How to Block Mobile Phones (iPhone/Android) via USB Using Device Control

HaddadSteve — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:29:31 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a Device Control policy in Cortex XDR and I need to block mobile phones (iPhones, Android devices, etc.) when they are connected via USB — similar to how USB drives and external disks can be blocked.

I understand that Cortex XDR uses ClassGuid to identify device types (https://docs-cortex.paloaltonetworks.com/r/Cortex-XDR/Cortex-XDR-4.x-Documentation/Device-control and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/system-defined-device-setup-classes-available-to-vendors )

My goal is to block phones used for file transfer.

Questions:

Is there a recommended way to block mobile phones specifically, without impacting other USB peripherals?
Are there ClassGuids or USB class codes I should be aware of for iPhones and Android devices?
Has anyone successfully implemented this kind of policy and could share best practices?

I am kind of surprise to not find this feature by default.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards

Re: How to Block Mobile Phones (iPhone/Android) via USB Using Device Control

eluis — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:20:58 GMT

Hi @HaddadSteve

You can create your own custom devices using the unique ClassGuid for every device.

Here is how to:

Add a custom device class

(Windows only) You can include custom USB-connected device classes beyond Disk Drive, CD-ROM, Windows Portable Devices, and Floppy Disk Drives, such as USB connected network adapters. When you create a custom device class, you must supply Cortex XDR the official ClassGuid identifier used by Microsoft. Alternatively, if you configured a GUID value to a specific USB connected device, you must use this value for the new device class. After you add a custom device class, you can view it in Device Management and enforce any device control rules and exceptions on this device class.

Go to Endpoints → Policy Management → Settings → Device Management.

This is the list of all your custom USB-connected devices.
Create the new device class.

Select +New Device. Set a Name for the new device class, and supply a valid and unique GUID Identifier. For each GUID value, you can define one class type only.
Save.

The new device class is now available in Cortex XDR as all other device classes.

You can read further at the doc:
https://docs-cortex.paloaltonetworks.com/r/Cortex-XDR/Cortex-XDR-3.x-Documentation/Device-control#

If you feel this has answered your query, please let us know by clicking like and on "mark this as a Solution". Thank you.

KR,

Luis

topic Re: How to Block Mobile Phones (iPhone/Android) via USB Using Device Control in Cortex XDR Discussions

How to Block Mobile Phones (iPhone/Android) via USB Using Device Control

Re: How to Block Mobile Phones (iPhone/Android) via USB Using Device Control

Add a custom device class