MONITORING SOFTWARE BLOG

SoftActivity is glad to announce the release of its employee monitoring software for remote teams using Terminal Servers and Citrix XenApp. It now lets you track users idle time, when they are signed on to the server, but actually walk away from a terminal.

What’s new in version 6.4:

• Idle time tracking. Attendance view in web console now shows idle intervals, i.e. for how long a user was away. This lets you track if employees are away from their computers, or actually working.
  Adjust the idle timeout in minutes TS Monitor config app (default is 5 minutes).
• Attendance view in web console: Zoom to Sessions button to quickly switch to a work day, instead of manually selecting start & end times.
• fix: [web console] clean up of old logs previously could take a lot of RAM on the server and fail.
• numerous fixes and improvements

When you operate a business, you need to make sure all the t’s are crossed, and i’s are dotted. One aspect of running a business that often is neglected, especially for SMBs or newly minted enterprise businesses, is network monitoring. 

Every business should adopt some form of employee monitoring in order to ensure that their employees are working dutifully when they should be and when they say they are. Employee monitoring can also be a useful tool for monitoring, preventing, and mitigating insider threats. 

However, additional network monitoring should also be adopted in order to streamline business processes, cut costs, and provide security teams with a more in-depth look at activity across the network. 

If you have shifted to running a remote workforce due to the COVID-19 restrictions, you have most likely been dealing with the technological and security issues that can come with a remote workforce. 

Using a remote workforce for employees previously on-site can be beneficial, especially during a time when physical workplaces must be closed. But a remote workforce should not be run without optimal security protocols in place. It’s important to establish an insider threat detection program for your remote team. 

A successful insider threat can cause a lot of harm to a business of any size, costing a company thousands if not millions of dollars in lost assets, downtime, compromised customer assets, and expending resources to mitigate the breach. Therefore, businesses of all sizes should seek ways to mitigate insider threats, like an insider threat detection program, so that they can increase the chances of stopping one before it happens.

One method of managing an insider threat detection program is by using user and entity behavior analytics (UBA and EBA, or UEBA). These tools allow project managers, business owners, and management to track a user’s behavior, and, of course, the behavior patterns of an entity, to try to identify a sort of common pattern or trend. Therefore, when that trend is disrupted, those monitoring the users can potentially do something to protect their business against an insider threat. 

Maybe you’re an employee that thinks your employer is monitoring you at work and you’re not sure how they can do that. Or, perhaps you are a business owner managing a small team and you’re not quite sure your employees are working as hard as they say they are. 

In either case, you’re wondering what employee monitoring software is, what it is capable of, and how it can potentially improve your workplace. 

Industry professionals agree that employee monitoring software can drastically improve your workplace productivity and help to minimize the chance of an insider threat. Employers are also allowed to exhibit some form of employee monitoring while employees are on the clock, so long as they are mindful of employees’ privacy rights. 

Employee monitoring software can provide employers with an inside look into employee productivity and employee intentions. Not only is this software useful for identifying potential rogue employees, but it can also highlight when a business may be vulnerable to data breaches or time theft. 

Employee monitoring software is an effective tool to improve employee performance and productivity and reduce the risk of an insider threat before it becomes a problem. But if you’ve never used employee computer monitoring software before, it might seem daunting or like an invasive technology.

The good news is that monitoring software is extremely easy to use and can be easily integrated into a comprehensive employee monitoring system, even if you have a remote team or you are managing a massive workforce.