Veriato is an employee monitoring tool that offers a host of advanced features to support remote, hybrid, and in-office environments. Here, we’ll break down some of the most distinctive features, assess the advantages and disadvantages of Veriato, and explore some alternatives that may be more suitable for your organization.
What is Veriato?
Veriato is an insider risk management and comprehensive employee monitoring solution that leverages artificial intelligence to provide cybersecurity protection for organizations. As insider threats continue to pose challenges for organizations of all sizes, Veriato is one advanced technology that can help company security teams identify and stop insider threats.
Features
- User Activity Monitoring: Real-time monitoring provides visibility into employee activity to identify risky behavior or productivity issues.
- Anomaly Detection: Predictive behavior intelligence establishes normal behavior baselines and provides anomaly reports that may indicate potential threats when current behavior doesn’t reflect the baseline.
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Intent-driven analysis of file movement flags unauthorized access or when sensitive data is improperly handled or transferred.
- Productivity Analysis: User activity monitoring features support productivity analysis for every employee, helping to ensure the entire workforce meets its potential.
- Screen Recording: Forensic analysis and investigations of security events are significantly streamlined thanks to tools like screen recording.
- Reporting and Analytics: Centralized dashboards provide visibility into the organization’s security posture and helps security professionals respond to emerging threats quickly.
Pros
Veriato excels as an employee monitoring solution, making it an excellent component of a complete security tech stack. With Gen AI, its automated tools give it an advantage over some competitors.
Comprehensive Monitoring Capabilities
Veriato Cerebral can support monitoring of thousands of endpoints, making it particularly valuable to large, highly distributed organizations. In addition to providing visibility into employee activities and productivity, Veriato’s monitoring includes user risk scores that assess an individual’s likelihood to become an insider threat.
AI-Powered Behavior Analytics
Utilizing Gen AI, Veriato Cerebral’s predictive behavior analytics establishes baselines of normal user behavior and uses them to predict potential security events. Combined with user risk scores, behavioral analytics can help security leaders stay ahead of insider threats, data breaches, and other potential attacks.
Customizable Alerts and Reporting
Most user activity in an enterprise environment is safe and acceptable. While some tools struggle to minimize false positives, Veriato offers customizable alerts and solid reporting that let security leaders tell the system what they deem suspicious. This additional touch of human control prevents false alarms and preserves security resources so that teams can quickly implement the proper incident response to real threats.
Integration with Other Security Tools
Veriato offers a host of built-in and API integrations to contribute to a more comprehensive security and workforce management stack. Although it does not offer integration with project management tools, it may integrate with many of an organization’s existing security tools to design a more robust security posture.
Cons
Although Veriato offers some powerful solutions to support an insider threat program, data loss prevention, and employee monitoring, it’s not all positive. Veriato does have some downsides compared to other products on the market.
Complexity and Learning Curve
Veriato’s complexity may exacerbate rather than alleviate privacy concerns. Veriato is a less intuitive platform that requires trained admins to effectively manage its solutions. That makes it less suitable for business owners to monitor their own team’s productivity and can extend the ramp up time necessary to incorporate Veriato as a security solution.
Limited Monitoring Channels
Veriato may support a wide range of endpoints throughout the organization, but it works with fewer monitoring channels than some competitors. Veriato can monitor apps, websites, files, keystroke logs, emails, network usage, and chat/instant messages across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. However, it does not capture as much metadata as some alternatives and falls short when it comes to email attachments and document tracking.
Potential for False Positives
Again, while custom rules and reporting may reduce the likelihood of false positives, Veriato’s complexity makes it difficult to effectively implement these rules. Organizations with less experienced security leads or less robust IT infrastructure may struggle to set up the right reporting mechanisms and provide the right context for network activity monitoring.
Inadequate rules may result in false positives on perfectly normal activity like a new employee accessing sensitive data that will be part of their everyday workload or materials being sent to a contractor’s personal email address.
Data Storage and Management Challenges
Veriato requires a DLP module to fully leverage its data loss prevention capabilities. Even then, it lacks automated data discovery and classification, which can result in hours of labor for your data and security teams to properly clean and classify sensitive data. Additionally, Veriato’s DLP module does not offer OCR detection, content rules, or Microsoft Information Management (MIP) integration, making it come up short on competitors as a data storage and management tool.
When is Veriato Worth it?
- Complex security needs: Veriato is a solid solution for companies with dozens of employees and endpoints, especially considering billing is done by user and not device.
