Endpoints such as laptops, servers, and mobile devices have significantly expanded the enterprise attack surface in 2025. This isn’t just a cybersecurity problem anymore. It’s a boardroom issue with direct implications for revenue, compliance, and shareholder value.

One way to understand this shift is to think of endpoints as entry points to a building. In the past, you had a few main doors to guard. Now, with hybrid work and IoT, you have thousands of doors and windows, many of which aren’t even on your official blueprint. Each one represents a potential way for attackers to gain access.

How the Endpoint Landscape Has Changed

The endpoint landscape has changed dramatically since 2020. Remote work didn’t just change where employees work—it fundamentally altered the security perimeter. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and the remote work model have introduced several new  risk vectors:

1. Attackers Are Living in Your Network Longer

Recent threat intelligence reports indicate that ransomware dwell time often spans several days, while some highly active groups achieve time-to-ransom in hours. A single phishing click on a home device can allow attackers to laterally move from that endpoint into file servers, databases, and backups before security teams detect anomalies.

2. Malware Has Learned to Hide in Plain Sight

Security researchers increasingly report the use of polymorphic malware that alters its signatures to evade traditional antivirus detection. Instead of looking for known malware ‘fingerprints,’ these threats study endpoint behaviors and blend into normal network activity while quietly escalating privileges.

3. IoT Devices Are the New Weak Link

IoT adoption continues to introduce large numbers of unmanaged endpoints, many of which lack consistent patching or strong authentication controls. That conference room thermostat? It’s now a potential entry point with default credentials and unpatched vulnerabilities.

Why Attackers Target Endpoints First

According to BlackBerry’s Global Threat Intelligence Research, mobile phishing activity has increased significantly, particularly on unmanaged devices. Why? Because it’s far easier to trick an employee than to break through enterprise-grade network firewalls.

1. Employee Browsers Are Open Doors

Employees constantly browse the web, researching vendors, checking industry news, and shopping during lunch. A single compromised website or malicious advertisement can deliver exploit code that turns the browser into an attack platform.

2. Trusted Software Updates Become Trojan Horses

The SolarWinds breach demonstrated how attackers can compromise trusted software update mechanisms. Attackers compromised a trusted software update mechanism, turning routine endpoint patching into a vehicle for malware delivery. Public disclosures indicated that thousands of organizations were impacted after malicious code was distributed through what appeared to be legitimate updates.

The Real Business Impact of Endpoint Risk

Let’s move beyond abstract security concepts to concrete business damage.

Financial Consequences Are Severe

• According to IBM’s Cost of Data Breach Report 2025, Data breaches cost an average of $4.4 million.
• GDPR fines reached €1.2 billion in 2025. In Jan 2025 and Jan 2026, GDPR recorded 400+ personal data breach notifications per day for the first time.

Operations Grind to a Halt

The operational impact can be catastrophic. Colonial Pipeline’s 2021 ransomware attack entered through a compromised endpoint and halted fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast for days. The company paid $4.4 million in ransom, but operational disruptions cost an estimated $50 million more.

UnitedHealth’s 2024 Change Healthcare breach disrupted claims processing for one-third of U.S. healthcare transactions for weeks, resulting in $872 million in revenue losses. Hospitals couldn’t submit insurance claims. Patients couldn’t fill prescriptions. The ripple effects touched millions—all because attackers gained access through a single endpoint.

Customer Trust Disappears Overnight

Equifax’s 2017 breach stemmed from a failure to patch a known endpoint vulnerability. It exposed 147 million records and wiped out $5 billion in market capitalization. 

In B2B contexts, many enterprises now require vendor security attestations that specifically address endpoint management. Fail to demonstrate adequate controls, and you’re excluded from RFPs before you even start.

Where Endpoint Security Breaks Down

Even well-intentioned security programs have critical blind spots. Let’s look at how endpoints create a security gap.

• Remote Devices Operating in the Shadows

According to IDC, 70% of breaches originate from endpoints. These ‘shadow endpoints’ fall outside corporate EDR systems because they’re personal devices accessing corporate resources, contractor equipment, or devices that slipped through procurement cracks.

• Unauthorized Apps Spreading Across Networks

In 2024, Gartner estimated that 30% to 40% of SaaS applications used in enterprises qualify as shadow IT—meaning they weren’t vetted by your IT team. Employees download productivity tools, collaboration apps, and utilities directly onto their endpoints, each one potentially introducing vulnerabilities or data leakage risks.

• Traditional Tools Missing Critical Signals

Traditional security tools miss behavioral indicators that reveal attacks in progress, leading to longer dwell times. When you can’t see privilege escalation, unusual data access patterns, or abnormal network connections, you’re flying blind.

How to Regain Control of Endpoint Risk

The good news is that endpoint risk is manageable with the right approach and tools. The foundation is real-time inventory across your endpoint ecosystem. You need complete visibility before you can act.

1. Start with Complete Visibility

The foundation is real-time inventory across your endpoint ecosystem, including the 100+ operating systems and device types now common in large enterprises. You can’t protect what you can’t see.

Modern endpoint risk platforms,  such as HCL BigFix’s CyberFOCUS Analytics, can scan data from tools like Tenable or Qualys, correlate findings to available remediation content, and automatically prioritize fixes based on actual risk. 

Think of it as moving from a paper map to GPS navigation; you’re not just seeing where vulnerabilities exist, but getting turn-by-turn guidance on the most efficient remediation path.

2. Translate Security Metrics into Business Value

Technical solutions alone won’t solve what’s fundamentally a business problem. Cross-functional dashboards that unify patch compliance data with industry benchmarks, such as CIS controls, help security teams demonstrate ROI to executives in business terms.

When security teams can demonstrate that improved endpoint hygiene reduces cyber insurance premiums or lowers modeled breach exposure, they align security outcomes with executive priorities.

Why Boards Need to Care About Endpoints

Endpoint security gaps cascade into operational disruptions. In 2025, business outages increased, directly attributable to compromised devices. When an endpoint compromise can halt production lines, freeze financial transactions, or disable customer service systems, it’s not an IT problem—it’s an enterprise risk that threatens your ability to operate.

U.S. regulators now require public companies to disclose material cyber incidents within days, increasing the financial and legal stakes of delayed detection. MGM Resorts incurred over $100 million in ransomware-related losses stemming from a compromised endpoint, and faced regulatory scrutiny over disclosure timing.

What You Need to Do Right Now

Endpoint risk has evolved from a technical IT concern into a board-level business crisis. With breaches averaging $4.88 million and becoming routine, the question isn’t whether your endpoints will be targeted. It’s whether you’ll detect and respond before attackers achieve their objectives.

Leading solutions such as HCL BigFix deliver the visibility and prioritized remediation enterprises need to regain control before attackers exploit gaps. Your shareholders, customers, and regulators are watching. The time to act is now.