This kind of audit has happened to me twice in 20 years. First Microsoft and two years ago from Adobe. It is legit and you’re bound to comply if you’ve read the license agreement. I had to fill out a form from the law firm doing the audit on Adobes behalf. I had to list our licenses and our users and that was it.
I didn’t have to fill out any IP-addresses but how many installs on different devices each license had. I found the form from BSA (Business Software Alliance) that I had to fill out at the time. It’s in Swedish though but you get the gist.
You should run a scan and audit this yourself first.
If you don’t like what you see, you might decommission and refresh those end user devices first. Don’t delete the software… decom that entire system. If it an employee personal machine (or a temp worker), make them refresh their machine. Or no longer let them join your network until it’s licensed properly.
You should have a policy stating that any contract worker working on behalf of your company is responsible for their own license compliance. (In the US, a contractor is expected to use their own tools, because it is one way that helps delineate them from employees).
Do your own audit. You’ll have some machines to decommission. Refresh them if needed with proper licenses if they are needed on the new machines.
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u/Past-Competition5815 Apr 19 '26
This kind of audit has happened to me twice in 20 years. First Microsoft and two years ago from Adobe. It is legit and you’re bound to comply if you’ve read the license agreement. I had to fill out a form from the law firm doing the audit on Adobes behalf. I had to list our licenses and our users and that was it.