Remediating Unmanaged Devices with Automox

Here's a scenario: You just found out about a security breach. The attack came through a device your IT team didn't even know existed – a contractor's laptop that never got patched, a test machine someone forgot to decommission, or a BYOD tablet that slipped through the cracks.

This is the unmanaged device problem. And unfortunately, it's not as rare as you might think. 74% of organizations have experienced security incidents due to unknown or unmanaged assets. These shadow endpoints create security blind spots and compliance challenges, but the good news is that they're entirely solvable with the right approach.

TL;DR: The 5 biggest unmanaged device problems:

• Can't patch what you can't see

• VPN requirements slow remediation

• Multi-OS chaos creates tool sprawl

• Manual processes can't keep pace

• Compliance reporting is incomplete

Discovering unmanaged devices is only half the battle. The real challenge is remediating the security gaps they create – and fast.

Unmanaged devices exist outside centralized IT control, which creates several security challenges. These endpoints don't receive routine health checks, software patches, or policy enforcement. They also typically lack the antivirus protection, firewall rules, and disk encryption that managed devices have. Without proper remediation strategies, they become attractive targets for attackers looking for easy entry points.

Because unmanaged devices operate outside standard access controls, they can access sensitive resources without proper verification or posture assessments. IT and security teams can't monitor or respond to incidents on devices they don't know about, creating blind spots that can delay threat detection. The key is moving quickly from discovery to remediation, closing those gaps before they become breaches.

Let's break down each problem and explore practical remediation strategies.

How do you secure devices you don't know exist?

Unmanaged devices live completely outside your traditional IT infrastructure. They're not in your configuration management database (CMDB), not reporting to your console, and not receiving critical security patches or configuration updates.

These devices accumulate faster than IT teams can manually track them. New hires bring personal devices, departments purchase equipment outside standard procurement, and projects spin up test environments that never get decommissioned. Add in acquisitions that bring in entire fleets of endpoints that aren't in your systems, and keeping accurate inventory becomes nearly impossible if there's no automated discovery.

Common sources of unmanaged devices include:

• Shadow IT (i.e., departments setting up their own devices without IT involvement)

• Remote employees working on personal devices (BYOD)

• Contractor and temporary worker laptops

• Forgotten test machines and legacy systems

• Mobile devices and IoT equipment

Here's the security challenge: Without routine monitoring, these devices miss critical patches and lack the antivirus protection, firewall configurations, and disk encryption that your managed endpoints have. Traditional discovery tools require VPN connections or on-premises infrastructure to find devices, so endpoints that don't connect regularly stay invisible.

Asset discovery plus automated vulnerability remediation

Cloud-native discovery changes this dynamic. Automox discovers unmanaged endpoints across your network without requiring VPN access. The cloud-native architecture finds devices wherever they connect – home offices, coffee shops, client sites, anywhere with an internet connection.

But discovery alone doesn't fix the problem. Once discovered, AVR (automated vulnerability remediation) helps minimize exposure windows by automating the remediation cycle. Security teams identify vulnerabilities through their scanning tools, and Automox pulls remediation data from leading endpoint security platforms. This gives IT teams an organized, prioritized remediation plan that goes straight from discovery to patching.

What this means for your environment: Every endpoint becomes visible and manageable from a single console. You can efficiently close vulnerability gaps and ensure devices receive the protections they need, not just eventually, but immediately.

Legacy tools weren't built for distributed workforces

Legacy endpoint management tools were designed for an era when employees worked in offices and connected to the corporate network daily. That's not today's reality, and that architecture struggles with distributed workforces.

Here's the core issue: These legacy tools require devices to connect to your network, often through a VPN, before they can receive patches and updates. When remote employees don't connect regularly, remediation gets delayed. This creates significant gaps in your security posture as critical vulnerabilities remain unpatched while you wait for devices to check in.

Why VPN-dependent tools create friction:

• Users forget to connect or work around slow VPN connections

• Traveling employees deal with inconsistent connectivity

• On-premises infrastructure can't reach devices outside the network perimeter

• Remediation windows extend from hours to days (or longer)

So, where does the security gap appear? In devices outside your network perimeter that can access resources without proper posture verification. When a critical vulnerability needs patching, the delay while waiting for VPN connections extends your exposure window. You know the vulnerability exists; you know the patch exists; but you can't remediate because the device isn't connected.

Cloud-native endpoint management reaches everywhere

Cloud-native architecture eliminates the VPN dependency. Automox reaches devices anywhere they have internet connectivity, enabling you to deploy patches, run Automox Worklets, and enforce configurations globally.

Benefits of this approach:

• Lightweight agent works across Windows, macOS, and Linux

• Real-time remediation regardless of device location, domain, or network

• 65% faster patching, from 31.5 minutes per patch down to 11 minutes

• Devices receive updates without waiting for VPN connections

This means you can remediate critical vulnerabilities quickly, not when it's convenient for users to VPN in, but when it matters for your security posture.

Different operating systems shouldn't mean different tools

Many IT environments use multiple endpoint management tools: one for Windows, another for macOS, and a third for Linux. This creates complexity and potential security gaps.

Organizations manage thousands of devices and endpoints, typically including a mix of Windows, macOS, and Linux systems – each requiring different management approaches with traditional tools.

