Comprehensive Guide to Application Control Strategies
A structured approach to implementing a strict allowlist policy — from discovery and grouping through full zero-trust enforcement.
Organize endpoints and applications before you write policies
Segmenting devices is the prerequisite for targeted, manageable application policies.
Create computer groups based on enterprise requirements
Segregating devices by application usage or privilege requirements is the foundation of effective application control. Once endpoints are grouped, administrators can push tailored policies to each group with a single click.
Use the Custom Groups feature in Application Control Plus to build endpoint groups that reflect how your organization actually works — by team, role, location, or any other dimension that maps to real policy differences.
Group applications by department or function
Application Groups let you cluster applications by similarity, business function, or department. This makes it straightforward to map a set of applications to the users who actually need them — and prevents employees from accessing software that's irrelevant to their role.
Policies are configured at the group level, so administrators manage one allowlist for an entire department rather than individual entries for hundreds of executables. This approach also reduces the risk of unauthorized application usage slipping through gaps in coverage.
Learn more about Application Groups.
Audit before enforcing
Understand your application landscape before locking it down.
Run in Audit Mode to gain granular visibility
Gaining visibility into actual application usage is essential before enforcing any policy. Audit Mode lets all allowlisted and unmanaged applications run while collecting events — giving administrators the data they need to make informed decisions about what to allow or block.
Learn about Audit Mode.
Lock down with Strict Mode and user requests
Minimize attack surface while keeping productivity intact.
Switch to Strict Mode for zero-trust enforcement
Once the allowlist is built with all necessary applications, switch to Strict Mode to enforce a zero-trust security model. Only allowlisted applications can run — no unmanaged applications are permitted, minimizing the attack surface significantly.
Learn about Strict Mode.
Let users request access to business-critical applications
Business needs change — a support technician may occasionally need a video-conferencing tool that isn't in the allowlist. Since Strict Mode blocks unmanaged applications outright, the Request Access feature provides a controlled escape valve: users submit a request with a justification, and administrators can approve, deny, or permanently add the application to a group.
Learn about Request Access.