Secure user verification at the service desk
Contact UsEmployee password resets continue to drive a big volume of the service desk tickets. Aside from draining IT resources, they also introduce a security vulnerability to your business. Can your service desk verify that a user is really who they say they are before handing over a new password to an attacker posing as one of your users?
User verification at the service desk primarily often relies on knowledge-based questions using static Active Directory information that is vulnerable to targeted attacks, such as employee ID.
Specops Secure Service Desk increases security with stronger authentication methods that minimize the risk for user impersonation. Identity verification options range from mobile or email verification codes, to commercial authentication providers such as Duo Security, Okta, Symantec VIP, PingID and YubiKey. These authentication options are paired with technical enforcement of the ID verification, blocking agents from proceeding with the caller’s request until authentication through the platform is completed.
Feature Highlights
| FEATURES | OTHER SOLUTIONS | SPECOPS SECURE SERVICE DESK |
|---|---|---|
| OOTB 3rd party identify services e.g. Duo Security, Okta, Symantec VIP, PingID | Some support but lacking | Yes, plus several other ID options to support non-mobile users |
| Service desk interface for user verification | Yes | Yes (plus secure logins for service desk agents) |
| Service desk assisted password resets | No | Yes (and can force users to change password at next logon) |
| User verification enforcement (agent cannot proceed without first verifying) | No (agent not forced to authenticate identity before proceeding to help caller) | Yes |
| User verification tracking | Yes (but detail is lacking) | Yes (details who was verified, for what use case, and by whom) |
The 2023 MGM ransomware attack was a result of missing ID verification at the service desk.
Read more about this attack.
How does it work?
Specops Secure Service Desk is natively integrated with Active Directory. Configuration of the system is done using Group Policy, without introducing added complexity to your environment. This means that no external database is required to store password related information. User data is stored directly in Group Policy user objects, minimizing security risk while ensuring inherent real-time password provisioning.
What does it look like?
The solution interface allows service desk agents to view user details and perform the following actions:
- Manage user enrollments
- Reset Active Directory passwords
- Recovery encryption keys for lockouts triggered by BitLocker or Symantec Endpoint Encryption.
Service desk agent view
The above actions can be secured by enabling user verification enforcement. When this feature is turned on, the agent will need to successfully verify the user’s identity before being able to complete any of these high-risk actions.
Admin reporting view
User verification can be tracked within the solution via detailed audit logs.
The solution also provides a reporting dashboard that reflects verification data across multiple uses cases. This data can also be exported to JSON or XSLX for further processing.
What people are saying
Delivers on its promise
“Specops Secure Service Desk delivers on its promise. It helps organizations enforce secure user verification through stronger authentication methods.”
– Techgenix review by Nuno Mota, Microsoft Exchange, MVP
Exponentially more difficult for an attacker
“It provides the means for service desk technicians to effectively verify the identity of a supposed end user who requests a password reset. This should make it exponentially more difficult for an attacker looking to perform a social engineering or other type of attack to steal credentials.”
– 4sysops review by Brandon Lee, Senior Editor at Virtualizationhowto.com
Get a Demo of Specops Secure Service Desk
Interested in seeing how Specops Secure Service Desk can work in your environment? Click here to set up a demo or trial today.