- Industries handling sensitive data: Veriato’s comprehensive employee monitoring capabilities and DLP module make it suitable for organizations that need to limit document activity, protect critical business assets, or enforce strict compliance laws for handling sensitive data.
- Organizations with remote or distributed workforces: Corporate networks that handle global access points for thousands of devices will appreciate Veriato’s extensive endpoint protection.
When is Veriato Not Worth it?
- Small businesses with limited IT resources: To effectively use Veriato, organizations will require focused administration from security or IT teams. That’s difficult for companies with 51-200 employees, not to mention ones with only 1-10 employees.
- Organizations in regions with strict privacy laws: While Veriato can help enforce strict compliance laws and adherence to privacy laws, employee monitoring may not be conducive with strict local regulations.
- Businesses with limited budgets: Although it bills by user rather than device, Veriato is still a costly product that’s more attainable for large organizations with significant security budgets.
6 Alternatives to Veriato
Veriato is a comprehensive employee monitoring solution, but it’s particularly geared towards large organizations. Whether your organization is smaller, more focused on operational efficiency than security, or vice versa, there are several good alternatives that feature comparatively advanced technology.
| Alternative | Description | Best For |
| Teramind | Teramind is a comprehensive employee monitoring and insider threat detection platform that offers advanced features like user behavior analysis, activity & productivity tracking, and data loss prevention. | Organizations seeking a powerful, feature-rich solution with strong DLP capabilities |
| ActivTrak | ActivTrak is a cloud-based productivity monitoring tool that focuses on workforce analytics and insights to improve employee productivity and operational efficiency. | Companies looking for a user-friendly, productivity-focused monitoring solution |
| Insightful | InterGuard provides employee monitoring and insider threat features in one platform, with a focus on both security and productivity. | Businesses seeking a balance between security and productivity monitoring |
| Time Doctor | Time Doctor is a time tracking and productivity monitoring tool designed to help remote teams improve efficiency and accountability. | Remote teams and organizations prioritizing time management and productivity |
| Controlio | Controlio offers employee monitoring with a focus on ease of use and affordability, providing essential features for small to medium-sized businesses. | SMBs looking for a straightforward, cost-effective monitoring solution |
| Ekran System | Ekran System is a comprehensive insider threat management platform that combines user activity monitoring solutions with access management and forensic capabilities. | Organizations requiring advanced insider threat protection and compliance features |
Teramind
One of the most comprehensive employee monitoring and security solutions you’ll find, Teramind goes combines insider risk management, DLP, and workforce management into a centralized platform. This unified approach to security and productivity helps company security teams stay ahead of potential security threats while simultaneously supporting business goals.
Teramind’s employee monitoring tools assess productivity levels throughout the business, helping teams identify high- and low-performers, build incentive programs for employees, and iron out choke points or roadblocks within the organization. Advanced DLP capabilities prevent data exfiltration, abuse of access rights, and accidental data breaches, while insider risk solutions give organizations in highly regulated industries a step up on maintaining high compliance standards.
Features
- User Behavior Analysis: User and entity behavioral analytics (UEBA) gathers data on employee activity to establish normal baselines and then flag unusual activities or suspicious user activity.
- Data Loss Prevention: Powerful data discovery and classification tools help teams properly track and protect sensitive data from being moved outside the organization.
- Real-time Alerts and Reports: Constant monitoring of the entire network infrastructure provides a proactive approach to cybersecurity.
- Remote Desktop Control: In a security event, remote desktop control enables security leaders to take over a negligent or malicious user’s device to mitigate the threat in real-time.
Pricing
- Starter: $75/user/year
- UAM: $150/user/year
- DLP: $175/user/year
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
How Teramind stands out
- Superior DLP Capabilities: Even with Veriato’s DLP module, it still falls short of Teramind’s channel monitoring capabilities.
- More Granular Control: Teramind provides security leaders with granular controls for each monitored system to prevent false positives and stay on the right side of compliance.
- Advanced Automation: Teramind’s powerful automation capabilities support policy enforcement, data loss prevention, insider threat detection, and even project management and business intelligence (BI).
- Better User Interface: A centralized, intuitive interface gives Teramind more use cases throughout an organization.
- Stronger Reporting Tools: Advanced, customized reporting on user behavior, threat analysis, and more provide comprehensive visibility into the organization’s day-to-day activity.
ActivTrak
For organizations more focused on operational efficiency, ActivTrak is a cloud-based productivity monitoring tool that can help boost workplace productivity and improve performance. ActivTrak provides detailed custom dashboards to visualize workforce activity and provide data-driven insights to help companies work smarter rather than harder.
