2016 Global Endpoint Security Platforms Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Award

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1 2016 Global Endpoint Security Platforms Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Award 2016

2 Contents Background and Company Performance... 3 Industry Challenges... 3 Application Convergence Impact and Customer Impact... 4 Conclusion... 9 Significance of Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Understanding Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Key Benchmarking Criteria Best Practice Award Analysis for Cylance Decision Support Scorecard Application Convergence Impact Customer Impact Decision Support Matrix The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

3 Background and Company Performance Industry Challenges Over the next few years, device proliferation will result in billions of connected devices, systems, people, and organizations across the globe. The data and information generated from this growth add immense value; however, their exchange within the ecosystem also means exposure to ubiquitous cyber-risks. The scale and cost of cybersecurity breaches is constantly on the rise and unsurprisingly, organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to prevent and deal with cyber-attacks. According to the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Risks Report, the cost of cybercrimes in 2016 will be worth an estimated $445 billion. Large organizations across verticals that include banking, retail, healthcare, government, and telecoms have been exposed to a multitude of threats and many of these entities have been compromised. Unfortunately, hackers are rarely identified and can range from young, independent amateurs to nation/state-sponsored hacking groups with considerable experience and seemingly limitless funding. A number of recent attacks have resulted in compromising extremely sensitive consumer data across industries such as airlines, large retail chains, insurance firms across countries clearly indicating that this is a global phenomenon and that no system is truly safe. Even a small gap or vulnerability can let hackers into a system, and most times, companies are unaware of a hackers presence for months. Employee training to increase awareness is effective only to an extent, and in many cases, employees continue to be responsible for security breaches. For example, a sophisticated phishing that appears to come from a co-worker or manager known to the employee can persuade that employee to click on a link that takes him or her to a website where malicious software is set to download automatically. The rate at which cyber threats mutate and increase is also a cause for concern. For instance, zero-day vulnerability, as the name suggests, allows no time for security departments to prepare for previously-unknown computer software vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Multiple endpoints, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and traditional desktops, increase overall vulnerability of an enterprise. Worse, zero-day vulnerabilities are often custom built for individual organizations, which makes it impossible for traditional endpoint security products to recognize a zero-day as malicious. As cyberspace becomes an integral part of economies, communities, and businesses, the need to create more secure environments increases exponentially. One area that the cybersecurity industry is focusing on is the prevention of malware before it even enters the system by making endpoint security more proactive and preventive. Frost & Sullivan s research in this industry has shown that a company called Cylance has used artificial Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

4 intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to identify a threat before it even runs, to stop it immediately. The company achieves this without the need for human intervention making it a truly innovative and unique approach in a market awash with ineffective, reactive solutions. Application Convergence Impact and Customer Impact Completeness of Vision Once malware enters an IT system, it has the potential to cause damage even if it has been identified. Additional post-execution analysis and clean-up required may result in down-time, interrupting work and productivity. Given just how vulnerable today's electronic devices are, ensuring effective endpoint security is critical. As new threats emerge at an alarming rate, Cylance s vision of proactive and preventive cybersecurity resonates with C-level executives who need to deal with the business impact of security risks. Cylance uses an innovative approach to approach to end point prevention that does not rely on heuristics, signatures, and behavioral analysis. The company s technology uses a machine learning platform that can be easily integrated with other third-party services and tools, making it the ideal solution to deal with both existing and future threats. Most competing systems analyze threats and then develop methods to deal with them. Cylance s approach enables all threats and risks to be completely blocked before they can begin to execute. The system uses a highly sophisticated series of mathematical algorithms for pre-execution malware blocking. Cylance s artificial intelligence (AI) engine analyzes the DNA of threats, which is powered by machine and algorithmic science, data sourced from millions of endpoints and dozens of databases, skilled malware researchers, and a massive computing laboratory. The entire process of understanding, analysis, and identification of normal and abnormal, or what is good and bad, is carried out using AI and machine learning (ML) to look deeper and faster than humanly possible, thus avoiding the faults, errors and omissions caused by non-machine based security systems. Plus, this solution does not require an Internet connection, scheduled scans or signature updates, which have plagued end-user environments for over a decade. In an industry that is currently struggling with the availability of skilled talent, the company has no problem retaining a staff of highly-qualified data scientists and anti-malware experts that design and update its algorithms. During its analysis, Frost & Sullivan was impressed with Cylance s unique approach because it is forward-looking and capable of dealing with unknown threats with unmatched accuracy and effectiveness. The company s confidence in its capabilities and products is quite evident; the company states that it consistently and successfully stops over 99% of malware (competing cybersecurity firms come in at a distant second with 60% to 70% success rates). Also worth noting is that competitors performance drops to Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

