Application Control

Monitor application usage and permissions across the network to help secure enterprise endpoints. Application Control helps secure enterprise endpoints. It controls which applications can run, their permissions, and their usage across the network. With rising threats from unmonitored software—linked to 16% of data breaches in 2023—Endpoint Central provides centralized allowlisting, blocklisting, and privilege management to improve security, support compliance, and reduce attack surfaces.

Get started with Application Control

Deploying Application Control in Endpoint Central starts with agent-based scanning to discover and categorize all applications installed across endpoints. Administrators can then create application groups—either as allowlists (to permit execution) or blocklists (to restrict usage)—based on filters such as vendor, product name, verified executable, file hash, folder path, and even StoreApps. Associate these application groups with custom device groups and deploy them in one of two policy modes: Audit Mode for monitoring and Strict Mode for enforcement. Here are the key features that make Application Control highly flexible and secure:

• Allowlisting and Blocklisting: Create application groups using filters such as Trusted Vendors, File Hash, Folder Path, and Custom Rules. Enforce strict child process controls and choose between Audit or Strict Modes to manage app behavior.
• Monitor and Remediate Unmanaged Applications: Detect applications outside predefined groups. Monitor these applications or block unauthorized usage.
• Just-in-Time Access and User Requests: Enable users to request access to unmanaged applications and grant temporary, time-bound permissions with full audit tracking.
• Blocked Application Access Reports: Generate detailed reports on attempts to access blocked applications and the actions taken. Use these reports for visibility and compliance.
• Privilege Management: Manage elevated privileges and control administrative access to minimize security risks and unauthorized system modifications.

Improve Application Control security and performance

For details about the counts shown on the Application Control dashboard, see Dashboard count definitions.

Application control helps strengthen endpoint security. Our Comprehensive Guide to Application Control Strategies describes best practices to improve security.