Managed Antivirus for Business: Next-Generation Endpoint Protection

The Limitations of Traditional Antivirus

Signature-based antivirus works by comparing files and processes against a database of known malicious software. It is effective against catalogued threats that have been analysed and added to the signature database. However, attackers routinely modify malware to evade signature detection — even small changes to a file can produce a hash that does not match any known signature.

70% of UK ransomware attacks resulted in data being encrypted in 2025 — up sharply from 46% in 2024 and above the global average of 50%. (UK Government)

Malware and ransomware alone accounted for 51% of all UK cyber insurance claims in 2024 — up from 32% of claims in 2023. (Insurance Journal)

54% of UK firms experienced ransomware attacks in a 12-month period in 2024; of those, 59% paid the ransom (CyPro Consulting, 2025). (Sophos)

Fileless malware presents a further challenge: it does not write files to disk at all, operating entirely in memory using legitimate system tools such as PowerShell or WMI. Signature-based tools have no file to scan, so the attack proceeds without triggering any alert.

How Next-Generation Endpoint Protection Works

Next-generation antivirus (NGAV) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools analyse the behaviour of processes rather than their appearance. By monitoring what processes do — how they access memory, what system calls they make, how they interact with the file system and network — behavioural tools can identify malicious activity even when the specific malware has not been seen before.

When suspicious behaviour is detected, the tool can automatically quarantine the process, terminate it, or roll back any changes it made — for example, restoring files encrypted by ransomware before the encryption process completes. This containment capability limits damage significantly compared to traditional tools that detect but do not actively respond.

Microsoft Defender for Business

For the majority of UK SMEs, AMVIA deploys and manages Microsoft Defender for Business as the primary endpoint protection platform. It is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium licences, providing strong NGAV and EDR capability without additional licensing cost for clients already on that licence tier. Defender for Business uses Microsoft's cloud-based threat intelligence and machine learning models, which benefit from telemetry across millions of endpoints globally.

AMVIA configures Defender for Business to Microsoft's recommended security baseline, enables attack surface reduction rules, and integrates alerts with AmviaIQ for monitoring. Security alerts are reviewed by AMVIA's team and acted on — not passed to you as raw notifications to investigate yourself.

Huntress EDR for Enhanced Detection

For businesses that require a higher level of managed detection — particularly those in regulated sectors, those with elevated threat profiles, or those seeking MDR-level response capability — AMVIA can deploy Huntress EDR alongside or instead of Defender for Business. Huntress adds a managed analyst layer that investigates every endpoint alert, reducing false positives and ensuring genuine threats receive prompt human investigation.

Huntress is specifically designed for the SME environment and is widely used by managed service providers as a reliable, cost-effective EDR platform that does not require an in-house security team to operate effectively.

Centralised Management and Monitoring

AMVIA manages endpoint protection centrally. All managed devices are enrolled, policy updates are deployed automatically, and definition updates run continuously. Where a device falls out of compliance — for example, if endpoint protection is disabled or a device has not updated — AmviaIQ flags it for remediation.

Monthly reports confirm protection status across all managed devices: devices with current protection, devices with recent detections, and any remediation actions taken. This documentation supports Cyber Essentials compliance and provides an audit trail for security governance purposes.

Ransomware-Specific Protections

Ransomware protection deserves specific mention because of the impact a successful ransomware attack has on business operations. AMVIA configures controlled folder access in Defender for Business, preventing unauthorised processes from modifying files in protected folders — a direct countermeasure against ransomware encryption. Attack surface reduction rules block common ransomware delivery mechanisms such as macro execution from Office applications and child processes spawned by email applications.

These preventive controls complement detection — reducing the probability of ransomware gaining a foothold rather than relying solely on detecting it after it begins executing.