Free Privileged Account Discovery Tool: Identify & secure credentials to stop lateral movement. Download Free

BeyondTrust
  • Products
    Privileged Password Management
    Discover, manage, audit, and monitor privileged accounts
    Password Safe DevOps Secrets Safe
    Endpoint Privilege Management
    Manage privileges on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix endpoints
    Windows and Mac Unix and Linux Active Directory Bridge
    Secure Remote Access
    Centrally manage and secure remote access for service desks and vendors
    Remote Support Privileged Remote Access
    BeyondInsight Analytics
    See All Solutions
  • Resources

    Universal Privilege Management

    Our innovative Universal Privilege Management approach secures every user, asset, and session across your entire enterprise.

    Watch Video

    Learn

    Case Studies
    Competitor Comparisons
    Datasheets
    Glossary
    Product Demos
    Whitepapers

    Attend

    Events
    Go Beyond
    Training
    Webinars

    Support

    Changelog
    Professional Services
    Technical Documentation
  • Blog
  • Partners
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Services
  • Training
  • Events
  • Company

Helpdesk Troubleshooting with PowerBroker

September 5, 2012

  • Blog
  • Archive
In the past, organizations would rely on helpdesk technicians walking from desktop to desktop to troubleshoot desktop problems for end users. Nowadays, “Sneakernet” is almost dead, and helpdesks are levering remote control products to troubleshoot problems for end users. Remote control is great for troubleshooting, but when a user is running as a standard user (or non-administrator), many tools and tasks that traditionally are used by the helpdesk may not behave properly when the logged on user is a standard user. There are two typical solutions that many organizations rely on that are built into Windows. First, is the old standby, RunAs. RunAs allows the helpdesk tech to run apps and system tasks with administrator privileges when remote controlling the machine. Second, is using an RDP connection where the helpdesk tech logs in as a different user to troubleshoot. These approaches are both fairly effective for troubleshooting, but the problem is that neither allows the helpdesk to troubleshoot problems as the currently logged on user, they both require that the helpdesk tech utilize a different identity which many not help them figure out the problem. Additionally, the account that the helpdesk tech uses is typically a member of the Domain Admin group. Members of the Domain Admins group are also members of the local admin group on all machines in the enterprise--including servers. Obviously there is danger here. I don’t know many enterprises that are comfortable with widely distributing domain admin passwords to users, even helpdesk staff. Many organizations try to avoid this for the obvious security reasons, and instead provide alternate credentials that are not members of the Domain Admins group. However, this approach still suffers from the problems associated with troubleshooting as a different user. A more effective way to allow a helpdesk tech to troubleshoot problems, and troubleshoot problems in the logged on users’ security context, is to use PowerBroker’s challenge response authentication mechanism on a Shell Rule or On-Demand elevation rule. The Shell Rule allows a user to right-click and run an application with elevated privileges. When a Challenge/Response message is attached to the Shell Rule, the user would be required to relay an authentication code to the helpdesk in order to obtain a passcode to run the application. Since the helpdesk tech is responsible for generating the passcodes in the first place, he or she can simply generate codes themselves when troubleshooting during a remote control session. For more details on Challenge/Response, read our recent blog post. It may seem easier to simply provide helpdesk techs with domain admin credentials to troubleshoot problems, in the long run, it is never a good idea to widely distribute any super user credential. By using PowerBroker, it is much easier to provide the helpdesk techs with the tools they need in order to troubleshoot problems in the most secure way possible.
Photograph of Scott Lang

Scott Lang, Sr. Director, Product Marketing at BeyondTrust

Scott Lang has nearly 20 years of experience in technology product marketing, currently guiding the product marketing strategy for BeyondTrust’s privileged account management solutions and vulnerability management solutions. Prior to joining BeyondTrust, Scott was director of security solution marketing at Dell, formerly Quest Software, where he was responsible for global security campaigns, product marketing for identity and access management and Windows server management.

Stay Up To Date

Get the latest news, ideas, and tactics from BeyondTrust. You may unsubscribe at any time.

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Whitepapers

Mapping BeyondTrust Solutions to the Qatar National Information Assurance Policy v2.0

Whitepapers

KuppingerCole Executive Review - BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management

Webcasts

Tech Talk Tuesday: Managing Vendor Access

BeyondTrust Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Keep up with BeyondTrust

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

Customer Support
Contact Sales

Products

  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Password Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • DevOps Secrets Safe
  • Remote Support

Resources

  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Competitor Comparisons
  • Datasheets
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Webcasts
  • Whitepapers

About

  • Company
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Leadership Team
  • Partner Program
  • Press

Languages

  • English
  • German
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Japanese
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Manage Cookies
  • WEEE Compliance

Copyright © 1999 — 2020 BeyondTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. Other trademarks identified on this page are owned by their respective owners. BeyondTrust Corporation is not a chartered bank or trust company, or depository institution. It is not authorized to accept deposits or trust accounts and is not licensed or regulated by any state or federal banking authority.