SoftActivity

SoftActivity Monitor 12.0 major update with privacy mode and reports by email

July 19th, 2019

SoftActivity is announcing the release of SoftActivity Monitor version 12.0. It’s a major update of its leading employee monitoring system used by thousands of organizations for protection from insider threats.

SoftActivity now makes it easier to protect employees privacy (such as for GDRP compliance in EU), while still recording all unsafe user activity that helps your organization improve employee productivity and detect insider threats early. Now it also includes admin audit log for improved HIPAA compliance in healthcare industry.

New version 12.0 allows you to prevent recording of:

  • personal online banking, password management apps, and other personal info of employees and customers. This can help organizations with GDPR compliance.
  • Regulated PHI (personal health information) for health-care industry, for improved HIPAA compliance;
  • corporate financial and other sensitive apps;
  • credit card numbers entered by employees, for PCI compliance;
  • and other sensitive, private or regulated information.

What’s new in version 12.0

  • Private apps and websites:
    • Admin can create a list of private apps and websites.
    • SoftActivity will NOT record screen copies, typed keystrokes and window name for private apps and websites.
    • It will only record a fact and duration of usage for private apps.
    • Edit Private apps list in Agent Properties – Privacy tab for All Agents or on individual level. By default, it’s populated with popular financial websites and password managers.

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  • completely new modern UI look with support of Dark Mode (optional):
Dark mode in SoftActivity Monitor v12
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  • switched to x64 architecture for improved performance. Warning! Desktop app does not support x32 Windows editions anymore. Agent still supports both x32- and x64-bit Windows editions.
    Note: if you need x32 version of SoftActivity for the admin’s PC, you have to use older version 11.8. SoftActivity recommends to upgrade your computer with a 64-bit edition of Windows, which also supports more than 4GB of RAM
  • greatly improved performance of Agent: now uses even less CPU than in previous versions.
  • support of the latest versions of web browsers, Windows updates, better compatibility with antivirus products.
  • other improvements and fixes.

New in your on-premise web console:

  • Scheduled email reports with users activity summary. Admins will receive weekly report in PDF format with last week’s stats. To enable this report go to Edit Account – Email Reports tab;
  • Graphical charts added to Dashboard:
Employee monitoring dashboard with charts
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  • Export reports to PDF from the webapp, including pie charts, and new Attendance report:
Employee attendance report in pdf
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  • Dashboard: select more than 10 top records to view;
  • Filter all reports by time in addition to days interval. Makes it easier to investigate user activity at a particular time of day;
  • Ability to turn off screenshots panel at the bottom. If you are not using screenshots, you can now turn off the panel completely;
  • Audit Log: view history of web console sign-in and sign-out events, and a log of all changes to the system made by admins and managers. Audit log is stored permanently for a year and cannot be deleted from the webapp. Can be seen only by admins. (Authorization monitoring is a requirement for HIPAA-compliant software);
  • Auto sign-out admins and managers after 14 days, for improved security. Session expiration is a requirement for HIPAA-compliant software. Time can be adjusted by setting SA_TOKEN_EXPIRATION_DELTA=xxxx (minutes) in web-env.txt file
  • View users for Top Websites and Top Programs. Click an arrow next to any app or website to see which users spent the most time on the website:
Top users for website
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  • Improved performance: webapp uses less CPU on the server;
  • Web console in Spanish. Switch your language at the bottom right corner;
  • Other numerous fixes, improvements and optimizations
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SoftActivity Monitor 11.8 released

January 24th, 2019

SoftActivity is glad to announce the release of new version 11.8 of SoftActivity Monitor, its leading computer monitoring software. It’s used by companies to protect against insider threats and improve employees productivity. This new version makes it easier to manage large lists of monitored computers.

