Chapter 1: Understanding Sanctuary Application Control Suite
Sanctuary Application Control Suite Administrator's Guide 4.2.2 11
5. If and only if, the file corresponds exactly to a file on the white list, i.e. their digital signatures are
identical, and the file is authorized for execution by the person/machine that has requested it, the file is
executed.
If you are using Sanctuary Application Control Server Edition, the solution protects your organization’s servers
and, by nature, your ‘users’ are system administrators. For the purposes of this guide, we call them all users,
even though for some of our products they are not end-users in the typical sense of the word. Sanctuary
recognizes both local and domain users and groups.
Now you can have total control over applications running on your organization’s servers. Authorized
administrators and users can work with their applications, but they cannot run any other executable files, such as
viruses, Spyware, any unauthorized scripts/macros, or other inappropriate applications — whether loaded
deliberately or accidentally.
What do you gain by using Sanctuary Application Control
Suite?
We have already described the benefits of a white-list approach versus the typical black-list approach — see also
the Sanctuary's Architecture Guide. Looking further, Sanctuary offers a wide range of features and benefits:
> Strong file identification — Sanctuary works by examining each executable, script or macro file that an
administrator wishes to centrally authorize and calculating a unique digital signature based on the entire
contents of that executable. This digital signature is known as a hash. Even the slightest change to a file
would result in a different hash, which means the altered file would not be able to run.
> Software version control — Because the solution recognizes files by content rather than by name or
location, you can manage different versions of applications as different files. As a result, you cannot only
control which applications are allowed but also which versions.
For example, you may decide that an older version of an application is valid up to a certain date. Old and
new versions are valid during a transitional period, and only the new version may run after a designated
date.
> Reduced total cost of ownership — Is your organization buying software licenses on a per-computer basis
rather than a per-user basis? Are you, therefore, paying for idle computers, or duplicate licenses for a single
user, just to ensure compliance with software licensing terms?
If so, then you will appreciate the ability to manage application access at the user level. Since you always
know exactly how many users are authorized to use each application, you can reduce the total number of
licenses: one per user instead of one per computer.
> Preventing the installation of undesirable programs — Not only does Sanctuary stop undesirable
programs from running — in most cases, it prevents them from even being installed. That is because the
installation program itself is an executable file. It does not run, because it is not authorized.
> Easy installation — Despite being an extremely powerful security tool, Sanctuary is simple to install. A
wizard guides you through the installation process, prompting you for any information required.
> The ability to grant or revoke access on the fly — The administrator may grant or revoke access to
executables, scripts and macros ‘on the fly’. Users do not have to reboot or log off and then log on again for
the changes to take effect.
> A log trail of all system activity — Each time a user requests to run a file, a log entry is created. The File
Group assignment details for the respective files can be accessed and maintained — if required — directly
from the log.
> Integration with industry standard databases — Sanctuary integrates with the powerful Microsoft SQL
Server and MSDE databases, which offer speed, security, robustness, and interoperability with other
applications. With these databases, there is virtually no limit to the number of servers and/or computers that
can be protected.
> Non-stop protection — Although Sanctuary is a network-based solution, its power extends to off-line
systems as well. Whenever a server or computer is connected to the network, Sanctuary sends the latest
authorization information. If that machine is later isolated from the network—intentionally or otherwise—it is