Comprehensive Guide to Application Control Strategies

To seamlessly implement a strict allowlist policy in an organization by leveraging ManageEngine Endpoint Central's Application Control, we have curated a list of expert-recommended application control best practices.

1. Create computer groups based on your enterprise-specific requirements

   The creation of computer groups is the first step to ensure application and privilege monitoring in the network. Once the devices are segregated based on the types of applications being used or the level of privileges required, admins can then streamline customized policies to the system groups. Using the Custom Groups functionality in Endpoint Central, admins can create groups of endpoints and the group-specific policies can seamlessly be deployed with a single click, right from a centralized console.

2. Group applications based on departments or functionality to simplify management

   Grouping applications is a powerful way to simplify managing applications across your organization. With Application Groups, you can group applications not just based on similarity and functionality but also based on the roles or departments of your organization. This makes it easier to map applications to specific users based on their work requirements and ensures that they have access only to the apps required for business activities. By clustering similar applications, (e.g. tools used for development, finance-focused software, or communication apps) admins can seamlessly devise policies for the application groups as a whole, instead of managing individual applications. This approach also reduces the risks of unauthorized application usage - thus helping maintain a secure and efficient IT environment.

3. Audit applications running in your enterprise network to gain granular visibility

   Gaining visibility of the applications used in the enterprise network is a quintessential requisite for application security. Not only does this ensure a smooth operation but also assists admins with the capability to take informed decisions on the applications that need to be allowed or blocked from being accessed in the network. The applications that hamper the productivity can be blocked. With Audit Mode, you can monitor the usage of unmanaged applications in the network.

4. Heighten security by restricting applications

   Once an allowlist has been created with all the necessary applications, move the policies to the Strict Mode. This ensures heightened security in the network since only the allow listed applications are allowed to be accessed in the network and helps achieve a zero-trust environment, thereby decreasing the cyberattack vector. In addition, it is ensured that there are no Unmanaged Applications since once the Strict Mode is enabled, as the unmanaged applications will be prohibited from being accessed.

5. Allow users to request access to applications

   From time to time, various business-critical tasks might pop up, requiring the usage of applications that are not specified with an allowlist. For instance, a support technician in the organization might require a video-conferencing application to interact with a customer, which isn't a part of the allowlist specified. Since the strict mode prevents unmanaged applications from being accessed, this might cause disruptions in user productivity.
   To combat this, users should be allowed the flexibility to request access to specific applications as per their needs. With the Application Control's Request Access feature, users can specify the application required to be accessed along with a justification of the need. Once validated, the admins can choose to allow, reject, or block the request. This in turn ensures a secure network along with minimal productivity delay.