Java & ActiveX problems persist.

By Ben Katz, Matt Heller, and Jack Morrone

With all the investment in time and money securing your estate against web-based threats, there are still dark areas which are overlooked. Unlike traditional threats which can be identified and patched by updating binaries, the web increasingly relies on the use of add-ons, extensions, and non-binary real-time code.

These approaches are not visible to existing management tools, leaving you with potentially older versions of Java and ActiveX controls that are unmanaged, and in many cases invisible, presenting a security and compatibility nightmare.

These untracked or unknown add-ons, extensions and non-binary instances along with Java, are increasing attack vectors for malicious actors.

Do you know:

·     Who has what installed?

·     What apps are they being used on?

·     Where else are they being used?

·     If you still need them?

Answering these questions is critical to taking control of your environment. Without knowing these answers, you're open to potential security threats from old/outdated/insecure versions.

Continuing to maintain unused components wastes time and money pushing out updates to these components. Test and QA teams waste time validating unnecessarily. Moreover, there is the potential for slowdowns or other impacts on system performance.

Imagine if you had the capabilities below:

·     Know which browser versions exist for upgrade and compatibility

·     Detail the relationship between apps, browsers, and add-ons to upgrade or migrate

·     Understand Java and ActiveX instances and version details for improved security

·     Identify unused Java versions that can be removed to reduce the attack surface

·     Document which web extensions exist and on which machines to mitigate potential security threats

·     Understand app execution from user endpoints to correct app performance

·     Determine which lines of business use which applications

·     Enable legacy Java to work securely in modern browsers

·     See all versions of Java that are installed and used

#java, #activex #Itom #systems management #sccm