The challenges with tool sprawl:

• Patch policies vary across operating systems, creating inconsistencies

• New devices sometimes miss enrollment in the correct tool

• IT teams spend time switching between different consoles and interfaces

• Creating unified reports requires pulling data from multiple sources

• Each additional tool increases licensing and training costs

When patch policies aren't consistent, some endpoints fall behind on updates. A Windows fleet might be current while macOS devices lag a few months behind, creating uneven protection across your environment. Consistent remediation requires a unified approach.

Cross-platform patch management from a single view

Unified management simplifies operations and helps ensure consistent security postures. More importantly, it enables consistent remediation across your entire environment. Automox manages Windows, macOS, and Linux from one console using a single agent architecture.

What unified management enables:

• Consistent policies across all operating systems and device types

• Device grouping by department, location, or custom tags (not just OS)

• Unified security standards, whether managing Windows servers, MacBook Pros, or Linux containers

• Third-party application patching alongside OS updates (580+ applications, including Chrome, Adobe, Slack, Zoom, Firefox, and more)

Organizations using Automox report 74% more efficient patching staff and 280% more patches per full-time equivalent. Simplifying your tool stack reduces complexity while improving security consistency across your endpoint environment – and vulnerabilities get remediated faster, regardless of which OS they're on.

Automation helps teams focus on strategic work

Manual remediation follows a familiar pattern: Security identifies a vulnerability, hands it to IT, and IT adds it to the queue. Eventually, someone schedules the patch, tests it, deploys it in phases, and verifies the results.

This works for routine updates, but it becomes challenging with time-sensitive vulnerabilities. The reality? 57% of organizations say there are too many manual processes when it comes to managing their endpoints. And with staff spending about 1.8 hours on patching per device per year, they have less time for strategic work.

The manual remediation cycle:

• Each step requires time: scheduling, testing, deployment, verification

• Handoffs between teams introduce delays

• High-priority vulnerabilities wait in the queue alongside routine updates

• Teams struggle to meet compliance requirements for rapid response

Without automation, IT teams can feel overwhelmed by the volume of routine tasks that need attention. And when you're overwhelmed, remediation slows down, which is exactly when attackers strike.

Worklet automation for any IT task

Automation helps teams handle routine work efficiently so they can focus on projects that require human expertise. Automox Worklets automate remediation, configuration, and deployment tasks across your endpoint environment using PowerShell and bash scripting.

Three ways Worklets support your team:

• Prebuilt catalog: Hundreds of common IT tasks ready to deploy, from Windows Defender configuration to software deployment and user profile management

• Custom automation: Create tailored workflows for your specific environment and requirements

• Flexible control: Choose automated policies for routine patching or maintain granular scheduling for systems that need testing before updates

The measurable impact:Organizations report 49% more efficient troubleshooting (from 1.4 hours per issue down to 0.7 hours), 44% more efficient security teams, and nearly four times more patches deployed with equivalent staff resources (280% more on average). By automating repetitive remediation tasks, your team gains time for strategic initiatives that move your organization forward.

Unified visibility simplifies audit preparation

Demonstrating compliance requires showing auditors that all devices are patched, secured, and properly managed. This becomes complicated when device data lives in multiple systems, and nearly impossible when you're dealing with unmanaged devices that aren't in any system at all.

The current state? 55% of organizations still use spreadsheets to track and report patch and vulnerability status. And only 13% rely on one unified dashboard.

Why compliance reporting gets complicated:

• Data lives in multiple tools with different formats and metrics

• Unmanaged devices don't appear in any dashboard, creating gaps

• Manual data reconciliation takes time and introduces potential errors

• Reports need regular updates to stay current for audits

Regulatory frameworks require transparent control and tracking of all devices handling sensitive data. When devices are unmanaged or data is fragmented, demonstrating compliance becomes time-intensive. And you can't prove you've remediated vulnerabilities if you can't report on which devices exist.

Unified visibility and prebuilt compliance reports

Centralized visibility helps teams understand their security posture and prepare for audits efficiently. Automox provides complete endpoint visibility from one dashboard, showing patch status, device health, and vulnerability exposure.

What unified reporting provides:

• Prebuilt reports covering device activity, compliance status, and patch history

• Reports that generate quickly and export in multiple formats

• Real-time data rather than snapshots from previous weeks

• Alerts when devices fall out of compliance

• Report formats aligned with common frameworks (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)

When you can see your entire endpoint environment in one place – including those previously unmanaged devices – preparing for audits becomes more straightforward. You'll know your current compliance posture, and you can prove you're actively remediating vulnerabilities across every endpoint.

Unmanaged devices create five interconnected challenges that traditional tools can't solve:

• Discovery gaps: Traditional tools miss devices that don't connect via VPN

• Tool complexity: Multi-OS environments often mean multiple management platforms

• Manual overhead: Staff spend too much time each week on tasks that could be automated

• Reporting challenges: Invisible devices can't appear in compliance reports

• Security exposure: 74% of organizations have experienced incidents involving unmanaged assets

Cloud-native, automated endpoint management addresses these challenges systematically. You can discover devices without VPN requirements, manage Windows, macOS, and Linux from one console, automate routine remediation tasks, and generate compliance reports efficiently. The result: 65% faster patching and the ability to move from discovery to remediation in minutes instead of days – closing security gaps before they become breaches.

Your unmanaged devices aren't disappearing. Remote work, BYOD, and distributed teams are permanent fixtures of modern IT. The question isn't whether you have unmanaged devices (you do).

It's whether you'll keep managing endpoints with different tools designed for a different era, or adopt an approach for today's distributed workforce that prioritizes fast, automated remediation.