Absolute 7.19 Release Notes

This topic describes the software changes included in Absolute 7.19. It also describes the changes included in all hotfixes since the release of Absolute 7.18.

This release introduces performance, security, data integrity, and usability improvements that enhance the responsiveness, reliability, and ease of use of the system. It also introduces enhancements, improvements, and fixes to existing features and functionality.

To view the software changes introduced in this release that apply to the Absolute agent, see the Absolute agent release notes: Version 7.19.

NOTE Depending on the Absolute product licenses associated with your account, some of the following software changes may not be available to you.

Features and enhancements

Features at or nearing end-of-life

Features at end-of-life

Absolute has deprecated the following features:

Feature	Details
Data Delete	The Data Delete feature is no longer available. That is, you can no longer submit new Data Delete requests or create Deletion Policies. However, you can still work with any Data Delete requests that are in progress, and view all completed requests. For more information about working with existing Data Delete requests, see the Absolute User Guide. To delete files and folders from your devices, submit a File Delete or Wipe request.
Android support	Absolute has ended support for the Absolute agent for Android. If you are using the Android agent on your devices, it will continue to call in to the Absolute Monitoring Center with updated data. However, no new versions of the agent will be released, including updates for bug fixes. The Absolute agent currently supports devices running Android versions 4.4.2 to 9.0. NOTE You can download the current version of the Absolute agent for Android from the Download Packages page.
Classic Absolute SIEM Connector	The Classic Absolute SIEM Connector is no longer available for download. If you want to start sending logged events from the Absolute console to a SIEM application, download and configure the Absolute 7 SIEM Connector. NOTE All Classic SIEM integrations configured prior to February 2022 will continue to be supported and to function as expected.

Feature

Details

Data Delete

The Data Delete feature is no longer available. That is, you can no longer submit new Data Delete requests or create Deletion Policies. However, you can still work with any Data Delete requests that are in progress, and view all completed requests. For more information about working with existing Data Delete requests, see the Absolute User Guide.

To delete files and folders from your devices, submit a File Delete or Wipe request.

Android support

Absolute has ended support for the Absolute agent for Android.

If you are using the Android agent on your devices, it will continue to call in to the Absolute Monitoring Center with updated data. However, no new versions of the agent will be released, including updates for bug fixes.

The Absolute agent currently supports devices running Android versions 4.4.2 to 9.0.

NOTE You can download the current version of the Absolute agent for Android from the Download Packages page.

Classic Absolute SIEM Connector

The Classic Absolute SIEM Connector is no longer available for download. If you want to start sending logged events from the Absolute console to a SIEM application, download and configure the Absolute 7 SIEM Connector.

NOTE All Classic SIEM integrations configured prior to February 2022 will continue to be supported and to function as expected.

Improvements and Fixes

Absolute 7.19 introduces the following improvements and fixes:

Applications

You can now export the Assets > Applications page to a report in CSV, Excel, or XML format. Note that application version numbers are not included in the exported report.
Previously, on a device's Applications page in Device Details, an application's Installed column may have showed an incorrect date and time, in some cases. This issue is now fixed.

Application Persistence

Previously, Application Persistence policies for BitLocker® reported Not Compliant if the System Partition Size was smaller than 100 MB. Now, you can configure the Minimum Partition Size when configuring the policy.
To reduce the number of false negatives, Application Persistence policies for Microsoft Intune no longer check the device's state in the registry.

To apply this fix to your devices, you need to trigger a policy update by modifying and saving a change to the Application Persistence policy.
To save a change to your Intune policy:
1. Log in to the Absolute console as a user with Manage permissions for Policies and Licenses.
2. On the navigation bar, click Policies > Persistence.
3. On the sidebar, click Microsoft Intune.
4. Next to the policy group you want to update, click Configure.
5. Make a change in the policy group, such as change the Check domain join type.
6. Click Save, and on the confirmation, click Close.
7. Beside the same policy group, click Configure.
8. Revert the change that you made in step 5.
9. Click Save, and on the confirmation, click Close.
10. Repeat for all required policy groups.
To reduce the number of false negatives for BeyondTrust Jump Client, updates have been made to the RAR component A lightweight software component of the Absolute agent that detects the status of third party applications installed on a device. The component may also attempt to repair the third party application if it is non-compliant. The RAR component is deployed on a device only when the device is associated with a customized policy group and that policy group's Application Resilience policy is activated. of the Absolute agent. These changes allow the RAR component to use the results of one health check in a subsequent health check.

