WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection Reviews

Neutral

The product I am working with currently is WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection.

We are currently using WithSecure products, but we will not be continuing with them, and we will be changing within the next year. This is not because I am unhappy with them, but because we are under new ownership and they use something different.

With WithSecure products, we use the intrusion detection and response capabilities. We have moved away from the Countercept product onto their newer version, which is WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. That is where we are at the moment.

Generally, I have been satisfied so far.

The real-time threat intelligence feature has not really helped our organization's threat detection processes because we have never really needed to make use of it. It made me aware of anything that is going on, but nothing that has directly impacted us.

I have utilized the automated detection and response capabilities as part of what we have with them. It has not found anything yet.

I would recommend WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection to others.

We do use the centralized management feature, and it works well.

Because the machine learning capabilities in identifying potential vulnerabilities have not had any impact on us, it has not really been an issue.

Because we have not measured the operational efficiency gained from reduced manual security interventions since we have not had any, it has not been relevant because we have not had anything that has gotten through yet.

In my opinion, there is room for improvement for WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection, especially in the deployment tools, which could be a little better, but not by much.

The deployment tools could be a little easier to build for the Intune integration.

They just need to improve their deployment tools, and I am happy with everything else.

I have been working with WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection for probably about three months.

I would rate the technical support by WithSecure a nine. It has been very good.

Positive

I have assessed the pricing of WithSecure products as certainly cost-effective. That is one of the reasons why we went with them in the first place.

I do not know what additional features I would like to see in the next release to make WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection even better because I have not been looking at it closely since it has been taken out of my hands now with the new owners.

The customer portal by WithSecure is a lot better with WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection than it was with Countercept.

I have given this review an overall rating of eight.

We use the product for detecting network vulnerabilities and for software update purposes.

There could be a dedicated security partner with essential knowledge. At the moment, we do not get enough support from the distributors. Additionally, they should include more integration options in the product.

We have been using WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection since 2022.

I rate the product's stability a three or four out of ten. The service partner team needs more expertise to tackle critical incidents.

We have around 1000-2000 users for WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. Its scalability is an eight or nine out of ten.

WithSecure does not provide direct support to us. We receive it through a service partner. We do not have a good experience working with them. WithSecure should appoint a technical support team for us.

Negative

The initial setup is easy. I rate the process a seven or eight out of ten. We have LPR procurement. The deployment involves installing the product and adding a license. It takes three to four days to complete and requires a team of less than ten people to execute the process.

The product has average pricing. However, they increased it by seven percent within one year because of rebranding.

I rate WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection a seven out of ten.

We have a lot of remote workers, so it's just a matter of installing the client on employees' machines and then pushing out critical security updates to our users when necessary. Everyone in the company uses it. We're a cruise company with about 170 employees in the usual departments, like accounts, IT, product sales, designers, and finance. We've got a couple of Mac users in the business as well, but it's mostly Windows users.

We use Endpoint Protection every day constantly to monitor alerts as well as to ensure all the user machines and security definitions are up-to-date.  For patch management, we use Syxsense. It's a different software that we run that alongside F-Secure. So this is a reason we're looking at something else that packages these features all together. 

F-Secure is useful for keeping user machines up-to-date by pushing out security and critical updates. As long as all the security updates are rolled out and the antivirus definitions are up-to-date, it's good. 

Sometimes, F-Secure doesn't always work as well as we'd like when we're using the console to push out an update to individual machines, like, for instance, an update to Google Chrome. For some updates to take effect, we have to get the user to restart the machine to finish the installation. So based on the information we get on the dashboard, we can't tell if it's successfully pushing all the updates out, like just the smaller and medium-threat ones. So this is one area we'd like to see F-Secure improve. But the biggest one for us is patch management because this has been our top priority when looking at alternatives. Every solution needs to have patch management, if that's possible. It would cut costs on our side if that feature were included, so we don't need to pay for two separate pieces of software. 

