Automatic Software Audit System Using Agent-Based Compliance Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional manual audit methods are inadequate for ensuring legal software usage across diverse applications in enterprises, posing a risk to company reputations due to potential illegal use of piracy software.
Innovation Solution
An automatic software audit system comprising a client and server architecture, where the server includes a network interface, software installation record database, audit rule database, and CPU, which installs an agent program to collect and analyze software installation records, generating audit results based on predefined rules and release records.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual audit methods are used, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but audit effectiveness and compliance assurance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
An agent program is introduced as an intermediary component installed on client computers to automatically collect software installation records and transmit them to the server. This intermediary handles the complex data collection and analysis tasks, enabling reliable automated auditing without requiring complex manual intervention while maintaining implementation feasibility through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual audit process is replaced with an automated electronic system that uses the agent program to collect data, the server to process and analyze records against audit rules, and automated generation of audit reports. This substitution of mechanical manual procedures with electronic automation significantly improves audit effectiveness and reliability.
2Productivity
If automated audit system is implemented, then audit effectiveness improves, but implementation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The automated audit system is segmented into distinct modular components: the agent program for data collection on client machines, the server for centralized processing and rule management, and separate database modules for storing installation records, audit rules, and results. This segmentation allows each component to perform its function independently, improving productivity through automation while managing complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The server component performs multiple functions including receiving data from agents, storing installation records, managing audit rules, analyzing compliance, and generating reports. This multi-functionality consolidates what could be multiple separate systems into a single unified platform, improving management efficiency while avoiding the complexity of multiple independent systems.
3Reliability
If comprehensive software monitoring is performed, then piracy prevention improves, but data processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing audit rules in advance and having the agent program continuously collect and pre-process software installation records before formal audits are executed. Audit rules define compliance criteria beforehand, and installation records are accumulated and organized prior to analysis, enabling efficient compliance checking without overwhelming data processing loads during actual audit operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The agent program extracts only the relevant software installation information needed for compliance auditing from the vast amount of data on client systems. Rather than monitoring all system data, the agent selectively collects software-related records and transmits only this extracted information to the server, reducing data volume while maintaining comprehensive compliance assurance.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic software audit system includes a client and a server. The client includes a network interface, a software installation record database, a software audit rule database, a software release database and a central processing unit (CPU). The network interface is coupled to the client. The software installation record databases stores a software installation record of the client. The software audit rule database stores a software audit rule. The software release database stores a software release record of the client. The CPU installs an agent program to the client to collect the software installation record, and generates a software audit result of the client according to the software installation record, the software audio rule and the software release record.