One of the most demanding requirements of implementing the Essential Eight is the need to patch applications when vulnerabilities are found. Although this may appear straightforward, many companies have over 100 different applications installed across their environment, which means that the time required to keep these applications up to date can soon stack up.
To assist you in fulfilling this requirement and safeguarding your organisation, Sentrian Rapid Application Management and Patching (RAMP) provides a comprehensive solution for keeping 900+ common applications up-to-date. With the ability to deploy updates to computers anywhere in the world, Sentrian RAMP helps to ensure that your organisation remains secure with vital security patches and updates.
Why Are Application Updates Important?
While new features are often a highlight of application updates, the most important aspect is fixing security vulnerabilities. These weaknesses in software can be exploited by cybercriminals to access sensitive information without permission or cause damage to the system. Updating the applications patches these vulnerabilities and protects the system from potential threats.
For instance, using an outdated browser to visit a dangerous website, either intentionally or by accident, puts you at risk of hacking and data theft as cybercriminals may take advantage of a known vulnerability.
How Are Updates Deployed?
Sentrian RAMP makes use of Microsoft’s cloud Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution Intune to deploy applications to computers anywhere in the world. When an update is deployed to your business, the below pop-up will appear for the user.
This pop-up window will give the user the option to Close Programs and update the application now or Postpone the update until a time that suits them. (Max 3 postpones before the update is forced).
What Applications Are Supported?
Sentrian RAMP currently supports over 900 common Windows applications. To be supported by RAMP, an application needs to meet the following criteria:
- The app does not require a server-side update before updating (this rules out many practice management and DMS application).
- The installation can be automated and executed silently.
- The app supports disabling built-in auto-updates.
- When an update is released, the update files need to be posed publicly to allow for automated testing and packaging
Supported applications will usually fall into one of the below categories:
- Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge)
- PDF Readers (Adobe, Foxit, BlueBeam)
- Utilities (Jabra, DropBox, 7Zip, Spotify)
For a full list of supported applications, please contact us.
Are Custom Applications Supported?
Absolutely, as long as the application supports a silent installation, updates can be pushed out. However, this work may be chargeable depending on the complexity.
What Happens When an Update Has an Issue?
Our automated system tests all updates before they are deployed to user machines, however, bad updates do happen. To mitigate this we recommend companies take advantage of our update rings feature detailed here: RAMP – Update Rings