Combining employee monitoring, productivity, and workforce management, ActivTrak provides leaders with tools to get the most out of their employees. That includes features like spotting burnout and employee disengagement, as well as capacity assessment to ensure employees aren’t getting overworked.
Features
- Productivity Tracking: Streamlined productivity tracking helps organizations recognize their most and least productive employees.
- Team Analytics: Comprehensive team analytics assess individual team performance to identify opportunities for growth and highlight the organization’s best workforce assets.
- Automated Classification: Crowd-sourced data automatically classifies productive or unproductive websites, supporting productivity analytics.
Pricing
- Free
- Essentials: $120/user/year
- Essentials Plus: $180/user/year
- Professional: $228/user/year
InterGuard
InterGuard offers employee monitoring and insider risk management in a single platform, emphasizing security and productivity. With a heavy focus on screen recording, InterGuard’s employee monitoring software monitors user activity in real time to help managers track productivity and idle time.
In addition to the productivity tools, InterGuard offers DLP solutions with access restrictions to sensitive programs, websites, mobile devices, USB drives, and potentially infected attachments. It also offers automated incident response protocols based on smart keyword activity alerts, policy violation attempts, or anomalous employee behaviors.
Features
- Web Filtering: Web filtering policies set at the computer, user, department or company level keep users from visiting dangerous or time-wasting sites and provide alerts on keywords detected.
- Forensics & Digital Evidence: Regular video recording and desktop screenshots leave a paper trail to support compliance audits and security investigations.
- Remote Employee Monitoring: Remote workforce management helps managers ensure that remote employees are staying on task and working efficiently.
Pricing
Contact for custom quote.
Time Doctor
Particularly geared towards companies with a need for a remote monitoring option, Time Doctor is an active time tracking and productivity monitoring tool. Although it does not offer much in the way of security benefits, Time Doctor is a powerful platform for delivering actionable insights to managers of remote teams.
With integrated time management tools, remote workforce management, and extensive people analytics, Time Doctor can help organizations reduce operational costs, remove backlogs, improve employee retention, and ensure compliance with corporate policy.
Features
- Time Tracking: Integrated time management helps teams budget for projects effectively, simplify attendance tracking and clock-out tracking, and more.
- Productivity Reports: Idle time tracking and visibility into individual work hours help teams get aligned on when everyone does their best work and who may need a little help.
- Client Billing: A great feature for agencies and client-focused companies, integrated billing keeps your invoicing streamlined.
Pricing
- Basic: $5.90/user/month
- Standard: $11.70/user/month
- Premium: $16.70/user/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Controlio
Controlio is an employee monitoring solution that focuses more on productivity and performance than security. Again, if your organization is pursuing operational efficiency more than security, Controlio offers affordable pricing to help small and medium-sized businesses optimize workflows.
Controlio’s productivity reporting and app and web usage analysis helps leaders understand how employees work. With tons of features like productivity scores and employee behavior rules to prevent time-wasting activities, it’s a comprehensive suite for remote teams to maximize efficiency.
Features
- Screen Recording: Continuous video screen recording and activity recording features allow managers to review sessions as an activity report.
- Application Usage Tracking: Comprehensive third-party and internal application tracking monitors the apps users access so managers can identify any time-wasting human behaviors.
- Simplified Reporting: Basic, straightforward reports are easy for anyone to make data-driven insights.
Pricing
- Cloud: $79.90/user/year
- On-premesis: Custom pricing
- Private cloud: Custom pricing
Ekran System
Ekran System leverages user activity monitoring features as part of a comprehensive approach to insider risk management. While it can function as a productivity tracking tool, Ekran System is first and foremost a security solution.
As a cybersecurity tool, Ekran System supports company security teams in auditing employee activity to detect insider threats, manage access rights, and provide deep visibility into an organization’s security posture.
Features
- Privileged User Monitoring: Gain useful insights about all privileged user actions through multi-parameter tracking capabilities, and ensure that high-ranking employees aren’t abusing their power.
- Session Recording: Recording privileged user sessions or rank-and-file employee sessions provides security teams with strong evidence for security audits or investigations.
- Access Management: Extensive access management capabilities help teams ensure the right users have access to what they need while unprivileged users can’t gain illegitimate access to sensitive data.
Conclusion
Veriato offers organizations an employee monitoring solution for insider threat mitigation, preventing data breaches and leaks, and improving productivity. It’s a solid solution for large organizations with many distributed endpoints and complex security infrastructures that can be notoriously difficult to defend. However, it’s not the best solution for most small- or mid-sized organizations, which may be better served by one of the alternatives we’ve outlined here.
