2 responses July 09

Application Installation in Workstations

            In most organizations, users often want to be allowed to install software and applications that they want to on their workstations. In corporate and networked settings, allowing end-users to install whatever they want in office computers, exposes the companies’ network to security breaches and legal issues. According to Rouse and Madden (2015), user-installed applications may also cause problems for other applications or the entire system. Therefore, most administrators have embraced the initiative to secure their networks by implementing software and application installation policy. Despite the slackness of most organizations’ corporate culture, it is of considerable significance to configure all the organizations’ workstations to prevent users from installing their own applications on office computers (Posey, 2016). Although the end-user may own the license of particular software, the computer from which the application is installed is owned by the organization, hence resulting in licensing issues. Since it is the responsibility of the company to ensure license compliance, this may be a problem considering the company does not own the license.

            Security is also a crucial aspect of application installation by users in any networked corporate setting. Organizations should not allow users to install their own applications in office computers, whether in DVD or downloaded from the internet, due to the threat of malicious software. Most of the software applications are often downloaded from the internet by users since most of them are free to download. These free applications contain adware or spyware components. Most users neglect the need to go through the applications’ end user license agreement, which may reveal that malware may be installed as a condition of installing the app (Posey, 2016).

Moreover, unauthorized software applications increase the chances of systems exploitation. Most of these applications usually contain some security vulnerabilities, such that if a user downloads an app, there is a possibility that malicious actors may exploit the weakness in that application to gain better access to the system. Therefore, users should not be allowed to install any app on their workstations, and administrators to ensure this by implementing a good software application installation policy.

References

Posey, B. (2016). The importance of an effective software installation policy. Retrieved 6 July 2020, from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-importance-of-an-effective-software-installation-policy/

Rouse, M., & Madden, J. (2015). What is the user installed application (UIA)? - Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved 6 July 2020, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/searchvirtualdesktop.techtarget.com/definition/user-installed-applications%3famp=1