#1 most frequent
United States of America
47.5%19 installations of 40
What is Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection?
Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection is a malware, spyware, antivirus and endpoint protection application available formerly with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), which later became Microsoft Endpoint Manager. It is a legacy product, with older versions reaching end of support, and is not available as a standalone product.
Categories & Use Cases
Top Performing Features
Infection Remediation
Capability to quarantine infected endpoint and terminate malicious processes.
Category average: 8.8
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Continuous monitoring and response to advanced internet threats by endpoint agents.
Category average: 9.1
Malware Detection
Detection and blocking of zero-day file and fileless malware.
Category average: 9
Areas for Improvement
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerability prioritization for fixes.
Category average: 8.3
Anti-Exploit Technology
In-memory and application layer attack blocking (e.g. ransomeware)
Category average: 8.6
Hybrid Deployment Support
Administrators should be able to choose endpoint security on-premise, cloud, or hybrid.
Category average: 8.3
Who Buys & Uses Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection
#2 most frequent
Canada
12.5%5 installations of 40
#3 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
10.0%4 installations of 40
Malware protection that just works.
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We utilize System Center Endpoint Protection to safeguard all desktops on the network with a centralized antivirus, ransomware protection, and toolkit protection system developed by Microsoft. It works from the SCCM admin console and deploys automatically to all systems it can see and manage.
Pros
- Easy administration.
- Centralized management, patch deployment, and reporting.
- Easy auto-patch updating from Microsoft.
- Microsoft antivirus app with no special licensing required.
Cons
- Some advanced options that 3rd party's have are not available.
- Some advanced set customization is difficult from the SCCM console.
- Some of the latest Windows 11 security settings are not yet fully integrated into the SCP pages in the SCCM console.
Return on Investment
- The Windows 11 version of SCEP is significantly better than the Windows 10 and older iterations, and it has saved us from virus issues in the past.
- This is faster and less work to deploy to a pc when we build and deploy them.
- No extra admin and costs for AV licensing in our case, which makes renewal times easier on IT Management.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Symantec Advanced Threat Protection, Cisco Endpoint Security Analytics, Kaspersky Endpoint Security and McAfee DLP Endpoint
Other Software Used
McAfee DLP Endpoint, Cisco Endpoint Security Analytics
A good endpoint protection product that is easy and intuitive to use
Pros
- It is easy to use and configure. This is a benefit, not just for the IT/Admin team, but also for the end-user, as they can easily set how and when to run scans.
- It is good a identifying threats and removing these threats. When looking for a product such as this, it is important to really look at these two areas to really see how the software will work in a real-world environment. SCEP is one such product that does really well at both of these things.
Cons
- The product could improve in the area of having better mechanisms in place with how the SCEP client is deployed/installed from the server on the management side. We have run into this firsthand with the client not installing on an endpoint, and then having to take the time to investigate why it was not installing.
- A second improvement that can be made is to keep trying to improve the products detection rate for finding malware/viruses. The case can be made that there are some products out there that do a better job at this and have a higher detection rate.
Return on Investment
- The positive impact it has had on ROI is that it has been a solid AV product in our environment, meaning it has worked well when running on client computers. It doesn't use a lot of system resources on the client-side, so that helps end-users productivity of not being slowed down.
- It has been good for the end-user, since they really don't need to take additional training or consult user manuals, in how to use the product.
Other Software Used
Microsoft Office 365, Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Freshdesk, TeamViewer, Zoom
Your time has come (and possibly gone)
Pros
- Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection offers exceptional threat protections for signature-based "known" threats.
- The signatures are constantly updated and management of this application is super easy with the use of Microsoft SCCM.
- The application is very much a "set it and let it" type of deployment. Once you install it, there are very little configuration or changes that need to be made.
Cons
- Not so much a limitation on the software itself, but the fact that is primarily only "signature" based, it cannot detect threats that have mutated.
- This software provides virtually no protection against zero-day threats.
- The System Center Endpoint Protection does not offer protections based on behavioral analysis.
Return on Investment
- There was little/no cost associated with this software since we are utilizing SCCM and are paying license costs for that anyways.
- The level or protection is excellent for the cost of the software.
- There was at least one instance in which Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection identified a crypto-malware, but not before it had already started to encrypt many of our files. So it did detect the threat, but since it was a little delayed we still were infected.
Other Software Used
FoxitPhantom PDF, KeePass, Wrike