Improvements in version 11.8:

  • new: multi-select in Agents list. Select multiple computers in the list and drag them to a group or dashboard, delete them, or right click and perform other actions: as assign to a group, send a message, shut down selected computers, etc. This could previously be done only with one Agent at a time.
  • new: search in Agents list. Click Search or press Ctrl+F in Agents list.
  • new: Agent update is now optional in some releases. For example, current version 11.8 of Monitor supports previous version 11.7 of Agents and does not require an update. (To force update of Agents manually, right click any Agent and click Update/Repair Agent, select Do this for all computers check box)
  • fix: incorrect duration displayed in Top Programs and Top Websites in webapp if longer than 24 hours.
  • other fixes and improvements
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SoftActivity Monitor 11.7 maintenance release

December 3rd, 2018

SoftActivity is announcing the release of SoftActivity Monitor version 11.7. Upgrade is recommended to all users

What’s new in version 11.7:

  • improved: live screen view now will display a screensaver when it’s active on the remote computer. Previously was showing a blank screen
  • improved: screens on live dashboard grayed out when the remote computer is offline
  • fixed: error message in Agent during log off on some computers
  • other minor fixes and improvements

SoftActivity Monitor 11.6 maintenance release

September 26th, 2018

We have released new version 11.6 of SoftActivity Monitor, a leading user monitoring solution that helps to protect organizations from insider threats.

Product name has now been changed to SoftActivity Monitor from Activity Monitor, in order to be more recognizable and include our brand. It’s a maintenance release that includes a number of important optimizations and fixes. Upgrade is recommended to all users.

SoftActivity Monitor 11.6 released with performance improvements

What’s new in version 11.6:

  • performance improvements and optimizations in Agent
  • view attachment names on Email tab in real time monitoring window in the console app;
  • minor fixes

TS Monitor 5.6 update also released

We are also announcing the release of new version 5.6 of SoftActivity TS Monitor, our user monitoring solution for terminal servers. It’s a maintenance release with performance optimizations and fixes.

TS Monitor 5.5 released with Alerts

July 5th, 2018

SoftActivity announces the release of the SoftActivity TS Monitor version 5.5 – its user monitoring software for terminal servers.

This version brings new Alerts based on user actions. You can now get an email alert as soon as a user goes to certain websites, opens an undesirable application at work, or breaks other rules set by the company. It means less time spent monitoring, and instead taking action at the right time when it matters. We have also completely redesigned the web console to show more information on a page and made it easier to navigate.

What’s new in version 5.5:

  • new: Alerts based on user actions:
    • Admin can create a set of alert rules in the web console. If users break a rule, their manager or the admin will get an instant alert;
    • A number of useful pre-defined alert rules is supplied with the system, such as social media websites, files copied to USB, etc. so you can start getting some alerts right out of the box, and start adjusting those rules;

      * click to enlarge
    • Alerts can be based on: visited websites, used applications, typed trigger words (keystrokes), or file operations;
    • Alerts are displayed in the web console and optionally can be sent by email. Alert emails are not sent less than 5 minutes apart, to prevent “alert fatigue”. This interval can be adjusted in settings, in order to receive quicker alerts or to get less emails;

      * click to enlarge
    • In order to start receiving alerts by email, an admin needs to enter SMTP server details in the web console’s Admin Panel. SMTP is used by the system for sending emails securely. Also the admin and managers need to go to Edit Account and enter their name and email address, and make sure “I want to receive alerts by email” check box is on;
    • Managers can see what exactly action by a user has triggered an alert and see screenshots of the violation;
    • New Alerts page allows you to see all alerts (policy violations) in the system and filter them by users, computers, and days interval.
  • new: Complete redesign of the web console with improved user interface:

    * click to enlarge

    • Fits more information on the screen and is easier to navigate.
    • Mobile friendly design: better support of mobile browsers on phones/tablets. View reports on your phone, if it’s connected to the local network, or if your webapp is installed on an Internet facing server and served via HTTPS;
    • Watch the demo video of new web console
  • improved: reduced storage space requirements on the customer’s server for storing screenshots. IntelliSnap mode now records 20-50% less screenshots, will avoid some duplicates, but without missing any important actions by a user;
  • improved: deleting a user in the web console now deletes their screenshots as well to save hard drive space. You can delete a user with all their data in Admin Panel – Monitored Users tab – User
  • fix: removed Keystrokes field from CSV format export, since it was breaking CSV format;
  • discontinued support of Windows Server 2003. Users with Windows Server 2003 are advised to upgrade to Windows Server 2016 or continue using TS Monitor version 5.3 (the last version that supports Server 2003).
  • numerous improvements and fixes

