Techniques for selectively initiating security scanning operations on remote devices are described. Embodiments determine to perform a security scanning operation on a remote device in a media processing environment. A signal chain within the media processing environment that includes the remote device is determined. Embodiments determine an operational status of the signal chain, based on a media processing schedule for the signal chain. Upon determining that the operational status indicates that the remote device is available for performance of the security scanning operation, performance of the security scanning operation on the remote device is initiated.