It's about three years, possibly.

F-Secure seems to be stable. I don't think we've had any major issues with it not working or going down or anything like that. 

The scalability of F-Secure Elements is fine. The company's grown over the past few years, so we've had to increase licenses. We have about 175 employees, but we have more licenses because some staff members have more than one machine. So we probably have about 250 licenses. Of course, we've had to get rid of a lot of stuff with the current situation, so we're okay license-wise. We've had no issue just adding licenses then rolling them out to machines. 

I don't believe we've ever had to contact F-Secure support.

My manager took care of the initial setup. When we add new machines, we roll out the installer to configure them. Right now, the support team comprises my manager and me.

My manager deals with the cost of the product and licenses. I'm pretty sure that everything we use is included in there, like all the other add-ons and the bits and bobs. But, again, I'm not the best to speak about the financial side of F-Secure.

We looked at a few different alternatives, like Sophos, CrowdStrike, and Trend Micro Apex. My manager made the call to work with F-Secure. It's pretty simple to use. With the console and the dashboard, there's no information overload. It's easy to follow as well. And, of course, it's pretty straightforward to do things like web filtering, generating reports, and creating profiles. It's also simple to deploy it to machines and remotely, so it's convenient for us in that respect. I'm guessing that the manager went with it for these reasons.

I rate F-Secure Elements Endpoint Protection seven out of 10. If you're considering F-Secure, I would say give it a go. I don't know how it compares with others in terms of the cost, but I'm pretty sure it's decent. Elements does what it says on the tin, so I would recommend it. However, we are looking at other providers now because we want something that provides built-in patch management. That's why we're leaning towards SentinelOne.

Our clients are happy with the product. The notifications and patch management features are valuable. The interface is fine.

The product does not have technical partners in the Middle East. It only has sales partners. I do not like the sales partners in UAE. They did not support me when I needed help with security.

The vendor must provide a subscription-based model. Now, they have a prepaid model. Our clients and partners like subscriptions. Subscriptions let us use and then pay. Currently, we pay and then use.

I am using the latest version of the solution.

The tool’s stability is fine. I rate the stability a seven out of ten.

I rate the tool’s scalability a three out of ten.

There is no technical support available in the Middle East. We are very confused.

Negative

I rate the ease of setup a seven out of ten.

The price is comparable. We do not have a problem with the pricing. I rate the pricing a five or six out of ten. There are no additional costs associated with the solution.

We are looking for an EDR solution. We might not choose WithSecure’s EDR, though. Overall, the product is very good. I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

The most valuable features of WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection are the clear useful portal and overall company protection.

The solution could improve by having more real-time responses. For example, when a license gets removed from a computer it does not update the records of the change. Additionally, when I installed Microsoft Windows Defender I was not able to send licenses through email to our tenants. The integration with other solutions could improve.

If we try and implement third-party vendors with the solution we can experience issues, such as Microsoft Office 365. It will limit certain emails from being received or sent. There can be compatibility issues.

I have been using WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection for approximately three years.

The stability of the solution has been good.

The solution can scale when more licenses or when different licenses are purchased.

The initial setup of WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection is simple, and they provide detailed instructions. The time frame for the deployment of the solution depends on the skills of the implementor. However, I can do it in a short time.

I have implemented the solution myself.

If you purchase licenses in bulk the price of the licenses can decrease.

We are thinking about changing to a Microsoft solution.

I rate WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection a seven out of ten.

I work at a security solutions provider, so I have direct experience with different cases. One of which is the fact that we have an assertiveness - in terms of positive detections - in a very high percentage, and it's very close compared to other manufacturers of endpoint security solutions. 

The Elements suite (EPP + EDR) brought (in addition to interoperability) uniformity to the environment, giving us the security of knowing that, what the endpoint, at the edge, does not "know how" to deal with immediately, the EDR will respond promptly, since the EPP is working together, sending its logs to feed the intelligence of the EDR in making assertive decisions.

