Device Classification for Windows

You can classify Windows devices based on these criteria:

Go to Settings > Manage > Device Classification and select Windows on the New Device Classification dropdown list, and then follow these steps to classify your Windows device. Select options and enter the requested parameters.

1. Rule Name: Enter a name for this classification rule.

2. Device Classification: From the options displayed in the dropdown menu, choose the desired label you want to assign to this rule. You cannot assign more than one label to a rule.

3. Classification Criteria: Select an All or Any criteria match.

4. Encryption: To classify a device to be encrypted, choose one or both of these options:

   • BitLocker

   • PGP

5. OPSWAT: Netskope can leverage OPSWAT capabilities (You need to install OPSWAT to use its capabilities) to identify the applications installed in the endpoint device and monitor them. To use an OPSWAT check, select one of the following from the Check Type dropdown menu and enter the Metaccess license key:

   • Full Compliance check: Netskope Client checks whether the MetaAccess agent is running to ensure that registry contains the latest compliance information.  Also, checks if the configured MetaAccess license on the WebUI matches the product license.

   • Basic Compliance check: Checks if the compliance policy check has a critical error. In case of an error, the basic compliance check fails.

6. Registry: To classify a device when one or more registry keys are found on a device, select an HKEY type from the dropdown list, and then enter the key and value. Next select the registry type from the dropdown list, and if needed, enter text in the Data field.

7. Process: To classify a managed device based on the presence of any one or more processes, enter the executable file name(s). Enter the file names as new line separated without any extra spaces between the lines. For example, you can enter the executable files like process1.exe, process2.exe, and process3.exe in the following format:

   process1.exe
   process2.exe
   process3.exe

8. File check: To classify a device based on the presence of any one or more files, enter the path and file name.

9. AD Domain: To classify a device associated to any one or more domains listed, enter the domain name. This check only applies for the traditional domains(Domain-joined) and not Entra ID(formerly known as Azure Active Directory).

10. AV: To check the existence and status of an anti-virus product. The admin can select one or multiple AVs from the following predefined AV list:

    • Any

    • CrowdStrike

    • SentinelOne

    • Carbon Black

    • Microsoft Defender

    • Custom

      

    The admin can select either one or multiple AV products from the dropdown menu. For example, if the admin selects SentinelOne and CrowdStrike at the same time, the Netskope Client checks either SentinelOne or CrowdStrike against the device classification rule.

     If you select:

    • Any: This refers to any AV product that is enabled and running. The options in the AV dropdown get grayed out.

      

    • Custom: The admin must manually enter the type in the AV product name in the Custom AV Product Name field. This name must match the AV name registered within the Windows security center.

       You also have the option to select Check signature is up-to-date to check AV signature file is up to date. This is optional.

      Once you select the required details, Netskope Client uses the Windows Security Center(WSC) API to check the AV product running status and their signature status. For example, if you select CrowdStrike in the AV option and choose Check signature is up-to-date, Netskope Client checks if the selected AV name matches with the WSC registered name to verify the AV running status.

11. OS: To check and classify device compliance for the detected OS version that matches or is above the version information configured by the administrator. The OS check rule for Windows consists of two parts:

    • Minimum OS edition

    • Minimum Build number

    This feature is currently in Beta for Windows devices. Contact Netskope Support or your Sales Representative to enable this feature for your tenant. This feature will be available for macOS and Linux in the future releases.

    The administrator can select one of the following predefined Windows OS editions and then enter the minimum build number in the MINIMUM OS BUILD NUMBER (Optional) field:

    • Windows All

    • Windows 10 All

    • Windows 10 Enterprise

    • Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC

    • Windows 10 Education

    • Windows 10 Pro Education

    • Windows 10 Home

    • Windows 10 Pro

    • Windows 10 Pro for Workstations

    • Windows 11 All

    • Windows 11 Enterprise

    • Windows 11 Education

    • Windows 11 Pro Education

    • Windows 11 Home

    • Windows 11 Pro

    • Windows 11 Pro for Workstations

    • Windows Server 2016

    • Windows Server 2019

    • Windows Server 2022

    If you do not enter the Build Number, the Client automatically assigns it as zero. You can add multiple OS editions and their respective build numbers on the user interface.

