How to Block Apps

Published on: January 2, 2025

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3 min read

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For German Version

Restricting applications for all endpoint devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, or desktops, on a network is essential for IT managers. Blocking applications enhances productivity, ensures adherence to workplace standards, and safeguards children. It is one of the critical features of the application control technique.

In this tutorial, we explain why you should block applications, what are the most time-wasting apps, which applications can be blocked to prevent data breaches, and provide a simple method for preventing user access to applications using Zenarmor.

Why Do You Need to Block Applications?

Application control or blocking applications on a network offers the following benefits.

• Compliance: Application control enhances compliance. Compliance with industry standards and data protection requirements is essential in highly regulated areas like healthcare and finance. Application control aids organizations in adhering to these standards by restricting the use of non-compliant applications and enforcing security protocols. Organizations may save substantial fines, legal consequences, and damage to their reputation by maintaining a secure and compliant software environment.
• Malware Protection: Malware injection via an application is a method used by cyber assailants to infiltrate high-security networks. Prohibiting unauthorized applications from operating inside your company's IT infrastructure mitigates the risk of malware infiltrating your network via an application.
• Network Bandwidth Efficiency: Non-work-related internet use considerably diminishes network bandwidth. Limiting certain apps improves network bandwidth efficiency and enables quicker connections.
• Kids Safety: Many applications are distinctly unsuitable for minors and students. Applications including violence, sexual material, or harmful misinformation must be limited to safeguard children from their negative impacts. While several applications may seem harmless, a comprehensive analysis may uncover that they are distracting and undermine children's focus on other significant issues.
• Enhanced Productivity: Certain applications, such as TikTok, Facebook, or YouTube, are seen as detrimental to productivity due to their distracting nature, substantial consumption of essential work time, and consequent reduction in production. Restricting access has been shown to enhance productivity substantially. The workforce lacks the rationale for watching movies while neglecting their responsibilities. In addition to limiting access to distracting applications, it is crucial to evaluate other possible hazards, such as downloading dubious files, reading unreliable messages, and interacting with unverified contacts.

What are the Most Unproductive Apps?

The most time-wasting applications causing drops in productivity are listed below:

1. YouTube: YouTube, with 2.5 billion users globally, dominates the category of time-wasting applications. It is unsurprising that YouTube ranks as the second most visited website globally, with 42.9% of the online worldwide population engages as monthly active users.

   In addition to amusement, YouTube provides a multitude of instructional videos and material that may effectively introduce intricate themes. YouTube may serve as a marketing tool for enterprises. Ultimately, 62% of enterprises now use YouTube as a platform for disseminating video content.

2. Facebook: Facebook's diversity may be a fundamental aspect of its success, since the platform has evolved beyond just communication to include information retrieval, company promotion, and the sale of second-hand goods, among other functions. Individuals not using Facebook will inevitably encounter communication constraints, which is why this application will remain prevalent—both in our lives and among pointless applications.

3. WhatsApp: Seventy-three percent of WhatsApp users in the United States use the application everyday, and 100 billion messages are sent over WhatsApp each day. It is unsurprising that WhatsApp serves as a pervasive distraction, eroding your focus on both your computer and smartphone.

   The extent of WhatsApp use for personal or professional communication may differ by nation; nonetheless, it is evident that this application has grown significantly, making it probable that you may encounter at least some of your professional connections on the platform. However, be vigilant if you see WhatsApp ranking among the most unproductive applications for you or your team, since this may indicate a challenge in maintaining attention and circumventing distractions.

4. Skype

5. Netflix

6. Spotify

7. X (Twitter)

8. MS Teams

9. Slack

10. VLC Media Player

Blocking Applications with Zenarmor

Zenarmor is one of the best next-generation firewalls that provides application control and web filtering. You may use Zenarmor to prevent malicious or inappropriate application traffic at no cost forever. It provides enterprise-level security even for free edition subscribers.

Zenarmor queries your application access requests in real time and decides whether they should be blocked or not depending on the rules you specified. Zenarmor maintains an extensive and up-to-date application database that protects your network from over a thousand applications and +30 categories of applications. Furthermore, it is possible to establish custom applications that can be explicitly blocked.

After installing Zenarmor on your BSD-based or Linux-based gateway and completing the initial configuration, you can configure the web filtering on your Zenarmor node by following these steps.

