Securing your computer or network from external threats is very important. Computers are generally exposed to a litany of different threats, many of which can hijack important resources and cause significant damage to your systems. Modern viruses and threats are very advanced. They are generally disguised as harmless applications and files that can be easily hidden in large clusters of data. Thus, unsuspecting users end up copying the malicious file into other computers. As soon as you open the program, it starts working in the background to spread throughout your hard drive. Many dangerous viruses and programs can also communicate remotely; they can send information from your computer to another system without the user noticing.
Needless to say, for companies that have to keep their information safe and secure, this is a huge problem. There’s a reason as to why the industry for cyber-security is now worth billions of dollars. As companies have begun to rely more and more on information technology, protecting your data has become not only more expensive, but also quite necessary as well. Application whitelisting Windows based programs has become a common choice for many companies nowadays.
What is Application Whitelisting?
If you are working in your office, there are a series of applications that you will generally use on a daily basis. A program can be installed for “whitelisting” specific applications, which will “okay” certain programs that are related to your nature of business. You can decide which applications are safe and secure by finding out about the digital certificates of the publisher. Whitelisting is actually used in many different corporations where information sharing is a sensitive issue.
Many hackers are able to disguise different applications as being perfectly fine. In order to detect this issue, most application whitelisting modules generally check out the HEX data of the file in order to determine whether it’s actually safe or not. The HEX data can reveal important information about the file that would otherwise not be available.
Why Choose Application Whitelisting?
Once a malicious application gains access to your computer or network, it can quickly take over the whole system and begin relaying information to outside entities. While you can make use of antivirus programs, there’s always a chance that a new virus or Trojan may be able to gain access to your system. However, application whitelisting completely resolves that threat. You don’t have to worry about any virus programs entering your computer, because you can only use a specific, predefined list of applications.
Many companies that offer application whitelisting solutions usually offer real-time monitoring and control protocols. They check all new applications and verify the source beforehand, thus ensuring that no unverified software program gets through. Application whitelisting is an excellent option for business entities that don’t want to take on additional risks. There have been hundreds of instances where employees have opened unsuspecting applications that ended up crashing their entire networks. Employees don’t think much about it, but the application continues to run in the background and begins transferring data from the computer. All of this happens behind the scenes, so it will take a long while before anybody suspects the intrusion.