     After the admin selects the OS editions and build number, Netskope Client checks the OS product name and verifies that the Windows build number is not less than the number mentioned in the rule.

12. Certificate: Checks for certificates on the device.

    Certificate check functionality is behind a feature flag. Contact Netskope Support or your Sales Representative to enable it for your tenant.

    The administrator needs to upload the certificates: Intermediate and Root CA. The Netskope Client then verifies the end-user certificate to confirm if it is signed by the same certificate authority that was uploaded in the tenant webUI.

    Prepare a Device Classification Certificate Rule

    To upload a new certificate, click Select File, and then upload your certificate in Base-64 encoded .pem format. If you have multiple signing certificates to upload, you need to create multiple device classification rules for each certificate. For example, to upload CA-Certificate-A and CA-Certificate-B, create separate device classification rules: DC-Cert-Rule-A with CA-Certificate-A and DC-Cert-Rule-B with CA-Certificate-B. The new certificate added in each rule do not replace the previously added certificates in other rules. However, if you choose to replace an existing certificate, the new certificate replaces the previous one within the same rule.

    Ensure that each PEM file begins with BEGIN CERTIFICATE and ends with END CERTIFICATE.

    A single PEM file can be a combination of the following:

    • Intermediate CA certificate

    • Root CA certificate

    It is important to add certificates in the correct sequence in the certificate chain starting with Intermediate CA that issued the client certificate followed by the Root CA.

    A correct PEM file is in the following format:

    Begins with 

    —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—–

     Ends with:

    —–END CERTIFICATE—–

    Upload CA Certificates

    Refer to the following examples to understand which CA certificates you need to upload in the webUI.

    • Example 1: Client Cert is signed by Root CA

      • Upload Root CA .pem file

    • Example 2: Client Cert is signed by Intermediate CA

      • Upload a single .pem file which contains Intermediate and Root CA

      • Order of the certs in the file should be Intermediate CA followed by Root CA

    • Example 3: Client Cert is signed by Intermediate CA-2

      Intermediate CA-2 is signed by Intermediate CA-1

      Intermediate CA-1 is signed by Root CA

      • Upload a single .pem file which contains Int CA-2, Int CA-1 and Root CA

      • Order of the certs in the file should be Int CA-2, Int CA-1, Root CA

    Prepare Your Devices to Comply With the Certificate Check Rule

    On Windows, Netskope Client checks for Certificate in the

    • Current User > Personal Certificate Store or

    • Local machine > Personal Certificate Store

    When finished, click Save.

After creating a device classification rule, you can use it in a Real-time Protection policy.

1. To use this Device Classification in a Real-time Protection policy, click Policies > Real-time Protection in the Netskope UI. Select an existing policy or click New Policy and choose a policy type.

2. Proceed through the Users, Cloud Apps + Web, DLP/Threat Protection, and Select Activities sections.

3. For Additional Attributes, click Access Method and select either Client, Mobile Profile, or Reverse Proxy, and then click Save. Click Device Classification, and then select label from Custom Device Management and Managed or Unmanaged from Device Classification, based on the devices you just classified.

   • Managed means the device is managed; the device posture information sent by the Client matches at least one of the device classification checks configured for that Client’s OS.

   • Unmanaged means the device is unmanaged; the device posture information sent by the Client matches none of the device classification checks configured for that Client’s OS.

4. When finished, click Save and then Next.

5. Combine device classification with other policy elements, like using the Block Action for specified applications for activities like uploading files from managed or unmanaged devices. Finish creating or updating this policy to establish this device classification. Click Apply Changes for this policy.

6. After the policy has been created, perform the process for which the policy was created. Next go to Skope IT > Application Events and click the magnifying icon for an event to open the Application Event Details panel. In the User section you’ll see a Device Classification field, which shows one of these device classifications.