Remote-access Guide

paw remote access

by Prof. Garfield Murazik PhD Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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How do I connect to remote resources from a paw?

Use Microsoft management consoles on the PAW and connect to remote resources when possible. Use remote PowerShell to manage systems (Enter-PSSession). Use Kerberos authentication when possible. Kerberos For Windows is available, and SecureCRT/ SecureFX can use GSSAPI authentication.

Can the paw be connected directly to the Internet?

The PAW should not be connected directly to the Internet, and its incoming access is strictly locked down. In other words, the PAW always originates outgoing administrative connections; it does not accept inbound connections itself except when explicitly authorized and configured.

What is a paw device in a datacenter?

In this example, PAW refers to the User device, because you are using the keyboard/mouse on this device. If this device is compromised, attacker can get easily get the information to breach the datacenter.

What version of Windows 10 is the paw device running?

The PAW device is running the Windows 10 1709 release, which has a new feature "Guarded host". This feature supports the physical device performing remote health attestation against a Host Guardian Server (HGS) and running shielded VMs.

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What is Paw in security?

A Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) is a dedicated computing environment for sensitive tasks that is protected from Internet attacks and other threat vectors. A PAW separates these sensitive tasks and accounts from non-administrative computer use, such as email and web browsing.

What is a paw in networking?

1. PAWS. Protect ion Against Wrapped Sequence. Sequence, Connection, Technology. Sequence, Connection, Technology.

What is Paw in Azure?

The Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) is an approach to identity management that involves total separation of computing and account environments between administrative and end-user tasks.

Can a paw be on a VM?

By using VMs, a user can carry just one device with all their workloads and the PAW itself running in different isolated VMs.

How do you set up a paw?

PAW device configurationLicense: To create shielded VMs, you need to enable “Guarded host” feature in Windows optional components. It is available on Windows client Enterprise edition and an E5 license.The device must have TPM2. ... Recommending memory 16GB or above; hard disk is 500GB and above to support multiple VMs.

What is secure access workstation?

A “Privileged Access Workstations” (PAW) or “Secure Access Workstations” (SAW) is a dedicated operating system used to securely access privileged resources, similar to a jump server. Instead of living in the datacenter, a PAW is a workstation that is dedicated solely to accessing sensitive tasks and information.

What is azure PIM?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is a service in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) that enables you to manage, control, and monitor access to important resources in your organization. These resources include resources in Azure AD, Azure, and other Microsoft Online Services such as Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Intune.

What does privileged access management do?

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is an information security (infosec) mechanism that safeguards identities with special access or capabilities beyond regular users. Like all other infosec solutions, PAM works through a combination of people, processes and technology.

Why are privileged access devices important?

It provides a secure means to work with customer data while also using productivity tools like email and web browsing. Audit policies and Intune allow you to monitor an Enterprise workstation for user behavior and profile usage.

What is shielded VM?

Shielded VMs are virtual machines (VMs) on Google Cloud hardened by a set of security controls that help defend against rootkits and bootkits. Using Shielded VMs helps protect enterprise workloads from threats like remote attacks, privilege escalation, and malicious insiders.

What is Microsoft Defender for identity?

Microsoft Defender for Identity (formerly Azure Advanced Threat Protection, also known as Azure ATP) is a cloud-based security solution that leverages your on-premises Active Directory signals to identify, detect, and investigate advanced threats, compromised identities, and malicious insider actions directed at your ...

What vulnerabilities are created by using Domain Admins accounts to administer endpoints?

Active Directory domain admin accounts vulnerable to attacks Also, these accounts are highly susceptible to Pass-the-Hash attacks because their passwords are not frequently changed. Pass the Hash is when an adversary can use the password hash from a previous domain admin logon to emulate that user on other systems.

What is a PAW?

A Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) is a dedicated computing environment for sensitive tasks that is protected from Internet attacks and other threat vectors.

How to get started with PAW?

To get started, request a PAW. You will be contacted to arrange a hardware hand-off and configuration of the necessary credentials for its use. Your department will need to provide the computer that will become the PAW. Hardware prerequisites are as follows:

Who is responsible for PAW hardware?

Departments are responsible for the cost of PAW hardware (a laptop computer). There is no additional cost associated with the use of the service.

Overview

For this procedure, you must connect to the Privileged Access Workstation (PAW). The customer will need to provide you with the ability to connect to the PAW using Remote Desktop.

Configuring the WinRM

To allow connections to the privileged endpoint from the PAW, ensure that the privileged endpoint IP addresses, as defined in the Azure Stack Hub Admin Portal, are set as a trusted host on the PAW. The instructions for obtaining these IP addresses from the Administrator Portal are in Verifying scale unit node access and health on page 16.

Connect to the privileged endpoint

On the PAW, open an elevated PowerShell session and run the following two commands. Replace *<ERCS_IP* with an IP of one of the privileged endpoint instances as noted earlier in this procedure. When prompted enter the privileged endpoint (PEP) credentials supplied by the customer.

Further reading

For more information on connecting to and working with the privileged endpoint see Use the privileged endpoint in Azure Stack Hub.

What is the principle of PAW?

A key principle of the PAW is what Microsoft calls the clean source paradigm. This means that all security dependencies need to be as trustworthy as the object being secured. Consider the following schematic diagram: The clean source security principle.

What is a PAW?

The Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) is an approach to identity management that involves total separation of computing and account environments between administrative and end-user tasks. This post introduces the PAW model from a high level and points to some Microsoft resources for further learning.

What is privileged access server?

In Microsoft terminology, a privileged access server is a Windows Server machine that holds sensitive data. Examples of privileged access servers include domain controllers, certificate servers, and database servers. The PAW should not be connected directly to the Internet, and its incoming access is strictly locked down.

Can administrators use super strict password policy?

In Windows Server 2012 we received fine-grained password policies. Now AD administrators can assign a super-strict password policy to high-privilege accounts and more relaxed password policy to end-users. That said, there is still the problem of administrators logging on with high-privilege accounts as a matter of habit.

Is a PAW connected to the internet?

The PAW should not be connected directly to the Internet, and its incoming access is strictly locked down. In other words, the PAW always originates outgoing administrative connections; it does not accept inbound connections itself except when explicitly authorized and configured.

What is a PAW device?

Consider the following diagram, PAW is commonly considered to be the device in the middle: In this example, PAW refers to the User device , because you are using the keyboard/mouse on this device. If this device is compromised, attacker can get easily get the information to breach the datacenter.

Where do you store templates for PAW VM?

Once you have created the templates, you can store it centrally , and download it to the PAW device for PAW VM provisioning.

Can you lock down network access through Edge?

To lockdown the network access through Edge, 1709 release also introduced Application Guard, you can take advantage of it to control the access. There is another option to do network-whitelisting through a proxy server, that’s how we do it in Microsoft. I think each has its own advantages. Proxy server network whitelisting is more mature, and there are several software vendors offering the solution, so I’m not going to go into the details here. I’ll focus on the configuration leveraging the Windows Defender Application Guard ( WDAG ).

Can you use group policy on a PAW device?

You can use group policy to change the start menu layout on the PAW device. Here is an example I created to show only Edge in the start menu:

Do you need to suspend Bitlocker for PAW?

In the past, you need to remember suspend BitLocker of the data drive if it’s host OS is being re-installed, and re-enable it afterwards; the latest release has better Bitlocker support where you don’t need to suspend. But of course, you should ensure there is a Bitlocker recovery plan in place. See here for more options on Bitlocker management.

Is PAW a piece of the privileged account protection puzzle?

To put the solution into perspective, PAW is just one piece to the privileged account protection puzzle, important but there are a lot more to consider. Microsoft has published a whitepaper which provides a much more comprehensive view. Even on the PAW topic, the whitepaper covers more aspects than this blogpost, such as creating different management tiers for your assets to reduce risk. This blogpost only focusses on one aspect, which is the PAW deployment, including the backend servers. I highly recommend you get familiar with the strategy explained in the whitepaper first before planning for PAW deployment.

What file is used for privileged access?

The specialized security profile in the privileged access deployment guidance uses JSON files to configure this with Windows 10 and the provided JSON files.

What file is used for privileged access deployment guidance?

The enterprise security profile in the privileged access deployment guidance uses JSON files to configure this with Windows 10 and the provided JSON files.

What is privileged workstation?

A Privileged workstation provides a hardened workstation that has clear application control and application guard.

What is a secure workstation?

The successful deployment of a secure workstation requires it to be part of an end to end approach including devices, accounts, intermediaries, and security policies applied to your application interfaces. All elements of the stack must be addressed for a complete privileged access security strategy.

What is Enterprise Device?

Enterprise Device – The first managed role is good for home users, small business users, general developers, and enterprises where organizations want to raise the minimum security bar. This profile permits users to run any applications and browse any website, but an anti-malware and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is required. A policy-based approach to increase the security posture is taken. It provides a secure means to work with customer data while also using productivity tools like email and web browsing. Audit policies and Intune allow you to monitor an Enterprise workstation for user behavior and profile usage.

Why is a secure workstation important?

All users and operators benefit from using a secure workstation. An attacker who compromises a PC or device can impersonate or steal credentials/tokens for all accounts that use it, undermining many or all other security assurances.

What is a specialized security user?

The Specialized security user demands a more controlled environment while still being able to do activities such as email and web browsing in a simple-to-use experience. These users expect features such as cookies, favorites, and other shortcuts to work but do not require the ability to modify or debug their device operating system, install drivers, or similar.

How to request remote access VA?

You may request remote access by visiting the Remote Access Self Service Portal ( only available while on VA's internal network).

What is a rescue GFE?

RESCUE GFE provides a security posture check and ensures VA data is encrypted from the end device into the VA trusted network. Prior to the device connecting and being allowed onto the VA trusted network the system is checked for multiple security baselines.

What is CAG 2FA?

CAG requires 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) by default for all users. The methods supported include PIV, CAC, and MobilePASS.

How to disable automatic server selection in VPN?

In the VPN tab of the setting screen, uncheck Enable automatic server selection. Close the settings.

Is PIV card reader site specific?

Today, the distribution of PIV card readers is site-specific. We are discussing the possibility of alternative distribution methods. If distribution processes or procedures change, we will provide updated instructions.

Is VA responsible for non-VA websites?

This page includes links to other websites outside our control and jurisdiction. VA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-VA Web sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy or terms and conditions of those sites to fully understand what information is collected and how it is used.

Does RESCUE GFE support Windows 10?

This software is installed on all GFE laptops prior to being provided to the user. Currently RESCUE GFE supports Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and MAC OSX.

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