Why is Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) an Important Cybersecurity Component?

Cyber threats are evolving all the time, and no industry is safe. Targeted attacks are becoming more popular and no, your personal PC or Mac isn’t safe either.

The threat landscape is changing daily, and cybercriminals are continuously perfecting the art of breaching our computers and stealing our personal data. You can’t take cybersecurity lightly, and protection against the rapidly changing threat landscape is an absolute must.

But in order to do so, you must have some understanding about these malicious threats so you are able to deploy security solutions that will block them successfully.

What are advanced threats?

Advanced or sophisticated cyber threats are characterized by their stealthiness, allowing them to evade detection and infect your computer with advanced malware, ransomware, Trojans or rootkits. These attacks are configured to be more advanced than the security measures in place to guard against them.

Advanced threats are also targeted in nature, which means they are customized to a specific computer or user The attacker will study your browsing habits, the sites you visit, and your downloads, and develop an advanced threat to target a specific vulnerability. Hackers are no longer groping in the dark, Instead, they are acquiring a deeper understanding of the target before they launch their attack.

Here are few qualities of advanced threats:

• Never-before-seen levels of sophistication and complexity, illustrated using automated phishing tools, crypto mining software, and other tactics.
• The ability to exploit zero-day vulnerabilities
• They mimic normal user behavior to escape notice

You therefore need advanced threat protection (ATP) to bolster your computer’s defense capabilities.

What is ATP?

ATP secures your computer against advanced malware or hacking-based attacks that want to get a hold of the sensitive data on your computer.

The three pillars of advanced threat protection are:

• Detecting potential advanced threats before they have a chance to unleash mayhem on your computer
• Addressing detected threats quickly and efficiently
• Swiftly responding to security incidents

ATP offers real-time visibility into malware threats with continuous monitoring to ensure threats do not remain undetected until it is too late. To put it simply, the job of ATP is to prevent, detect, and respond to new and advanced attacks that can evade even the best laid cybersecurity defenses.

You need proactive defenses for your PC and Mac

Traditional antivirus, which relies heavily on writing and distributing new signatures to block known threats, is no longer enough. Hundreds of thousands of previously unseen malware variants are discovered every day.

Home users and businesses need advanced solutions to protect themselves from this constant stream of emerging threats, including never-before-seen malware. With hundreds of thousands new viruses being released daily, it can take hours or days to get new patches out, leaving users vulnerable for a time.

Sophos Home goes far beyond traditional antivirus with powerful, real-time behavioral detection. It analyzes the behavior of programs and files, looking for any malicious or damaging actions rather than relying only on signatures. This allows Sophos Home to stop a previously unknown virus instantly – keeping users protected every second of the day.