting these demands, particularly with hardware-based security. While updates to processors still prioritize performance, there’s a noticeable shift toward deploying multicore solutions with distinct cores built for performance and those built for power efficiency.

In March 2023, IDC recognized Intel’s success in advocating for a PC refresh to enhance the end-user experience, elevate remote management capabilities, and establish a layered defense between hardware and software² via Intel TDT. Furthermore, this alignment with modern work methods, such as hybrid work arrangements and online collaboration, enhances productivity while keeping efficiency and security in mind, without a compromise.

Regarding security, IDC also highlights the effectiveness of Intel vPro’s hardware-based AI threat detection and silicon-based Windows 11 virtualization in improving detection efficacy while reducing a computer’s attack surface.

In conclusion, the integration of ESET PROTECT with Intel TDT reflects a collaborative shift in the cybersecurity landscape, offering opportunities for wider integration among hardware and software providers. IDC emphasizes that modern endpoint security extends beyond software products, encompassing collaboration among various stakeholders in the ecosystem. This collaborative approach is timely, given the evolving cybersecurity needs of hybrid work environments, collaboration tools, and cloud services.

While the holistic approach demonstrated by the ESET – Intel integration is delivering immediate value to ESET’s customers, it also underscores the importance of incorporating enhanced prevention and protection measures when refreshing PC fleets for hybrid work. ESET R&D teams are collaborating with Intel to leverage future generations of processors to ensure the best of hardware and software are working together to deliver robust security solutions.

¹Forbes, July 10, 2020 – Gartner’s preliminary PC sales results for the second quarter of 2020 show huge gains for several of the leading PC makers, not least HP, which saw sales increase by 17.1% year-on-year to push the company within a whisker of reclaiming its spot as the world’s biggest maker. Lenovo clings to that title, shipping 16.197m units in the quarter to HP’s 16.165m.

²IDC, Quick Take, Can your PCs deliver the end-user experience, manageability, and security you need now and in the future?, #lcUS50531323; March 2023

BRATISLAVA — May 3, 2024 — Experts from ESET joined with the combined team of the Slovak Republic and Hungary militaries to participate in Locked Shields 2024 – the biggest and most complex cyber defense exercise in the world. The live-fire exercise, involving 40 countries, saw ESET contribute security solutions and more than 50 experts to a number of tactical teams, ensuring a top-flight position for the central European country which participates in the annual exercise run by NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE). 

With collaboration being the focus of the 14th annual exercise (the slogan being “Cooperation Is Our Protection”), ESET supplied the Slovak-Hungarian team with defensive capabilities which particularly contributed to the team’s top three placings in cyber threat intelligence, client-side protection, forensics and strategic communications, taking home an overall 4th place position among the 18 participating teams made up of similar cross-country units.

The Slovak-Hungarian team successfully followed its strategic objectives and was built not only on expertise and state-of-the-art security technologies, but most importantly on communication and intensive cooperation between the participants, who worked together to defend the vital infrastructure of fictitious country Berylia in the face of massive cyber attacks designed to cripple the country and create public unrest.

“Locked Shields promotes the concept that collaboration is one of NATO’s greatest strengths – increasing the level of protection for all member states, their people, businesses and critical infrastructure,” said Juraj Malcho, CTO of ESET.  “ESET is proud to support the Slovak Ministry of Defense in this live fire exercise, by providing experts in cyber security, forensics, threat intelligence, legal and strategic communications, as well as our XDR cybersecurity platform ESET PROTECT. Together, we are stronger against any powerful adversary wishing to cause disruption.”

The Slovak team was led by the Cyber Defense Center of Slovak Military Intelligence. During the exercise, the Slovak government sector was represented by experts from the ministries of defense, finance, interior, transport, and foreign affairs. ESET’s experts and technologies contributed to the rapid detection and response to cyberattacks. Experts from the Slovak branch of Palo Alto Networks and Orange Slovensko a.s. also helped with both securing and management of the infrastructure. The team dealing with cyberspace legal challenges was led by an expert from SIGNUM legal s.r.o. talented students and their professors from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Comenius University in Bratislava, the Armed Forces Academy of general Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and young Slovak talents studying at foreign universities also came to support the national team.