{"id":49236,"date":"2021-02-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-jc-marketing-site.pantheonsite.io\/?p=49236"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:05:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T19:05:51","slug":"monitor-software-installation-remote-laptops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/monitor-software-installation-remote-laptops","title":{"rendered":"How to Monitor Software Installation on Remote User Laptops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As an IT administrator, you need tools to monitor what software is installed on your remote users\u2019 laptops. This information helps you ensure software is up to date and that only approved software has been downloaded. It also helps you mitigate other security risks as users work outside the office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read on to learn about security best practices for managing remote user laptops, including reporting on installed software and versions across your fleet \u2014 and how to do so uniformly regardless of the operating systems in your fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In general, it\u2019s a best practice not to allow users to have administrator rights on their laptops. By default, you should set permissions as standard non-admin\/non-sudoer<\/a> for user accounts, which prevents users (and more importantly, malicious actors) from installing software and taking other actions on their laptops that could expose them to additional risk. For example, a BeyondTrust report<\/a> found that more than three out of every four critical Microsoft vulnerabilities could be mitigated by removing admin rights on the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there might be circumstances in which you grant users administrator rights temporarily<\/a> \u2014 like installing a printer \u2014 and you want to monitor whether they install unapproved software during that window of time. Or, due to bureaucratic or operational concerns, you might not be in a position to revoke administrator rights at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what situation you find yourself in, you need visibility into installed software and version information across your device fleet to identify and close security gaps, particularly in the case of zero-day vulnerabilities that require immediate attention. Even approved software can present security risks<\/a> if it\u2019s not properly maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, you need a way to do this without physical access to the devices, especially during the COVID work-from-home orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can use point tools and OS-specific solutions to monitor Macs or Windows independently of one another, but unified device management solutions enable you to monitor both operating systems from the same console. This simplifies your device management tasks as an administrator, as well as reduces costs for your organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your users (or executives) request Macs or your organization goes through a merger or acquisition with a Windows shop, a unified device management solution offers flexibility and a single source of truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMonitor Installed Software and Versions <\/h2>\n\n\n\n