2 cissp ® Official Study Guide Eighth Edition

Software Licensing 
Organizations pay for software, and license keys are routinely used to activate the soft-
ware. The activation process often requires contacting a licensing server over the internet to 
prevent piracy. If the license keys are leaked outside the organization, it can invalidate the 
use of the key within the organization. It’s also important to monitor license compliance to 
avoid legal issues. 
For example, an organization could purchase a license key for fi ve installations of the soft-
ware product but only install and activate one instance immediately. If the key is stolen and 
installed on four systems outside the organization, those activations will succeed. When the 
organization tries to install the application on internal systems, the activation will fail. Any 
type of license key is therefore highly valuable to an organization and should be protected. 
Software licensing also refers to ensuring that systems do not have unauthorized 
software installed. Many tools are available that can inspect systems remotely to detect 
the system’s details. For example, Microsoft’s System Center Confi guration Manager 
(Confi gMgr or SCCM) is a server product that can query each system on a network. 
Confi gMgr has a wide range of capabilities, including the ability to identify the installed 
operating system and installed applications. This allows it to identify unauthorized soft-
ware running on systems, and helps an organization ensure that it is in compliance with 
software licensing rules. 
Tools such as ConfigMgr regularly expand their capabilities. For example, 
ConfigMgr now can connect to mobile devices, including those running 
Apple’s iOS and Android-based operating systems. In addition to identify-
ing operating systems and applications, it can ensure that the clients are 
healthy according to predefined requirements, such as running antivirus 
software or having specific security settings configured.