A few weeks back, Cylance was granted the opportunity to participate in the annual Gartner Security and Risk Summit in Washington DC. For those who haven’t attended this event before, it’s the biggest analytical agency-led security show in the nation. There are two main things that make this show important to the industry. First, because Gartner places a heavy focus on end-user advisory, their four-hundred-plus educational sessions help buyers better understand the technological challenges they face on a daily basis. Second, the event showcases new and upcoming technology trends, discusses industry inflection points and suggests better solutions for real-world problems.

This year’s crowd of 2,800 attendees packed in more buyers by percentage than almost any other security show out there. The 211 participating industry vendors in attendance (up from last year’s 196 vendors) is a testament to the fact that the show is growing year over year, as cybersecurity becomes more important to our nation than ever before.

Gartner: Navigating the Technological Jungle

During past years, we saw very specific themes dominate at Gartner. This year was a little different. Many organizations were looking for specific solutions to problems, with a potential jungle of new and upcoming technologies to navigate.

Gartner had noted that the “Internet of things (IoT), network security, and endpoint security challenges” were going to be big themes this year. In addition, there were far more sessions fully focused on (or at least covering) endpoint protection this year, as opposed to last year. In fact, Gartner’s lead endpoint analyst, Peter Firstbrook, was the opening keynote speaker. The need for change in the endpoint protection space is clearly gaining momentum in the eyes of Gartner.

Some of the endpoint security focused highlights from the event included:

• A session on paradigm shifts in information security, where signature-based approaches are now labeled as an ‘old mindset’ and algorithms are becoming a ‘new reality'.

• A next-generation endpoint technology session that urged end users to look at newer solutions which are designed to catch the threats that routinely bypass legacy deployments.

• Cylance was called out during numerous sessions as having ‘an important next generation technology’ and an ‘innovative approach'.

Top Technologies For Information Security in 2016

Gartner analysts recently released a news article showcasing the Top 10 Technologies for Information Security in 2016. Machine learning, as a non-signature approach for endpoint prevention, was specifically called out as a key technology that buyers are urged to consider. It’s important to note that this list covers all security markets, not just those technologies that reside within the endpoint sector. This is very impressive when considering the vast number of security technologies discussed at the Gartner event.

Says Gartner in their news article:

“Purely signature-based approaches for malware prevention are ineffective against advanced and targeted attacks. Multiple techniques are emerging that augment traditional signature-based approaches, including… machine learning-based malware prevention using mathematical models as an alternative to signatures for malware identification and blocking.”

This is a great testament to the progress that Cylance has made in integrating machine learning into our products. We are also proud that many of our customers have helped validate our approach by choosing to share their deployment stories with Gartner.

It’s abundantly clear that many research organizations specializing in cybersecurity are reevaluating their taxonomies and the ways they approach the endpoint market. In the coming months, we look forward to sharing more insight on industry analyst coverage and trends. To learn more about Gartner’s view on the endpoint space, take a look at the 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms.