5 almost 10% when dealing with mutated versions of threats while Cylance continues to achieve a 99% success rate. Growth Potential Perimeter-based security technologies and antivirus solutions commonly use threat protection methods that are overly-dependent on legacy technologies. However, as continuous breaches suggest, these are not very effective, especially when more sophisticated and/or targeted attacks occur. Poorly implemented security infrastructure, untrained employees, and/or new threats have created an ecosystem that is almost set-up for failure. Given the nature of IT infrastructure, cloud is a critical part of today s systems, plus employees are constantly accessing data and information. Thus, creating better prevention capabilities for endpoints has become quite critical. Endpoints are clearly the most vulnerable part across the entire IT system; hence, most cyberattacks are initiated here. Cylance algorithms analyze all the objects, applications and files coming from various endpoints to identify the good and bad files. Once Cylance s solution is deployed, both historical and real-time data are fed into the algorithm, which self-learns and analyses potential threats and responses for endpoints to enable automatic mitigation. At a juncture, where present-day solutions need to be patched and managed for emerging threats, Cylance next-generation approach provides superior accuracy, security, reliability and fidelity. Given its use of a math algorithm, it requires infrequent updates averaging every six months, as opposed to most AV vendors that require daily signature updates. Another differentiator is that Cylance s solutions can deal with mutations in the malware. Traditional antivirus products cannot recognize and deflect malware that has mutated from an earlier form, even if it is recorded in the antivirus database of signatures. Other competitors offer a host of services; however, they tend to be based on blacklisting or signature approaches, which must have seen, studied, and "fingerprinted" malware before it can be recognized and stopped. The increasing numbers of zero-day and mutated viruses requires traditional endpoint security tools to be updated on an almost daily basis, and these updates are still unable to recognize many newly mutated threats. CylancePROTECT, a non-signature based solution, is math-driven and enables pre-emptive security protection without the need for constant updates. The solution s ability to prevent attacks before they actually start to execute is unique. This is particularly useful in critical infrastructure applications, where availability is more important than confidentiality. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

6 Impact of Applications over Legacy Approaches Legacy security approaches are completely reliant on signatures and blacklists. While their ease of installation and use helped to spur a large number of organizations to implement cybersecurity measures in the past two decades, with today's highly targeted malware increasing in volume and sophistication, traditional antivirus is no longer considered effective given the increasing complexity of attacks and greater number of threats. Consider this, most organizations existing antivirus and perimeter security measures are able to stop or prevent only 50% of the threats that they encounter; often, many of these threats have already entered the system. When also considering the time needed to lockdown the system and address the issue as well as the loss of employee productivity due to the shutdown, the thought of using traditional cybersecurity has become widely unattractive. Many competitors are now trying to offer slight improvements over legacy approaches and additional service extensions, but their improvements in identifying and stopping new threats have been marginal at best. At the same time, most of these competitors have not been able to pull the signatures out of their products. Plus, human intervention and monitoring is a critical part of these competing systems where preventive action is only taken once malware is already in the process of running. They also rely heavily on an organization s IT department to implement and monitor the process, which adds cost and hassle for the enterprise. Cylance s malware identification capability is primarily supported by an ML research platform, called Infinity, which uses cloud computing, Big Data analytics, and AI as a ML brain for refinement of the algorithm while leaving only a lightweight agent that does not need to be updated on each endpoint. The platform enables almost real-time decisions on whether an object is good or bad. Cylance s AI-enabled solution uses a proactive and preventive approach to inspect each file before it runs, thus stopping the threat before it can even start. It allows users to continue with their functions, as it halts the threat from executing or progressing. The solution stays ahead of the curve and quarantines all malware before it causes any harm. Cylance also offers a variety of professional services, including a compromise assessment, which is often done for new customers that have traditionally relied on a legacy AV product. Due to the technology, some of the services can be accomplished remotely, without needing to scan machines or download an entire disk image data for analysis. With Cylance s AI-enabled solution, key identifiers help threat professionals conduct analysis. Cylance s advanced threat protection goes beyond detection; it prevents attacks using CylancePROTECT. In comparison to traditional security solutions, Frost & Sullivan sees Cylance s solution to be superior. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

