A huge number of Windows servers are lacking proper security protection

Representational image depecting cybersecurity protection
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Roughly one in every five Windows servers is missing endpoint protection, meaning organizations of all sizes are risking various cybersecurity incidents, including ransomware. 

A report from Sevco Security, which analyzed data coming in from more than 500,000 IT assets, found that not only are businesses not taking proper care of their Windows servers, they’re also over-indexing on Windows client protection. 

Roughly one in ten (11%) of Windows clients are missing endpoint protection, the company said.

Macs missing endpoint protection, too

Overall, visibility seems to be a major issue, as the report claims 12% of all IT assets missing endpoint protection, while some 5% of IT assets were never even discovered by patch management solutions. 

When it comes to Macs, 12% of MacOS assets are missing endpoint protection, and are 2-3 times more likely to be missing patch management, compared to Windows clients and servers. In fact, 14% of MacOS devices don’t have patch management, compared to 5% for Windows servers, and 4% for Windows clients. 

Furthermore, there are many “stale” IT assets (these are visible as installed on endpoints but haven’t been checked for at least two weeks), further exacerbating cybersecurity risks. The report claims 3% of all IT assets are considered “stale” when it comes to endpoint protection, and 1% when it comes to patch management. 

“You can't protect what you can't see,” Sevco says. “Lack of visibility is the single biggest challenge facing security teams today, and this latest report identified a significant gap in the IT assets missing basic security tool protections. It also uncovers the more insidious threat of “stale” IT assets that act as ticking timebombs for enterprises.”

They’re described as “ticking timebombs”, as they pose as compliant assets when, in fact, they’re not, Sevco concluded.

Via: VentureBeat

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

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