Caspar Herzberg |
This article first appeared in the Winter issue of The Record.
The number of companies subjected to attacks from cyber criminals is growing every day, and the attackers’ success rates are a big incentive for them to continue. You can’t just pray for this not to happen in your company – you must take decisive action to prevent it.
The Windows platform is the most used operating system by companies worldwide, making it the perfect target for hackers. One of the many methods of hacking a system is through an infected application, which is used by company employees. A single infected user PC could be enough for a criminal to get control of a network or access critical company documents.
To fight this, Microsoft’s App-V and AppX packages have been designed to ‘lock’ an application when necessary, which dramatically limits the damage that can be done if in the wrong hands. This is all done with the help of the Windows operating system, which creates a virtual copy of the file and registry system for each application of this type. Each change made in the app is stored in its own virtual file and registry system. It cannot leave that bubble and it can never run with elevated privileges.
This is not the only advantage you get from App-V and AppX packages. The IT department will see their job made much easier as application management is simplified. Removing an app is very straightforward, no ‘garbage’ is left on the end user machine and making updates is a seamless process. App-V has even more benefits if you’re on a virtual desktop infrastructure environment.
Moving towards App-V and AppX can be easily done by leveraging your current infrastructure running on System Center Configuration Manager, which can manage both packages. Parallel usage is supported and while AppX packages are only supported by the Anniversary Update for Windows 10, App-V packages are supported by Windows 7 and all newer versions. It should be noted that, in the latest Windows 10 update, the App-V support is built-in natively in the operating system along with AppX, and the purchase of an additional Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack isn’t necessary. This shows a strong commitment from Microsoft regarding the future of these technologies.
Bogdan Mitrache is product manager for Advanced Installer at Caphyon