What is the primary purpose of application control?

The primary purpose of application control is to verify that authorized applications are allowed to operate within a system or network environment. This practice involves implementing policies that ensure only those applications which have been vetted and approved can run, mitigating the risk posed by unauthorized or potentially harmful software.

By focusing on application control, organizations can control the execution of applications and reduce the chances of malware or unapproved applications infecting their systems. It helps in maintaining compliance with security protocols, reducing surface areas for attacks, and enhancing overall security posture.

Monitoring internet traffic, blocking unauthorized access to the network, and identifying vulnerable applications are important security functions, but they do not directly engage in managing which applications can or cannot run on a system, which is the core focus of application control. Hence, verifying the operation of authorized applications is paramount to ensuring a secure environment.