1. A method of remediating unmanaged assets in a network having a plurality of managed machines, comprising: at a first managed machine of the plurality of managed machines, wherein the plurality of managed machines are arranged in a linear communication orbit in accordance with a predefined order of respective machine identifiers of the plurality of managed machines, and each managed machine is coupled to at least one respective neighbor machine by a corresponding local segment of the linear communication orbit: scanning for live unmanaged machines within a selected portion of the network that is associated with a first range of machine identifiers that includes identifiers between the respective identifiers of the first managed machine and a respective neighbor machine of the first managed machine; detecting one or more live unmanaged machines within the selected portion of the network in accordance with the scanning; receiving or accessing a remedial instruction, the remedial instruction specifying respective remedial actions for live unmanaged machines that have been detected within the network; in response to receiving or accessing the remedial instruction: determining whether the remedial instruction specifies a respective remedial operation applicable to the one or more live unmanaged machines that have been detected within the selected portion of the network; and requesting the one or more live unmanaged machines to execute the respective remedial operation specified by the remedial instruction.