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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

If you're using Synchronized Application Control for the first time, you must turn it on from Sophos Central.

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.

Expand the application view Expand button. to see all locations on all the endpoints where Sophos Firewall has detected the application.

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 seen them and don’t want to change their attributes. This option is useful for applications you don't want to customize and no longer want Sophos Firewall to label as New. Their new label will also be Customized.

Customize: Customize (or 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 don't want to see any longer. You can then see them only when you select Hidden applications. To see them again on other views, click Show.

Delete: Deleting applications will also remove them from application filters. If Sophos Firewall detects a deleted application again on an endpoint, the application reappears on the application list.

Searching for applications

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