7 Business Value to Customers Cybersecurity has emerged as one of the top challenges for CEOs today. Organizations typically rely on more than one vendor to cater to different security layers and requirements. Despite this, they still won t receive a complete guarantee of security and remain vulnerable. Once malware enters the system, the impact on business can be enormous. Companies can take months to find it and recover from the set back; a lack of visibility further confounds users. The Cylance solution, however, offers greater efficiency for IT resources. With its Alert Management Service (AMS), the security teams in an organization gain access to a threat researcher and expert, an Activity Management Engineer (AME), who can guide the actions to take on the CylancePROTECT alerts. AMEs augments the existing IT team with knowledge on the potency of the threat. The solution is backed by strong support in terms of monitoring, processing, analysis, reporting, and protection increasing the value for customers. Most competing solutions only offer platforms that need to be monitored by the customer s IT personnel. Cylance also offers a ThreatZero service which will bring immediate value by working with the IT department to eliminate all the threats found by the CylancePROTECT agent. Further to Cylance s efficiency, the solution uses less than 1% of users CPU (central processing unit) capacity, limiting its impact on customers memory and processor. In addition, the solution works without the need for Internet connectivity. This makes the solution easy to deploy and prevention benefits can be realized without any network or device interruptions. The solution works across an organization s infrastructure, enabling flexibility as deployment is simple and seamless across Windows and Mac OS. It can also be easily integrated into an existing security ecosystem through open APIs and transferrable log files. All of this enhances the business value for customers as they are assured of efficient security without incurring excessive costs. Customer s Perception of Value Customers across industry verticals are reeling under the speed with which cybersecurity threats have increased. Internet Protocols (IPs) are being compromised and not keeping up with compliance requirements. Cybersecurity is not a core function for most companies and the constant struggle and lack of efficiency of existing systems increase problems for customers. Cylance offers one solution for a number of security threats, which include memory-based attacks, malicious documents, zero-day malware, privilege escalations, scripts, and potentially unwanted programs, thus enabling customers to reduce their number of security systems. In trial runs where previously unknown threats and mutated versions are used to determine efficacy, the company consistently outperforms its competitors. Therefore, customers are increasingly relying on CylancePROTECT. The list of Cylance s Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

8 clients (across more than 22 industries, with specific expertise in the segments of critical infrastructure, energy, healthcare, retail, finance and education) clearly indicates the value-appeal that customers see in the future-proof solution compared to the reactive security solutions. As one customer, a university IT manager mentioned, the previous traditional antivirus software completely missed more than 200 threats, which resulted in a Cryptolocker file being executed on their system. The significant number of endpoints in an education system with most students and faculty carrying their own devices makes it extremely vulnerable. The university has now deployed Cylance, which managed to rectify the earlier problem in addition to providing better security. Customer Ownership Experience Cybersecurity needs to be dynamic with new threats emerge with frightening frequency. As new companies and solutions are launched to keep pace with the increase in threats, customers find it extremely difficult to decide which solution is the best for them. Often, they enter into contracts where companies are not able to deliver what they promise. To deal with this challenge, many customers work with established cybersecurity layer on additive solutions and dedicate a large IT team to deal with constant outbreaks. This is where Cylance offers a fundamentally different value proposition, by positioning its product directly against larger AV vendors that insist on adding more layers and products. In this scenario, Cylance has managed to exceed expectations and many customers have chosen to replace all of their endpoint security layers with Cylance. Customer confidence is climbing rapidly, which was also evident from the example of a major OEM we spoke to that has equipped all of its systems with the Cylance solution indicating its complete belief in the efficacy of the solution. One of Cylance s healthcare customers has 400 locations with 10,000 endpoints and it covers 1.3 million patients. This entity had previously refocused its endpoint security efforts on the time-consuming and reactive method of detection and response as its prevention had continuously failed. Patient data is extremely sensitive and healthcare companies have a high risk of being targeted. The customer replaced multiple layers of endpoint security after discovering that these systems completely missed malware that was custom designed to attack the organization. Cylance also discovered hundreds of Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) that could have allowed hackers into the system. The customer expressed considerable satisfaction with the better security that it now receives without any disruption to its work flow. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

9 Conclusion Cylance s innovative solution for cybersecurity has exceeded customers expectations. The company has consistently outperformed other solutions (based on client data) in terms of performance and in dealing effectively with unknown threats across endpoints. It has built a strong base for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in meeting the growing challenges posed by hackers and cyber-attacks. Its independence from human intervention, Internet connectivity, and regular updates to stop malicious malware, ensure its effectiveness and has made the company a preferred solution provider for many customers. Because of this, Cylance grown quickly and has developed various solutions for different industries. Thereby, in recognition of its strong overall performance, Cylance is recognized with Frost & Sullivan s 2016 Award for Growth Excellence through Application Convergence. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