Previously, BeyondTrust Jump Client showed that MSI files were supported. Now, the policies correctly shows that EXE files are supported.
Previously, when Mark higher version as Compliant was selected for SmartEye, higher versions would report as Compliant without running health checks. Now, when you select Mark higher version as Compliant, higher versions only report as Compliant if all health checks pass.
Previously, McAfee Drive Encryption was categorized as Endpoint Protection. McAfee Drive Encryption is now categorized as Data Protection.

Authentication

User accounts are now locked after five unsuccessful login attempts instead of three.
When an administrator is disabling Two Factor Authentication, the user session is now terminated if an incorrect verification code is entered five consecutive times.

Chromebook support

Previously, when a Chromebook device lost connectivity for more than 15 minutes, any pending data wasn't uploaded when network connectivity was restored. This issue is now fixed.
Previously, in some cases, not all the hardware information for Chromebook devices appeared in the Absolute console when the device's organization unit was synced to the console. This issue is now fixed.
Previously, Chromebook devices with bridged network interfaces were not correctly reporting their local IP address. This issue is now fixed.

Custom Data Collection

You can now enable the Custom Data policy from the Policies > Policy Groups page.
Users no longer require the Custom Data Collection View permission to see collected Custom Data policy data points in the Assets report and in the device's Device Details page. The Custom Data Collection Manage permission is still required to see the Policies > Custom Data area.

Dashboard

Previously, navigating away from the dashboard and back again may have unexpectedly updated the layout of the dashboard's widgets. This issue is now fixed.

Device Freeze API

Following the release of ABS 7.18, the Device Freeze API returned an error when a POST /v2/device-freeze/requests request was sent with the passcode.Definition.option parameter set to UserDefined. This issue is now fixed.

Device Groups

Previously, when you created a new Classic device group, the new device group wasn't available in the Device group filter drop-down until you refreshed the report. Now, the device group shows in the report's Device group filter drop-down immediately after creating it.
You can now use the following filters to create a smart device group:
Device location
City
Country
State/Province
Geolocation technology
Accuracy (meters)
Type
Geolocation tracking
Last data received
Policy updated
Status

Device Usage

You can now export a device's usage events in CSV, Excel, or XML format. Navigate to the device's Device Details area, click the Usage tab, and click Export.... In the exported report, the times in the Timestamp column now show AM or PM. Learn more

EUSA

The End User Service Agreement (EUSA) has been updated to add Appendix C: Missing Device Reclamation that describes the terms and definitions pertaining to a new optional service available to Absolute customers. Depending on your account configuration, you may be required to review and accept version 5.4.1 of the EUSA the next time you log in to the Absolute console.

Freeze

(Absolute 7 version)

The Unfreeze code history dialog, which you can open from a device's Details > Summary page, now includes a Requested by column.

Geolocation

From a device's Location History tab, you can now export up to 365 days of the device's past location changes and view them in a report. Learn more
For devices that connect to the Internet using an ethernet cable and have never connected using Wi-Fi, device location data is now available in the Absolute console using OS Location API.
Previously, in some rare cases, an incorrect street address may have showed on a device's Location History page when the location marker on the map was correct. This issue is now fixed.
Geolocation using Google Wi-Fi-Positioning now uses a new algorithm to more accurately determine if a device has changed its location.

History > Events

When an unfreeze code is used to unfreeze a device, a Device Freeze removed event is now logged to Event History. Passcode shows in the Summary column.
When a Remove Freeze request is submitted for a device that was frozen by an Offline Freeze rule, a Remove freeze requested event is now logged to Event History.
For Mac devices, a change to the device's mount point no longer triggers a Volume updated event.

Investigations

When submitting a new theft report, a warning message now shows if the device has a pending Wipe or File Delete request.

Manage Supervisor Password

When submitting a Manage Supervisor Password request, the Device Eligibility for Manage Supervisor Password dialog no longer shows when all selected devices are eligible for the action.