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Activity Monitor 11.5 released with Alerts

June 27th, 2018

We at SoftActivity are excited to announce the release of Activity Monitor new version 11.5 that we’ve been working hard on. Activity Monitor is a leading user motioning software used by organizations around the world to combat insider threats and improve their employees’ productivity.

With this major update, you can now get an alert as soon as a user goes to certain websites, opens an application that is not allowed at work, or breaks other rules set by the company. It means less time spent monitoring, and instead taking action at the right time when it matters. We have also completely redesigned SoftActivity web console to fit in more information and made it easier to navigate.

What’s new in version 11.5:

  • new: Alerts triggered by user actions:
    • Admin can create a set of alert rules in the web console. If a user breaks a rule, their manager or the admin will get an instant alert;
    • A number of useful pre-defined alert rules are supplied with the system, such as social media websites, files copied to USB, so you can start getting some alerts right out of the box, and start adjusting those rules;

      * click to enlarge
    • Alerts can be based on: visited websites, used applications, typed trigger words (keystrokes), or file operations;
    • Alerts are displayed in the web console and optionally can be sent by email. Alert emails are not sent less than 5 minutes apart, to prevent “alert fatigue”. This interval can be adjusted in settings, in order to receive quicker alerts or to get less emails;

      * click to enlarge
    • In order to start receiving alerts by email, an admin needs to enter SMTP server details in the web console’s Admin Panel. SMTP is used by the system for sending emails securely. Also the admin and managers need to go to Edit Account and enter their name and email address, and make sure “I want to receive alerts by email” check box is on;
    • Managers can see what exactly action by a user has triggered an alert and see screenshots of the violation;
    • New Alerts page allows you to see all alerts (policy violations) in the system and filter them by users, computers, and days interval.
  • new: Complete redesign of the web console with improved user interface:

    * click to enlarge

    • Fits more information on the screen and is easier to navigate.
    • Mobile friendly design: better support of mobile browsers on phones/tablets. View reports on your phone, if it’s connected to the local network, or if your webapp is installed on an Internet facing server and served via HTTPS;
    • Watch the demo video of new web console
  • improved: reduced storage space requirements on the customer’s server for storing screenshots. IntelliSnap mode now records 20-50% less screenshots, will avoid some duplicates, but without missing any important actions by a user;
  • improved: deleting a user in the web console now deletes their screenshots as well to save hard drive space. You can delete a user with all their data in Admin Panel – Monitored Users tab – User
  • improved: support of slow network speed for connection with Agent, down to 8KB/s or slower, that may be the case for remote users connected via VPN. Previously slow connections could be dropped and it would not download logs;
  • uninstaller: added option to remove the data folder, in order to free drive space;
  • improved: show correct icon and application name for Windows Store Apps;
  • fix: removed Keystrokes field from CSV format export, since it was breaking CSV format;
  • numerous improvements and fixes
  • discontinued support of Windows XP by Agent. Users with Windows XP are advised to upgrade to Windows 10 or continue using Activity Monitor version 11.2 (the last version that supports it).

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TS Monitor 5.3 maintenance release

March 21st, 2018

SoftActivity released new version 5.3 of TS Monitor, its user monitoring solution for terminal servers. This is a maintenance release.

What’s new in SoftActivity TS Monitor 5.3:

  • new: support of the latest versions of Chrome browser for Internet recording, which stopped working since Chrome v65;
  • fix: export to Excel (CSV format) in correct encoding for non-English characters;
  • other minor fixes and improvements

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