Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can customize the types of sensitive data DISCOVER searches for. DISCOVER provides flexibility to customize scan jobs according to your organisation’s specific data governance needs. Add custom data types by defining:

• Regular expressions: for pattern-based detection (e.g., employee ID formats, internal codes).

• Filename expressions: to detect files with specific naming conventions or keywords.

• Custom phrases or sensitive words: to locate documents containing particular terms or confidential references.

When configuring a scan job, you can select or deselect predefined data types, such as PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and PCI (Payment Card Information), as well as custom data types.

One-time Scan and Ongoing Scan differ in how DISCOVER executes and maintains scan jobs:

One-time Scan

• Runs only once when initiated manually.

• Ideal for quick assessments, targeted scans, or validating scan configuration changes.

• After completion, the scan won’t run again unless manually initiated.

• No automatic re-scan or scheduling is attached.

Ongoing Scan

• Configured to run at scheduled intervals.

• Automatically scans new or modified data sources according to the defined schedule.

• Used for routine monitoring, compliance tracking, and detection of newly introduced sensitive data.

Agentless scanning and agent-based scanning differ primarily in how DISCOVER connects to and inspects target systems.

DISCOVER scans a wide range of file types across endpoints and storage systems, including:

DISCOVER scans involve multiple connections:

• Agent ↔ Server connection:

  • If this connection goes offline, both the server and the agent will continuously attempt to re-establish a connection.

  • Data transfer from the agent to the server is temporarily halted, but the scan continues.

• Agent ↔ Target device connection:

  • If a target device goes offline, the scan for that specific device pauses.

  • Once the target comes back online, the scan resumes from where it left off.

  • Other targets assigned to the same agent continue scanning uninterrupted.

• Agent self-scan:

  • This does not require network connectivity. It continues even if the agent or server is offline.

  • However, data cannot be sent to the server until the agent-server connection is restored.

You can monitor ongoing scans via the DISCOVER Management Console:

1. Navigate to DISCOVER > Scans.

2. In the scans list, check each scan's status.

Reports are automatically generated after each scan job. To download the generated reports:

1. Go to DISCOVER > Results.

2. Select a completed scan job from the list and click Download.

Reports will be downloaded as Excel (.xlsx) files.

DISCOVER supports scanning across a range of Windows environments and select Microsoft cloud services.

Supported Environments

• Windows Operating Systems:

  • Windows 10 and 11

  • Windows Server 2019, 2022, and 2025

• File Servers:

  • SMB-based file servers and shared network drives

Supported Cloud Services

• Microsoft Exchange

• Microsoft SharePoint

DISCOVER connects to these systems using secure, standard protocols such as SMB, WinRM, and the Microsoft Graph API, enabling scanning across environments.

Yes, DISCOVER requires the following firewall and ports:

Yes, DISCOVER allows both on-demand and scheduled scans:

• On-demand scans:

  • You can run a scan immediately whenever needed.

  • If a scan is already running on the same agent or host, the new scan is queued and will start once the current scan completes.

  • One scan task per agent can run at a time; additional scans are processed sequentially.

• Scheduled scans:

  • You can configure recurring scans on a fixed schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, or custom intervals).

  • Each scan job can have its own schedule, data scope, and sensitivity rules.

  • Ideal for continuous monitoring and compliance checks without manual intervention.

If the Management Console cannot connect to the DISCOVER Agent:

1. Check Network Status – Ensure the Management Console service and the Agent can establish inter-communication over the network.

If the network is functioning correctly but the agent still appears offline,

2. Check Registry Configuration – Open the Windows Registry Editor and navigate to:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GuardWare\DISCOVER.

   1. Confirm that the organizationName matches your Organisation

   2. Confirm that the serverPort entry contains the correct HTTPS port value.

   3. Confirm that the serverIP and serverName point to the correct domain address.

If the given values are incorrect, you will need to reconfigure the DISCOVER Agent and re-establish the connection. To do this:

1. Click the Windows key (⊞), type Task Scheduler, and press Enter.

2. Search for GuardWare Discover Agent Task, right-click it, and select End.

3. Launch Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys together.

4. Search for GuardWare Scan Utility, right-click the process, and select End task.

5. Open File Explorer, navigate to C:\ProgramData\Guardware\GWScanningAgent, and delete all the contents of the folder.

7. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Guardware\Discover Agent

8. Right-click GuardWareDiscoverAgent.exe and select Run as administrator.

9. In your browser, refresh the Management Console page to see the reflected changes.

For assistance, contact GuardWare support at help@guardware.com.au.