Policy Groups

You can now configure and activate a policy group's Endpoint Data Discovery policy before any devices are added to the policy group.

Reach scripts

Previously, when you ran the Enables or Disables USB Removable Media Reach script, the script only worked for USB storage devices that already had a driver installed. The script has been updated to enable or disable access for new USB storage devices.
If a USB storage device is plugged in while the script runs, the end user can access the device while it remains plugged in or until the computer is restarted.
If the script is used to disable USB Removable Media, Windows doesn't show information for plugged in USB storage devices in Explorer or in Disk Management.
Previously, the Add Local User Reach script failed to add new users on Windows 10 devices. Groupname has been added as a required variable and users can be added successfully.

Report filters

Previously, the is filter condition wasn't working on the Reporting Data report. This issue is now fixed.

Reports

The default columns for the All Devices page in the Assets > Devices area have been updated.
- The following columns have been added to the initial view:
  - Local IP address
  - Public IP address
  - Encryption > Status
  - Chromebook > Annotated asset ID
- The following columns have been removed from the initial view:
  - Hardware > Status
  - Software > Status
  - Data Discovery > Status
In Endpoint Data Discovery reports, the Username column now shows the username of the last logged in user. Previously, it showed No Data if no user was logged in during the most recent agent connection.
After saving the predefined Event History report as a custom report, the styling and format of the new report was temporarily inconsistent with the predefined report (closing and reopening the report corrected its appearance). This issue is now fixed.
Previously, when you exported a report, number fields were exported in text format. Number fields are now exported in number format and they can be used for formulas and for sorting in Excel.
When you're scheduling a report, four new file compression options are now available in the File format field:
- Compressed CSV (.csv) with column names
- Compressed CSV (.csv) without column names
- Compressed Excel (.xlsx)
- Compressed XML (.xml)
If a report is exceptionally large (> 20 MB), and your organization supports compressed email attachments, we recommend that you select one of these options to package the report in a ZIP file.
You can no longer directly add the following console pages to your Favorites in the Reports area:
- Assets > Devices > All Devices
- Assets > Devices > Missing Devices
- Assets > Devices > Reported Stolen
- History > Events
To add these pages to your Favorites, save them as a custom report and then favorite the custom report.
For accounts with the Lenovo Patch Stand Alone license, the following Classic reports, which are not supported with this license, are no longer listed under Events on the Reports page:
- Delete & Freeze Events
- Location History

Rules

A new option is now available when you're creating an Unexpected location change rule:
Do not trigger rule when device moves between any above locations

Select this option if you don't want to receive an email when a device moves from one specified location to another. Note that this option does not apply to moves between geofences or between a geofence and a location. Learn more
When an email notification is sent more than 48 hours after a device level event occurs, the following note is now included in the email:

Note: This alert was generated for a change that occurred more than 48 hrs in the past. In some cases, Absolute is able to capture changes from devices that are 'offline', the changes are reported to the Absolute Monitoring Center on the next connection.

To improve performance, the following changes have been made to search:
- Search results in Assets > Devices, Assets > Applications, History > Actions, and most reports are no longer updated dynamically as you type. In the search field, type all of part of your search keyword and click Search or press Enter. Your search keyword must contain at least two characters.
- You now need to select the fields that you want to search on all device-based reports. You can select any string column that is visible on the report as a search field. The Device name field, which allows you to search on both device name and serial number, is selected by default.
- For reports that had All in the search drop-down, All has been removed. You must now select a specific field.
- When searching for a Reach Script when creating a Run Script request, the All, Absolute, and Custom drop-downs were removed as part of an earlier hotfix. As part of this release, you can now filter Reach Scripts using the All, Absolute, and Custom buttons.

Unenroll Device

The Unenroll Device feature has been enhanced to allow for the detection and correction of unintentional or accidental Unenroll Device requests. After you submit a request, the device's status is still immediately set to Disabled and its license is released, but the Absolute agent is no longer removed on the next agent connection. The Absolute server now waits 72 hours after the request is submitted to remove the agent.

Wipe

Previously, if a Delete All Files Wipe was processed on a frozen device, and then the device was unfrozen, a user could successfully log in to the device. This issue is now fixed. In this scenario, the login attempt now fails with a user profile not found error.