I’m often asked about the many tools and techniques used to keep our digital world safe and secure. And while there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to safeguarding against cyber threats, there’s one tool that continues to stand out amongst the rest: Tanium.
Tanium is a cybersecurity platform designed to help organizations detect and respond to cyber threats quickly. And as someone who has extensively worked with this tool, I can say with confidence that it is a game-changer for the cybersecurity industry.
But what exactly does Tanium track? That’s a question I get asked time and time again. In this article, I’ll be sharing some insights and tips from my experiences with Tanium, including what it tracks, how it works, and why it’s such a valuable tool to have in your cybersecurity arsenal.
So, whether you’re an IT professional or simply someone interested in cybersecurity, keep reading to learn more about the power of Tanium and why it’s a tool that every organization should have on their radar.
What does Tanium track?
In summary, Tanium tracks various activities on endpoint devices, including the number of active processes, CPU usage and memory usage, historical data collection and analysis, and vulnerability detection and reporting. This monitoring helps organizations safeguard their systems from potential security breaches and maintain the security of their operations.
???? Pro Tips:
1. Utilize Tanium’s mapping functionality to get a better understanding of your network topology and identify potential vulnerabilities.
2. Tanium can track devices on your network, so it’s important to ensure that all devices are authorized and belong on your network.
3. Leverage Tanium’s patch management capabilities to ensure that all devices on your network are up-to-date with the latest patches and updates.
4. With Tanium, you can track user activity and identify any unusual behavior, which can help to prevent cyber attacks before they happen.
5. Tanium can track changes to your network infrastructure, so it’s important to monitor these changes closely to ensure that they align with your organization’s security policies and practices.
Activity Monitoring by Tanium Client
Tanium is a renowned endpoint security platform that provides management, operation, and security services to endpoints. The Tanium agent, also known as the Tanium client, monitors the endpoint’s activities and tracks its behavior in real-time. The client keeps an eye on different aspects of the endpoint, such as hardware and software configurations, applications running on the device, and performance metrics.
The Tanium client collects a wealth of information on the endpoint, including:
- Number of active processes
- CPU usage and Memory Usage
- System and applications event logs
- Network connections and traffic
- Installed and uninstalled programs
- User activity and more
This information is used by Tanium to identify any unusual activity and to detect security threats, vulnerabilities, or malfunctions that can cause damage to the endpoint.
Endpoint Tracking by Tanium
Tanium allows you to track all endpoints across your organization and monitor all activities performed by them. The platform monitors the entire device, including endpoints that are not connected to the network, making it incredibly powerful. It also raises alerts when it detects unusual behavior that violates policies set by the organization.
The platform offers comprehensive endpoint tracking that can help you to identify which devices were involved in security incidents from a single console. Endpoint tracking can be part of a broader threat hunting strategy, enabling you to detect threat actors that are taking advantage of compromised systems in your network.
Process Tracking with Tanium
The Tanium client continuously tracks different process activities running on an endpoint. It can identify, record, and provide real-time information regarding the type of process being executed on the endpoint. The client can also display information on the source of the process and its parent process.
The process monitoring feature of Tanium allows you to view the status of all active processes, kill individual or multiple processes, and display reasons for process termination. In summary, process tracking with Tanium provides complete visibility into the running processes on the endpoint, enabling quick identification of potentially malicious applications.
CPU and Memory Usage Tracking by Tanium
Tanium monitors the CPU and memory usage on devices regularly. CPU usage and memory consumption are essential performance indicators that provide insight into the overall health of an endpoint. Tanium provides real-time metrics on the resource utilization of endpoints within an organization’s network.
Monitoring CPU and memory usage allows you to observe trends in usage over time and alert you when any unusual system activity is detected. Tanium offers performance-management features that help detect processes that are heavily utilizing system resources and thus affecting the endpoint’s performance.
Information Storage by Tanium Client
Tanium saves all collected data locally on the endpoint. Every endpoint that runs the Tanium client is seen as a data storage node. The client uses Microsoft SQL Server Express for data storage, so the data storage capacity is limited to 10 GB. However, organizations can choose to integrate the Tanium platform with commercial relational databases like Oracle or SQL Server. This provides organizations the flexibility to store data on more comprehensive and durable infrastructures.
Programmable Duration of Data Storage by Tanium
The Tanium administrator can program the duration for which the collected information is stored on the endpoint. This feature is particularly useful in scenarios where there are data storage limitations on the device. Hence, the option to retain only the essential data on the endpoint can be very helpful in optimizing the device’s performance and space or memory usage.
The Tanium client provides customization capabilities that allow organizations to configure which data should be stored by setting rules and filters. By taking a quick look at the filters, administrators can understand which endpoint is exhibiting suspicious behavior based on the data stored on the device.
Endpoint Security with Tanium Tracking
Tanium tracking is a crucial tool for endpoint security. The ability to monitor an endpoint extensively, collect data, and track performance metrics is essential to identifying possible threats and vulnerabilities. Real-time reporting and alerts to any unusual activity mean faster detection and response times, resulting in reduced damage to your organization.
Benefits of Tanium Tracking for Cybersecurity
The benefits of using Tanium tracking to enhance cybersecurity in an organization are numerous. Here are a few key reasons why it is an excellent platform to consider:
- Comprehensive endpoint tracking provides real-time visibility into all endpoints.
- Dynamic filtering helps to detect malicious behavior that may otherwise go unnoticed.
- CPU and memory usage tracking help identify trends and areas that may need to be re-optimized.
- Endpoint tracking helps to detect compromised devices that pose a risk to the organization.
- Centralized management helps to simplify policy enforcement and reduces security gaps.
Overall, Tanium tracking is an essential cybersecurity tool that offers comprehensive insights and real-time monitoring into endpoint usage. It provides the ability for administrators to identify potential security vulnerabilities and threats and mitigate them promptly, making it an essential platform for any organization operating in today’s digital age.