The most valuable aspects of the solution include:

Tamper Protection. There is a layer of security to prevent a malicious agent (malware) from interrupting or stopping services, deleting or modifying registry entries or even stopping the antivirus from acting, ensuring that there will be no interruption of protection.

AMSI (Anti-Malware Scan Interface). This is a Microsoft Windows component that allows deeper inspection of built-in scripting services. AMSI is an interface that applications and services running on Windows can use to send requests scans to the antimalware product installed on the computer.

Advanced malware uses disguised or encrypted scripts to evade traditional verification methods. This malware is usually loaded directly into memory, so it doesn't use any files on the device. This provides additional protection against harmful software that uses scripts or macros in key Windows components, such as PowerShell and Office365, or other applications to avoid detection.

DeepGuard. This monitors applications for potentially harmful changes to the system. DeepGuard ensures that you only use safe apps. The security of an application is verified by the trusted cloud service. If the security of an application cannot be verified, DeepGuard starts monitoring the application's behavior. DeepGuard blocks new, undiscovered Trojans, Worms, Exploits, and other harmful applications that attempt to make changes on your computer and prevents suspicious applications from accessing the Internet.

I would like the part of Hash Analysis by external sources to be improved. There is an integration with VirusTotal that allows an external query; however, only for SHA1 Hashes.

It would also be very interesting to see, in future versions, some form of integration with other services, such as Triage or Hybrid Analysis, for example.

I've used the solution for approximately 12 months.

As it is a solution, natively, in the cloud, the stability is above 99% and is, therefore, very stable.

It has good scalability and is able to accommodate small, medium, or large computing environments without major difficulties.

My experience supporting the final environment (companies as a whole and the users that are part of them) has been quite challenging on a day-to-day basis, in the sense of being always attentive to the customer's needs, to understand what they can and cannot know done by the tool and which settings are most suitable, both in terms of security hardening and in terms of protecting the environment as a whole. 

The final purpose is, through our expertise, to help with the configuration, parameterization, and training of IT teams in order to make the tool offer maximum protection and for the company to feel comfortable and well-served by the security manufacturer.

Positive

I did not previously use a different solution.

What will count during implementation is the study of the environment into which the solution will be integrated before companies start to deploy.

The implementation is handled through suppliers. I'm part of that team.

The ROI is quite significant in the medium term, taking into account that the configurations, integrations, and parameterizations must be well-adjusted and adherent to the computational environment that will be protected.

In terms of pricing, these issues involve the commercial part, which I don't have concrete information to provide.

With good advice, the company (and its end users) can enjoy the benefits of the solution with a higher level of efficiency.

We need a reliable and local provider to handle all these data breaches. For example, WithSecure EPP EDR is better at detecting zero-day vulnerabilities, but it is more expensive. Normally, we provide mobile, desktop, laptop, and server protection, as well as data breach evaluations for our customers to assess their environmental performance.

The company is originally from Finland. From what we have seen, WithSecure provides the best protection for our customers.

Resource consumption is suboptimal and could be improved. Computers and mobile devices are impacted every time WithSecure Endpoint is active, as it consumes memory and CPU time, which is not ideal for protection.

I have been using the solution for 15 years.

I have observed that the solution crashes in certain cases. However, when the hardware is functioning properly, I have never seen any crashes with WithSecure products. The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable. On the cloud management page, the solution scales up very highly. Today, I ordered additional licenses for one of our customers. We have 50,000 desktops and laptops that we surveil using the solution.

The initial setup is straightforward. With Secure Elements Endpoint Protection, it is easy to administer normally. If we do not want to use cloud basic management, we can put the solution on-premises. Even if a single user works well without management, it is still easy to deploy on different devices and environments. Normally, installation depends on the speed of the connection; since the active directory installation is a network-installed package, it usually takes five minutes to complete with a 10-megabyte connection. If there is conflicting software already on the computer, the installation will take longer. However, a clean installation is much faster. Furthermore, we can deploy to multiple computers at the same time using Active Directory.

