Introduction
The modern business world operates based on its terminals, the laptops, desktops, and servers, which are used by the employees daily. These working stations become the very point of your operations and, more importantly, your security perimeter. However, safeguarding and supporting hundreds or even thousands of single endpoints is a mammoth, multi-dimensional task for any IT department.
It is at this point that the workstation audit software comes into the picture and proffers the much-needed facilities in order to guarantee the overall visibility by instilling security policies and automating the hectic process of asset management. It is impossible to defend what is not visible, and what an audit solution pays all its eyes to is every device.
The criticality of total Visibility
The lack of complete and real-time access to all individual devices connected to the network is the largest issue in IT Security and Asset Management. An organization should be aware of the hardware and software in its possession, where they are, and who owns them. The solution to this root cause will be workstation audit software that automatically scans all endpoints and catalogues them.
It builds a central repository for all hardware equipment, including CPU type, memory, storage, and peripherals. This is not a fixed inventory; the audit software constantly updates this information, so you will always see the location of your assets. The precise specifications of all machines are essential for upgrading machines, troubleshooting hardware failures, and ensuring that all users have the proper tools to do their work. This fact would allow your IT department to move from reactive firefighting to a plan-based approach.
Protecting Your Walls through Live Auditing
Security is a layer-based solution, and an individual workstation is one of the most critical layers to secure. Workstation audit software will substantially improve your security posture by making data collection a crime. It has active vulnerability and misconfiguration scanning, which attackers continually exploit.
Identifying and Eliminating Software Vulnerabilities
Hacking into unpatched software may be regarded as one of the most common ways for cybercriminals to invade a network. After a vendor issues a security update, it is a matter of time before the security update is deployed and an attacker takes advantage of the known vulnerability. Audit programs identify all applications installed in all workstations and those with no patches or outdated versions. It gives you an account on the systems to be attended to. By automating the software vulnerability identification process, you can reduce the total area of attack.
The Security Configurations
A perfectly patched system can also be poor when it comes to security settings. Configuration information checked by the workstation audit software is vital to defense. Is there a running firewall in the machine? Does it have antivirus software installed and up to date? Do complex password policies exist, and are they implemented? The software ensures these significant settings are checked in every endpoint. When a device is no longer within the security baseline you have specified, the system reminds you of the first violation. It gives you the option to automatically or manually make configuration changes before a security breach occurs. It is this relentless enforcement that eliminates the risk of human error at the critical security divide.
Maximizing Software licensing and compliance
High operating costs also include software licenses, which are a significant expense and whose management is an important compliance challenge. The workstation audit product will help you achieve software compliance by reporting the software installed against the number of licenses actually obtained. It enables you to identify instances of under- and over-licensing, which lead to organizations paying costly legal and financial fines and to wastage, respectively. The software displays the installed applications that are not in use, i.e., Shelfware, so you can reassign and reclaim them, which is a real savings for the company.
Grow Your Business with Consulting Crafts
Expert IT & server management solutions that keep your systems fast, secure, and reliable.
Connect with us on LinkedIn.
FAQs
What advantages does this software have for our IT security?
It increases security by automatically identifying missing patches, marking down misconfigured security configurations (such as firewalls switched off or an outdated antivirus), and notifying the team about unauthorized changes and installations.
Can the software track the user’s activity?
Yes, the majority of solutions will track login and file access attempts, system settings changes, and provide a simple audit trail that will play a critical role in security investigations and compliance audits.
Will workstation audit software be comparable to asset tracking software?
Audit software is a more technical, configuration/security-state-oriented tool, although it is related, and provides the base inventory information needed in a full asset-tracking system.
What can it do to help with licensing software?
It will search for the software on every workstation and compare it with the software you are already licensed to use, helping you avoid the high costs of litigation in the event of under-licensing. You will also save money by locating and reclaiming unused licenses.
