Media headlines related to the billions of dollars lost each year by victims of zero-day exploits, spear phishing and sophisticated malware attacks are a constant reminder of modern cyber threats.

Ransomware attacks, in particular, have most recently driven home the need for better protection, detection, response and remediation. Ransomware was the leading attack reported by 55% of respondents in the 2016 SANS Financial Services Survey7 and the second most prevalent attack for respondents in the 2016 SANS Healthcare Survey.8

The dominant threat type will be something different. With new types of malware and malware-less exploits popping up constantly, it’s time for antivirus to grow up. As such, NGAV will have a vital role in the future of endpoint detection, prevention and response.

The keys are: first, to avoid the hype, and second, to evaluate the many products claiming to be next-gen AV. This guide should help readers design an effective evaluation program.