SonicWall boosts endpoint security for SMBs and mid-market

While the big end of town has access to teams of cybersecurity professionals and budgets that allow them to access the latest and greatest technology, the engine room of the Australian economy often lacks the tools it needs to protect its IT systems. Small to medium businesses (SMBs) represent about 97% of registered businesses, employ over 40% of Australian workers and drive a third of the nation's GDP.

Despite their importance, they often struggle to understand, manage and mitigate the risks they face. And that's a situation that has become even more challenging as remote and hybrid work have expanded the threat surface that needs to be protected.

Suroop Chandran, the Associate Vice President of Product Management at SonicWall, said the traditional model of a firewall and basic endpoint security software is no longer fit for purpose.

"It's not that the network security model doesn't work. It's that there's so much more now. The control point for anything you do with security has shifted from the perimeter towards the application or resource you're connecting with, or the endpoint where the end users interact with the application or resource. Endpoints are a high-level visibility and policy enforcement layer."

That need for policy enforcement and visibility has been exacerbated by the rise of end-user AI tools. Platforms such as Claude Code and OpenClaw have put significant power on endpoints with autonomous agents capable of carrying out a vast variety of different actions. Often, those agents have access and can carry out actions that are not understood or visible. And threat actors are also using AI.

"The explosive use of AI has changed the game," said Chandran. "People must be more alert, and enterprises and organisations need to implement more stringent security capabilities. Long gone are the days where a firewall offered adequate protection."

While AI has accelerated the creation of new attack vectors, it has also boosted the effectiveness, from the attacker's perspective, of "classical methods". Chandran says phishing and smishing are much harder to detect and, with the increased mobility of users and their use of a broader range of endpoint devices, drive-by downloads and ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated and successful.

The importance of policy enforcement on devices has become more critical over recent years. Ensuring operating systems and software are maintained and promptly patched is now a higher priority. AI tools employed by criminals can now create exploits for known vulnerabilities faster than ever before. Exploits that attack legacy and unpatched applications are becoming increasingly common.

SonicWall has a long heritage in network security and is on the verge of launching a new endpoint security product which is planned for release in August 2026, called SonicWall Endpoint Security, that offers a more evolved version of application control.

"The use of application control is going to change. You want to identify untrusted applications like agents or maybe you want to allow people to use certain AI applications, but not others, or limit the ability to run OpenClaw agents.  Once you combine that with what the application is doing you get more insight," Chandran said.

This approach brings visibility to agents that might be accessing or trying to access confidential or sensitive data and applications.

"The idea is that you must have more stringent definitions of what your authorised agents are supposed to do, implement stronger credential usage and monitor their behaviour," Chandran explained.

While there are endpoint security solutions that monitor activity, Chandran said many of these are inaccessible to the SMB and midmarket. SonicWall's solution is specifically designed for that market, which he said is underserved. He added that it will offer enterprise-grade endpoint protection that combines proven threat efficacy, operational simplicity, and continuous detection and response in a single, fully managed experience.

"We're trying to do something different. We're taking all the modern problems of endpoint as a whole and evolving endpoint security to solve those problems. It isn't just about being an EDR [Endpoint Detection and Response]. It isn't just about being able to block malware. We're bringing in visibility and the trust you require in this age of zero trust in AI through the endpoint as a control point. We are leading with a network security and a SaaS platform, Cloud Secure Edge. These work together to deliver an effective outcome."

SonicWall Endpoint Security has been in an extended beta program for about a year with partners offering it to customers. Independent testing has shown the product to detect every piece of malware thrown at it. Combined with SonicWall's fully-managed detection and response offering, Chandran said the company has a product that is suited to the needs of the SMB and mid-market that can be delivered through its extensive array of partners.

SonicWall's new Endpoint Security product delivers greater visibility and policy enforcement, specifically tuned for SMBs and mid‑market organisations that lack large security teams. With SMBs and the mid-market among the most targeted organisations by cybercriminals, SonicWall is focussing its efforts on providing security solutions that leverage its expertise and strong partner community to protect the engine room of the Australian economy.