1. Navigate to the Policies page on your Zenarmor node.

2. Click on the policy name, such as Default, that you want to configure. This will open the policy configuration window at the right side of the page.

3. Navigate to the App Controls tab on the policy configuration page.

4. Click on the toggle bar next to the Application Category that you want to block, such as Ads, or Gaming.

   Figure 1. Blocking App Category

5. You may block an individual application as well. Type the application name that you want to block, such as TikTok, in the search box.

   Figure 2. Blocking App Individually

6. Click on the toggle bar under the Status column to block the app.

7. Click Apply Changes to activate settings.

Testing and Viewing Blocked Apps Traffic

Advanced reporting capabilities of Zenarmor allow you to view network traffic sessions in real time via Live Sessions Explorer. For testing purposes, you may try to use the application that you have already blocked.

Then, follow the next steps to view blocked application traffic.

1. Navigate to the Reports page on your Zenarmor node. This will display Connections reports for your network.

2. You may see the traffic overview of running applications on App Categories Breakdown and Apps Breakdown charts.

   Figure 3. Viewing App Categories Breakdown and Apps Breakdown Charts

3. You may apply a filter for the blocked app sessions, such as Tiktok for our example. Hover your mouse over the Tiktok on the Apps Breakdown chart.

4. Click Filter button. This will automatically apply the filter to the charts.

   Figure 4. Applying Filter on Apps Breakdown Chart

5. You may view the reports for the blocked app traffic.

6. Navigate to the Live Sessions to view the traffic details.

   Figure 5. Viewing Live Sessions for Blocked App

7. Click on the magnifying glass icon to view the session details.

   Figure 6. Viewing Live Sessions Details

Which Apps Should Be Blocked to Prevent Data Leaks?

To prevent data breaches, it is essential to block or limit access to certain applications recognized for managing sensitive information or possessing vulnerabilities. Below are categories and examples of applications to consider blocking to prevent data leakage.

• Remote Desktop Applications: Applications like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, and LogMeIn may facilitate illegal access to computers.
• File Sharing Applications: Applications such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and WeTransfer provide the uploading and sharing of sensitive data outside from the company.
• Social Media Applications: Social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok may unintentionally disclose sensitive information via posts, messages, or data aggregation.
• Instant Messaging Applications: Messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Slack may enable users to disseminate sensitive information without supervision.
• Cloud Storage Applications: Cloud storage applications such as Box, iCloud Drive, and Mega may enable unmonitored data transfers.
• VPN and Proxy Applications: Applications such as Psiphon or Hotspot Shield may circumvent company firewalls, complicating monitoring efforts.
• Unverified Third-Party Applications: Unknown or untrusted applications obtained from unauthorized sources sometimes possess inadequate security measures.

How to Block Remote Desktop Applications with Zenarmor?

You may quickly block remote desktop applications for all endpoint devices on your network with Zenarmor by following the next steps.

1. Navigate to the Policies page on your Zenarmor node.

2. Click on the policy name, such as Default, that you want to configure. This will open the policy configuration window at the right side of the page.

3. Navigate to the App Controls tab on the policy configuration page.

4. Click on the toggle bar next to the Remote Access to block all remote acces applications.

   Figure 7. Blocking Remote Access App Category

5. You may block an individual application as well. Click on the Remote Access application category.

6. Find the applications that you want to block, such as AnyDesk, LogMeIn, MS RDP, Secure Shell, Teamviewer and Telnet by scrolling down to the list.

7. Click on the toggle bar under the Status column to block the app.

   Figure 8. Blocking Remote Access App Category

8. Click Apply Changes to activate settings.

9. Navigate to the Live Sessions to view the blocked application traffic.

10. You may click Filter button at the top of the page to find the sessions that belong to the application that need to be blocked. This will open a dialog box to enter a filter.

11. Click on the first drop-down menu to add a filter by selecting the reporting metric, such as Application Category.

12. Select the operator in the second drop-down menu, such as Equal.

13. Select the app category that you blocked, such as Remote Access.

    Figure 9. Filtering Remote Access App Category

14. Click Add to apply the filter. You should see the blocked remote access traffic on Live Sessions.

    Figure 10. Viewing Remote Access App Category Live Sessions