We complete the implementations in-house.

The cost of the solution depends on the size of the company and where the licenses are being ordered from. Additionally, the cost will vary depending on the type of Endpoint Protection license chosen, either EPP or EPP Plus EDR. In the end, the solution is cost-effective.

I give the solution a nine out of ten. On low-end laptops or desktops, the solution slows down the system too much, and even on state-of-the-art devices, we experience a decrease in performance.

I have never contacted the technical support team because there are manuals on the web.

People should use the solution, because it provides way better protection than, for example, Microsoft Defender, which comes with Windows devices.

WithSecure products have everything that a security administrator needs.

We primarily use the solution for central management. If there is some accident or a computer virus administrator can't be notified directly, the manager can update the different third-party software.  

We need to check all emails so that we can protect ourselves from scams and anti-malware inside emails. We also need protection in our outgoing emails - so that we do not send something bad to other companies. The reputation of our company is very important. We wouldn't want to be responsible for an incident like that. This solution allows us to protect ourselves from both incoming and outgoing malicious content.

The antivirus is very good. It's in the top three options across different reviews and is therefore highly rated. The others are typically Kaspersky and Symantec. Microsoft Defender is usually around the fourth or fifth place, and not on the top. 

Both incoming and outgoing traffic is protected.

The solution provides good webinars when they change items within the product itself.

We have technical support right in Estonia, in our mother tongue.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. 

In the next release, there will be more cloud security.

There is a convenient way to send files directly to their servers for analysis.

The solution support all major web browsers such as Firefox and Chrome and the plugin works very well.

I can't speak to what could be added in terms of features, they are always changing and adapting to new realities.

The program and cloud service management is in English. It's not a problem for me, however, it might be for users who don't speak English or use it regularly.

It would be ideal if they could offer discounted pricing to schools.

We've used the solution for four years under its current name, however, it used to be called something else. We might have been working with it for a total of ten or so years.

The solution is quite stable. It does not take as many resources from computers like Kaspersky. Kaspersky sometimes kills the computer for a minute or two in the beginning. F-Secure does not do this. 

The solution is scalable. 

We likely do not have plans to increase usage as our user base is not likely to change.

Due to the fact that we buy licenses through Estonian company, and not directly from F-Secure, we use them for support. It's helpful as the third party works with us in the Estonian language, and they have also a support center here. We have been happy with them over the years.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. I can download a small installation file and it configures over the cloud management in the background. It's quite simple to install on computers. Later, in cloud management, making company profiles, as well as learning what and how to upgrade and patch software isn't hard. There are important and security updates that must be installed directly, and for non-critical updates, I can manually check and decide when to install them.

We used an Estonian-based organization that assisted us with the implementation and setup.

They were very good. They explained it all very well. They made some webinars also to introduce new products and to show us any change to products. If I have some questions, or if something is not working, I can always call them and get support by phone or by email.

We buy licenses through an Estonian company, not directly from F-Secure. 

They also have at-home products, and there are some cheaper variants. For example, for five devices you pay for each one price. However, for a business company, they calculate the number of devices and the price the same. Whether it's five devices or 100, there is no difference in cost. Maybe the price is negotiable for government institutions. We are local government, for example, and therefore may get a different price than a typical company. They have no different prices for schools, however. The price is the same. It might be nice if they could maybe make it cheaper, for example, for schools and universities.

We pay a yearly licensing fee of about €20 per computer.

We've looked at Kaspersky and have found that Kaspersky antivirus software, according to our government,  may track you too much. F-Secure keeps no such information and is supported by governments.

We're a customer and an end-user.

It's a very good and reliable product as we have no problems with it generally. It catches very everything. It does not give many false positives. It works very well and i's not too complex for people. It's in Estonia language, so users can understand messages and it's easy to configure so that you can program what messages users see vs what goes only to admins. 

In general, I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been very happy with it.