TechRepublic: Whitelisting has its place in your company's antimalware arsenal

First opinions give deep impressions. However, it might be time to give application whitelisting another try since not much else is defeating malware and digital exploits.

By Michael Kassner
October 13, 2014

I recently wrote about how anomaly detection appears to be the holy grail in the fight against malware and bad-actor attacks. It is one of the few technologies capable of defeating zero-day exploits and undisclosed malware.

That said, anomaly-detection platforms are expensive and not within the reach of smaller organizations. Something I learned from business owners who voiced their frustration and challenged me to find a solution that fit their budget.

Often, while researching anomaly-detection, the technology would be referred to as a "self-configuring whitelist." Could whitelisting be the answer for companies that cannot afford anomaly detection? Possibly. The dark cloud of inconvenience overshadowing application whitelisting needs dealing with first. That dark cloud: application whitelisting equates to "default deny." Users lose the "personal" in PC and IT-staff members are forever adding to or subtracting from the whitelist.

Click the URL above to read the full article