Release Notes › New Features › Features Added in 14.5 › Client Network Agent

Client Network Agent

The current CA Data Protection release includes the Client Network Agent. You can use the Client Network Agent (or 'network agent') to control web activity on endpoint computers. Specifically, the network agent can monitor HTTP requests. This activity includes attempts to post files and comments to web sites or to submit form data. It can also monitor attempts to check in files to SharePoint libraries.

To configure the network agent, you edit Data In Motion triggers in the user policy. The network agent supports the Block intervention option. If required, you can configure the network agent to ignore network activity in specific applications or browsers. You specify the applications and browsers in the machine policy.

By default, the network agent is configured to monitor web activity for most common browsers and Microsoft Office applications, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome.

How does the network agent differ from the Internet Explorer agent?

In previous versions of CA Data Protection, the Internet Explorer agent could only apply policy to web activity in Internet Explorer browsers. It applied Web triggers and could apply the full range of control actions, including Warn actions.

The network agent can apply policy to network activity in any browser and applies Data In Motion triggers. It does not support Warn control actions. Also, Data In Motion triggers offer greater file detection capabilities and also support Data Lookup commands.

Note: Unlike the Internet Explorer agent, the network agent cannot apply policy to file downloads.

How does the network agent differ from the CA Data Protection Network?

The CA Data Protection Network (NBA) operates at the network boundary and monitors outbound and inbound traffic. It runs on a dedicated Bivio hardware device or a dedicated Linux server. The NBA can also monitor traffic sent using multiple protocols, including SMTP and FTP. In particular, the NBA is able to differentiate webmails and apply Outgoing Email triggers.

The client network agent runs on users' workstations and monitors outbound network activity. Also, in the current release it can only monitor HTTP traffic.

For full details, see the Client Network Agent chapter in the Endpoint Integration Guide.