Actual work where 2 students given their post on this:In a corporate, networked setting, should end users be allowed to install applications on their company workstations, whether the applications are
End-User Policy vs Security
Users want the freedom to install software and applications on their company workstations. That may lead to security and legal problems for the company network if the users start installing software without consideration. Irrespective of how lenient business culture may be, it is crucial to set up workstations in such a way that users may not install apps themselves. Also, to have and stick to appropriate software installation policy.
A recent security vendor analysis by Avecto found that the elimination of Administrative rights simply removed 94% of essential weaknesses. It means most of the security, threat attacks were related to users mishandling the device or laptops (Kozlowicz, 2017).
One of the main factors is the difficult software licensing problems from installing software on their workstations. Another factor that consumers should not download the software is because this can significantly increase support costs of the company or trouble on IT helpdesk department/team.
The risk of malicious software also explains why individuals should not be permitted to download apps. You need to think about two specific types of threats in the case of malware-
Piggybacked on legitimate software
Software which installs without user consent or knowledge
One reason for a decent installation policy is that unauthorized software can boost the likelihood of abusing the network. There is a rule of computing that states that the more software you run on your machine, the higher the chances that a critical security vulnerability will be in your computer (Westgate, 2018). Often when users can install the software on their own that can end up giving control to the device register, change and run programs, install malware and travel over the network laterally. Operating a malicious program deliberately or inadvertently leads to infections that can encompass many computers on company network. Often anti-virus programs cannot detect such malicious programs (often because the user allowed them to run initially).
Regulatory or compliance standards complying entities like pharma, healthcare, business and others can also jeopardize conformance when allowing for local administrative privileges to users.
To conclude, it best not to give local administrative privileges to users and have a strong software installation policy in place. Educate the users on why this approach was taken and what is at stake. The importance of data security, threats, and other possibilities of risks will also encourage them to take more protection measures.
References
Kozlowicz, J. (2017, July 6). Should You Allow Windows Users to Have Administrative Rights? | Green House Data. [online] Greenhousedata.com. Retrieved from
https://www.greenhousedata.com/blog/should-you-allow-windows-users-to-have-administrative-rights
Westgate, N. (2018). The Risks of Having Admin Access to Your Computer - Diligex Blog. [online] Diligex Managed IT Services and Support. Retrieved from
https://diligex.com/2018/07/the-risks-of-having-admin-access-to-your-computer/
