Re: Spying in a corporate environment

[Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <bugtraq () planetcobalt net>]

On 2007-11-22 Mario DeBono wrote:
> On 22 November 2007 16:48 Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers wrote:
> > On 2007-11-22 Mario DeBono wrote:
> > > If you have a 2003 domain enforce group policies and restrict access
> > > to certain windows components. I presume even if a user has admin
> > > rights on a pc, he should not be able to over right the group
> > > policies, if he is not so keen to remove the policies from the pc
> > > himself.
> >
> > You're mistaken. A local admin can override policies (at the very
> > least for a short while until they are reapplied), and even if that
> > wasn't possible (s)he can always log on locally, in which case domain
> > policies don't apply at all. The only way to control users with local
> > admin privileges is to revoke their local admin privileges.
> > Everything else are futile efforts.
>
> Yep, could be possible, but if you apply the policies on a pc level
> not user level, than that is some thing different.

No, that doesn't make any difference at all. As long as a local admin is
a local admin he can acquire any right/privilege whatsoever on that
machine and can thus override any setting that may have been applied
through other means. That is what makes a local admin.

> Another way is to apply frequent policy updates depending on the
> lan/wan you administer. This can be done through login as well.

Like I said before: they log into the local machine instead of logging
into the domain. Voilà, no domain policies applied.

> OR but I highly don't suggest to do is to 
>
> Amend files at local security level removing access to local
> administrators and grant only access to domain admins but you have to
> be sure of what u are doing else you might end making a mess.

That too doesn't make any difference at all. To repeat myself: a local
administrator can acquire each and every privilege on the local machine.
In your example all he has to do is take ownership and grant himself
access permissions.

If you revoke that privilege from a local admin, you actually demoted
him from being a local admin. Which - like I said before - is the only
way to restrict local admins: demote them from being local admins.

Regards
Ansgar Wiechers
-- 
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