Last updated at Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:00:37 GMT

As we look back on a super 2016, it would be easy to rest on one's laurels and wax poetic on the halcyon days of the past year. But at Rapid7 the winter holidays are no excuse for slowing down: The macOS Rapid7 Insight Agent is now available within Nexpose Now.

Live Monitoring for macOS

Earlier this year, we introduced Live Monitoring for Endpoints with the release of a Windows agent for use with Nexpose Now. The feedback from the Community has been great (and lively!) and now we're back with another round. Recall, by adding agents into your threat and vulnerability management routine, you can:

  • Get a live view into your exposures: Automatically collect data from your endpoints and seamless integrates it into Nexpose Now, so your Liveboards are always populated with real time data without the need to hit refresh or rescan.
  • Get visibility into remote workers: Remote workers rarely, or in some cases never, connect to the corporate network and often miss scheduled scan windows. Our lightweight agents can be deployed to monitor risks posed by the mobile workforce.
  • Eliminate restricted asset blindspots: Some assets are just too critical to the business to be actively scanned. With our agents, you'll get visibility into assets with strict scanning restrictions, while removing the need to manage credentials to gain access.

These same powers may now be pointed at your macOS population.

macOS adoption has been on the rise for years. Windows adoption is not in danger of being eclipsed, but many customers need visibility into their pockets of macOS machines within the environment. This makes sense -- when IT can't always mandate a common hardware platform, entire business units adopt what works for them, and C-suite executives use the hardware they desire; a Security team simply needs visibility to what's weak on the systems that mean the most to them.

Getting Started

Just like its Windows counterpart, the macOS agent is easy to install (interactive or silent), easy to manage (directly from Liveboards), and most importantly performs its duty with minimal resource consumption and no user interference. Ready to get started? Here's how:

First, navigate to your Liveboards and if you haven't done so already, add an Agent card.

Click on the Manage Agents link and then the Download Mac Agent button.

Run the installer package on your Macs of choice and you've taken a first step into a larger world. The Rapid7 Insight Agent takes care of the rest, performing initial and regular data collection, securely transmitting the data back to Nexpose Now for assessment. All of this takes place whether the user is connected to your network or just the internet, reducing the effort for you to get the visibility you need.

tl;dr, at launch the macOS Agent is compatible with macOS Yosemite 10.10 and onwards.

You keep using that word...

Since launching Nexpose Now early in the year and following up with Live Monitoring for Endpoints and Remediation Workflow, we've received questions on the minor, but obvious (Beta), label visible within some parts of Nexpose Now.

While on the topic of new capabilities, we thought we'd take the opportunity to share some of the Q&A with you all.

What is in (Beta) in Nexpose Now?

Remediation Workflow and Live Monitoring for Endpoints are the two current features that have this label applied. We've opened up these new capabilities to all users of Nexpose Now without restriction.

Why is <feature> Beta?

We want to get new capabilities into your hands as soon as possible, so you can start getting value and provide feedback to Rapid7 on how we can improve. We continue to work on improvements that will make the user experience more seamless, more capable and more performant. Beta is used to let customers know Rapid7 is actively working to deliver value: more goodness to come!

Are you releasing untested functionality?

All features are fully tested before being released. Users will get a high quality experience across many workflows, with more features and workflows being added to the product based on feedback we receive.

Is (Beta) functionality supported?

Yes. Features offered in Beta form are fully supported by Rapid7 Technical Support.

May I use these features in production?

Yes. That is why we've released them into the world, so they may deliver their intended value to you NOW.