Rethinking the Endpoint – IGEL Spotlight on Technology

If most of your applications no longer run on the endpoint, why are you still managing and securing it as though they do?

Welcome to Razorwire, the podcast where we share our take on the world of cybersecurity with direct, practical advice for professionals and business owners alike. I'm Jim and in this Spotlight on Technology episode I'm joined by James Millington, Healthcare Field CTO for EMEA at IGEL, with more than 25 years' experience across virtual desktops, endpoint security and healthcare technology.

The way we use endpoints has changed repeatedly. Computing moved from centralised mainframes to PCs, back towards virtual desktops and then into SaaS and cloud services. Hybrid working accelerated that shift again, while rising hardware costs, Windows upgrades and increasingly distributed workforces are forcing organisations to reconsider what they actually need sitting on a user's device.

Jim and James look at why the endpoint may be due another rethink. They discuss the security and cost implications of maintaining traditional operating systems, how immutable endpoints change the approach to endpoint protection and what happens as AI creates another generation of applications and risks for security teams to control.

Three key talking points:

Do we still need Windows at the endpoint? As applications move into SaaS, VDI and the cloud, the role of the endpoint is changing. We look at whether organisations still need a full traditional operating system on every device and what alternatives become possible when workloads run somewhere else.Moving from detection to prevention Endpoint security has traditionally relied heavily on detecting problems and responding to them. Discover how reducing what can run or change on an endpoint alters that model and removes attack surfaces before they need to be monitored.The endpoint problem AI could make worse Shadow AI gives employees another way to introduce software and move information beyond organisational controls. We discuss how controlling what can execute locally could become increasingly important as AI workloads start moving from centralised services onto endpoints.

If you're reviewing your endpoint strategy, facing another expensive hardware refresh or considering how AI changes what employees should be allowed to run locally, this conversation is for you.

On rethinking the endpoint:

“Really, what are my users accessing and where are they accessing it? And is it time to rethink that endpoint?”

James Millin