IT Managers Say Price Most Important When Buying Endpoint Security

New research reveals IT security pros' viewpoints on SMB security practices

Clearwater, FL /PRNewswire/ - More than 70 percent of SMB IT managers say budget considerations have forced them to compromise on security features when purchasing endpoint security according to a new, exclusive survey by VIPRE®. Overall, price was the top factor in endpoint security purchases (chosen by 53 percent of respondents), followed by ease of use (47 percent), feature set (41 percent), support (34 percent), advanced detection technology (31 percent), cloud-based management (29 percent) and ransomware (21 percent).

Overconfidence Reigns
The survey reveals that many IT managers are ambivalent about purchasing advanced security features, perhaps minimizing the actual risk their companies face and making them a bit overconfident about the protection they do purchase.

For example, 90 percent of respondents say they can afford advanced protection but only 31 percent consider that when selecting their endpoint security. In fact, 48 percent of respondents agreed with this statement: "An organization of my size does not need endpoint security with advanced malware defense capabilities."

"SMB IT managers need to better recognize the security dangers facing their organizations," said Usman Choudhary, chief product officer at VIPRE. "Ransomware alone was responsible for $1 billion in cyber-extortion payments last year, according to the FBI, but only 21 percent of survey respondents considered ransomware as a factor when they purchased endpoint security. We understand that price and budgets are a factor but forgoing advanced protection features such as those available through VIPRE can put a company at risk."

More Than Half Would Negotiate with Ransomware Attackers
As ransomware attacks and awareness of the threat increases, 53 percent of respondents would recommend negotiating a payment to the attackers. This represents a significant increase from a 2015 survey where only 30 percent of IT security pros said they would negotiate. The current study also noted that 82 percent of companies suffering a cyber attack in the last year would negotiate a ransomware attack.

Despite a willingness to negotiate a ransomware attack, 83 percent of respondents said they would personally guarantee that their customers' data would be safe in 2017, up from 81 percent two years ago. Interestingly, 88 percent of companies breached over the last year would guarantee protection and 100 percent of those who have been breached over the last five years would do the same—indicating that those companies have strengthened their defenses, but might still believe they wouldn't be hit again.

Senior Leaders Instigate Malware Attacks
With ransomware on the rise, perhaps it is no surprise that phishing attacks remain the most pervasive cybersecurity threat. About 45 percent of IT managers have had to remove malware from an executive's computer due to phishing, a figure that rises to 56 percent for larger companies (351-500 employees).

Meanwhile, survey respondents also cited visits to porn websites (26 percent), letting a family member use a company-owned device (22 percent), attaching an infected USB stick or phone (22 percent) and installing a malicious app (21 percent) as reasons they had to remove malware. Only 25 percent said they have never been asked to remove malware from an executive's computer.

IT Managers Divided by Trump Administration, And More
Among other findings of the survey:

• Roughly 40 percent of respondents believe cybersecurity will become more difficult in the Trump administration, while 40 percent believe it will be less difficult. 19 percent believe there will be no change.
• Nearly 80 percent feel they have a strong grasp over security because they have enough in-house resources to manage endpoint security and other security solutions.
• More than 60 percent believe free endpoint security products provide enough protection for "organizations of my size," but 90 percent have more confidence in products they buy than those available for free.
• Approximately 67 percent said security products are too complex, including 94 percent of companies that suffered a breach in the past year.

"It's clear that IT managers have a lot to consider when choosing an endpoint security solution—cost, functionality, complexity to name a few. Simplifying those important issues were instrumental in the development of our VIPRE Advanced Security for Business solution, providing our customers with the most advanced next generation machine learning at the lowest cost in the market," said Choudhary.

"Most solutions are too difficult to manage and may lead to vulnerabilities, even if those IT managers are confident in their ability to protect important data. VIPRE makes it easier for organizations to select, deploy and manage their endpoint security offering complete protection against malware, ransomware and other advanced threats."

About VIPRE
VIPRE delivers the best protection at the best price. It is the top-rated, award-winning endpoint security product for small and medium businesses, and home users. VIPRE is powered by next-generation advanced machine learning, one of the world's largest threat intelligence clouds and real-time behavior monitoring to protect millions of users from ransomware, zero-day attacks, phishing, exploit kits, mobile threats and other malware that easily evade traditional signature-based antivirus. Easy to use, simple to license and available at the best price, VIPRE provides the proactive advanced threat defense all users need to protect their data, and all VIPRE customers receive free U.S.-based technical support. To learn more, visit www.VIPREAntivirus.com.

VIPRE is a product of ThreatTrack Security, Inc., a cybersecurity solutions developer backed by Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at www.ThreatTrack.com.

Disclaimer
Copyright © 2016 ThreatTrack Security, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. To the best of our knowledge, all details were correct at the time of publishing; this information is subject to change without notice.