A target type is used to filter the assets during the data collection and the evaluation process. The target type filters the assets on the basis of the asset type. You specify the target type at the time of check creation. A check with a specific target type is applicable only on the specific asset type. For example, an asset of the type Windows Machine cannot be evaluated against a check of the UNIX target type.

The target type can be defined only at the check level. The target type for a standard lists the target type of the checks that are present within the standard. For example, consider a standard that contains two checks. The target type of one check is Windows 2000 Machines and the target type of the other check is Windows 2003 Machines. Then the list of target types for the concerned standard contains both Windows 2000 Machines and Windows 2003 Machines.

The target types that exist for the checks within the predefined standards are known as predefined target types.

Control Compliance Suite contains predefined target types for the following platforms:

If you create a new platform and new asset types, then you must also create custom target types to be able to collect data and run evaluation.