10 Significance of Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Application convergence drives a spectrum of opportunities for value-enhancement as new applications and ecosystems get created. Further, application convergence leads to extension of customer value and unique points of differentiation. At its core, application convergence or any other type of convergence can only be sustained with leadership in three key areas: customer demand, business value, and competitive positioning. Understanding Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Application convergence leads to opportunities for new value creation in here to undiscovered ways, resulting in new applications which outperform existing approaches and drives superior performance by utilizing multiple system inputs. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

11 Key Benchmarking Criteria For the Application Convergence Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated two key factors Application Convergence Impact and Customer Impact according to the criteria identified below. Application Convergence Impact Criterion 1: Completeness of vision Criterion 2: Growth potential Criterion 3: Ability to drive application ecosystem interest Criterion 4: Disruptive capability of the application Criterion 5: Impact of applications over legacy approaches Customer Impact Criterion 1: Business value to customers Criterion 2: Customer's perception of value Criterion 3: Customer ownership experience Criterion 4: Customer service experience Criterion 5: Brand Equity Best Practice Award Analysis for Cylance Decision Support Scorecard To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation; ratings guidelines are illustrated below. RATINGS GUIDELINES The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by application convergence attributes and customer impact (i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for each criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

12 The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3. Measurement of 1 10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent) Growth Excellence through Application Convergence Application Convergence Impact Customer Impact Average Rating Cylance Competitor Competitor Application Convergence Impact Criterion 1: Completeness of Vision Requirement: Ability to showcase a long-term vision and pioneer industry transformation. Criterion 2: Growth Potential Requirement: Ability to leverage the benefits of converging technologies and drive growth. Criterion 3: Ability to Drive Application Ecosystem Interest Success of application convergence depends on the ecosystem maturity, its partners and strategy to build-out industry-specific solution Criterion 4: Disruptive capability of the application Requirement: The new application s capability to replace existing market incumbents and provide a path to long-term sustenance. Criterion 5: Impact of applications over legacy approaches Requirement: Capability of applications to deliver a set of superior solutions is key to win support from customers. Customer Impact Criterion 1: Business Value to Customers Requirement: Capability to deliver superior business value instead of simple substitution. Criterion 2: Customer's Perception of Value Requirement: Customer view-points on blurring of application and its potential to create new revenue streams. Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company s product or service, and have a positive experience throughout the life of the product or service Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

13 Customer Impact BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH Criterion 5: Brand Equity Requirement: New application enhances the company s brand, creating and/or nurturing brand loyalty Decision Support Matrix Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard, analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at best-in-class levels. High Cylance Competitor 2 Competitor 3 Low Low Application Convergence Impact High Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

14 The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Frost & Sullivan s 360-degree research methodology represents the analytical rigor of our research process. It offers a 360-degree-view of industry challenges, trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies. Too often, companies make important growth decisions based on a narrow understanding of their environment, leading to errors of both omission and commission. Successful growth strategies are founded on a thorough understanding of market, technical, economic, financial, customer, best practices, and demographic analyses. The integration of these research 360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN THE CHAOS disciplines into the 360-degree research methodology provides an evaluation platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels. Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

15 Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices Frost & Sullivan Awards follow a 10-step process to evaluate award candidates and assess their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the Awards are based on close adherence to this process. STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT 1 Monitor, target, and screen Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe Conduct in-depth industry research Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all bestpractice criteria 2 Perform 360-degree research Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners Assess candidates fit with best-practice criteria Rank all candidates Matrix positioning all candidates performance relative to one another 3 Invite thought leadership in best practices Perform in-depth examination of all candidates Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all candidates Identify any information gaps Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates 4 Initiate research director review Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives on candidates performance Update candidate profiles Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper 5 Assemble panel of industry experts Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders Share findings Strengthen cases for candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates Refined list of prioritized award candidates 6 Conduct global industry review Build consensus on award candidates eligibility Hold global team meeting to review all candidates Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all eligible candidates Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide 7 Perform quality check Develop official award consideration materials Perform final performance benchmarking activities Write nominations Perform quality review High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees successes 8 Reconnect with panel of industry experts Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria 9 Communicate recognition Inform award recipient of award recognition Present award to the CEO Inspire the organization for continued success Celebrate the recipient s performance Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand 10 Take strategic action Upon licensing, company may share award news with stakeholders and customers Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess award s role in future strategic planning Widespread awareness of recipient s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth

16 About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit Frost & Sullivan We Accelerate Growth