[How-to] Track Chrome Browser Activity in AssetSonar

AssetSonar’s Chrome Browser tracking offers IT administrators in-depth visibility into SaaS usage by capturing and reporting employee activity within web browsers. This includes URLs accessed, timestamps, and user information, enabling organizations to manage shadow IT, enhance compliance, and optimize license allocation. Data is aggregated into AssetSonar, aligning with IT asset management workflows for centralized control.

This capability addresses the challenges associated with the lack of visibility into unauthorized SaaS applications, usage of unapproved software and malicious websites, and lack of detailed records of software usage. AssetSonar provides a balanced approach by integrating browser activity data with our system, providing comprehensive reporting while focusing on essential metadata to address privacy concerns.

Benefits of Tracking Browser Activity in AssetSonar

Here is how this feature can add value to your business: 

• Enhanced visibility and control: Enable proactive enforcement of organizational policies and get insights into employee browser activities, providing clarity on SaaS usage patterns. 
• Improved security and compliance: Detect and address unauthorized access or risky browning activities. Ensure alignment with security frameworks by identifying suspicious URLs. 
• Cost optimization: Identify underutilized SaaS applications to reduce unnecessary license costs and aggregate usage data for informed license renewal and allocation. 
• Centralized Reporting: Get unified reports for browser activity tied to devices and users for actionable insights. 

Now, let’s go through the browser tracing functionality in detail. 

Enabling Browser Tracking 

Go to Settings -> Integrations -> Browser Tracking via AssetSonar Agent. Click ‘Enabled’ and save the changes.

Enabling this integration will allow you to track user activities within SaaS applications accessed via web browsers. 

Actions on Browser Activity Tracking

Now, you can track the browser activity for every software application tracked in AssetSonar. From the software detail page of the relevant software application, go to the ‘Browser Tracking’ tab. Here, you can add URLs of the browsers you want to track through this functionality. Here is a screenshot of the Browser Tracking tab for the 1Password.

Clicking the ‘Add New URL’ button will open a new popup where add the desired Domain to track. Once you have filled out the fields, hit ‘Add’, and the URL will be added to the list of URLs that are already being tracked. 

You can also delete a URL from the list by clicking the Bin icon. The system will show you the following warning: 

Please note that if you want to delete a URL from the list and there is some activity already tracked for that software, AssetSonar will keep the record and won’t delete it with the deletion of the URL. 

This feature also allows you to view the activities on the tracked URLs with the time stamps. Go to the ‘Associated Users’ tab, and you’ll get a list of the users accessing the software. Here is a screenshot of the tab: 

Here, you’ll be able to view two tabs. Let’s see what information they provide: 

• Last Activity at: This tab provides the time of the last activity performed 
• Last Activity Type: This tab will give information about the type of activity that was last performed. For example, it will tell you if the application was last accessed via a browser or an SSO application. 

You will also be able to view detailed information on tracked software from AssetSonar’s reports.