InstaSafe | Why are Administrator Privileges required to install the ISA App?

Why are Administrator Privileges required to install the ISA App?

Question

Why does the InstaSafe Secure Access (ISA) App require Administrator Privileges to install on Windows and Mac devices?

Typical SSL VPN Clients do not require Admin privileges to install. Moreover, since most end-users usually don't have sufficient rights to perform installations, it could hinder the rollout of the ISA Solution.

Answer

The ISA Solution does not use the legacy SSL VPN (a.k.a HTTPS based VPN or Clientless VPN) Protocol. This legacy technology uses a reverse proxy with SSL termination and was primarily designed for only web applications like Outlook Web Access (OWA) etc. This cannot transport non-https traffic over the VPN. The technology also has known vulnerabilities and cannot protect against DDOS and other attacks to the service. In addition, the service needs to be exposed to the outside world with a public IP address which is considered to be a high risk. 

The ISA Solution uses TLS (Transport layer security) over UDP. The traffic tunneling is established using Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) and is a standard as per RFC 4347. The Solution has matured beyond the legacy SSL VPN and can transport any network traffic over the service. It is protected against known vulnerabilities and the infrastructure is designed to contain zero day attacks and mitigate risk.

The ISA App authenticates the device as well as the user and so it is more secure than the traditional approach. Elevated Administrator Privileges are required at the time of installation in order to install the device driver (a virtual adapter) which is responsible for transporting the encrypted application traffic.

If you are an Admin of the organization's ISA Account and have any queries in this regard, contact InstaSafe Support


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