Synchronized Application Control

Synchronized Application Control monitors all applications on endpoints connected through Security Heartbeat.

You can see newly detected applications, hide known applications, sort applications into categories, and control their traffic through application filters. Synchronized Application Control supports up to 10,000 applications.

Note When using Synchronized Application Control for the first time, you must turn it on from Central synchronization.

Application categories and labels

Sophos Firewall comes with a default set of categories that includes the most common applications. When Sophos Firewall detects a known application, it categorizes the application accordingly. Detected unknown applications get the category SyncAppCtl discovered or General internet. You can rename and customize those applications. Assign applications to application filters to control their traffic.

If Sophos Firewall detects more than one instance of an application, you can see all locations of the application on all the endpoints where it was detected by expanding the application view Expand button.

Applications have the following labels, which you can see in the Manage column:
  • New: Newly-detected applications unknown to Sophos Firewall.
  • Mapped: Detected applications that have been mapped automatically to an application category.
  • Customized: Applications that have been mapped manually.

Managing applications

Acknowledge
Acknowledge new applications to indicate that you’ve noticed them and don’t want to change their attributes. This is useful for applications you don’t want to customize and which still should no longer show up as New. Their new label will also be Customized.
Customize
Customizing an application means you can change the application name and its category. Afterwards, the application’s label will be Customized. You can always change these attributes. To customize an application, click More options More options button in the Manage column and select Customize.
Hide/Show
Hide applications you already know or you don’t need to see anymore. They will then be displayed only when you select Hidden applications. From there you can display them again on other views by clicking Show.
Delete
Deleting applications will also remove them from application filters. When Sophos Firewall detects a deleted application again on an endpoint, the application will reappear on the application list.

Searching for applications

You can search for applications by the application name, path, and category as well as the endpoints. To control the scope of search, select an option from the list. Example: System applications.

Troubleshooting: Page doesn't load

If you're using version 18.0 MR4 or earlier, the Synchronized Application Control page may not load if the application database is full. You can do one of the following:

  • Upgrade to 18.0 MR5 or later. We recommend updating to the latest version to have the best protection.
  • Go to Central synchronization. Under Synchronized Application Control, click Clean up application database and set Elapsed time since last detection to 1 month. Sophos Firewall deletes the applications detected earlier than this period.