Desktop Sharing
The 'Desktop Sharing Settings' interface allows you to configure how you wish to allow others to share your desktop through Desktop Sharing connection. It also allows you to configure how you wish yourself to be authenticated to your remote computer, when accessing it from another computer through My Computers feature.
To access 'Desktop Sharing Settings' click 'Desktop Sharing' from the left hand side pane of the 'Options' window. You can configure for the following:
Check Boxes:
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Allow users to remotely connect to this computer - Comodo Unite allows other people in your network to share your desktop or allows yourself to connect to this computer through remote desktop sharing session from a different computer, only if this checkbox is selected. If you do not want your desktop to be shared through desktop sharing sessions, simply deselect this check box.
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Important Note: To allow others to access your desktop, you must be logged on to Comodo Unite. |
Access Control
Overview
The Access Control policy area allows you to determine which users are allowed to remotely connect to your computer and to specify what level of authentication is required of those users before access is granted. The upper pane displays a list of users and/or groups of users (with their associated Networks in parenthesis) whilst the lower pane displays access privilege controls. Different access rights can be specified to different users/groups. To configure the access rights for a particular user or group, simply select that user in the upper pane then configure their rights in the lower pane.
Initially, the two groups are listed in the upper pane:
The All Others group has 'Allow Remote Access when I click accept' as default Desktop sharing policy. This effectively means that no users can gain control of your desktop remotely without you manually accepting the connection by clicking 'OK'. It also means that nobody can access your computer without you (or somebody else) being sat in front of it to agree to the connection.
You may be having certain trusted individual contacts or groups of contacts in your network, for whom you may wish to grant the remote desktop sharing access automatically, without our intervention. While such automatic remote control is very convenient it also presents a security concern. You don't want just anybody to be able to connect to your computer - only the people you choose and you also want to be sure of that person's identity when they attempt to connect. For this reason, Comodo Unite allows you to set up secure 'Desktop Sharing Policies' - meaning that users are only allowed to automatically connect to your PC if they (i) Authenticate themselves by providing a password (ii) Are authenticated via an email (access) certificate on their machine (iii) Are two- factor authenticated with BOTH password and certificate.
Accessing Your Own Computer from other Computer
Many users may want to take control of their work or home computers by logging-in to them simultaneously or without somebody having to be sat at that computer to physically accept the connection. Comodo Unite has My Computers feature that enables you to connect to your own computers from remote locations through desktop sharing and to take control of them. In the list of users, you will have '(My Computers)', with default desktop sharing security policy 'Allow remote access automatically'.
While such automatic remote control is very convenient it also presents a security concern. For this reason, Comodo Unite allows you to set up secure 'Desktop Sharing Policies' - meaning that your own desktop sharing connection will be established only if you (i) Authenticate yourself by providing a password (ii) Are authenticated via an email (access) certificate on their machine (iii) Are two- factor authenticated with BOTH password and certificate.
The remainder of this section covers:
To add new users/new groups to grant access to your desktop
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Click the 'Add' button from the configure dialog. The 'Choose User' dialog will open.
The Choose User dialog displays all the groups / users in your contact list under 'Contact' tab and all the users in your network(s) under the 'Network' tab.
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Select the user / group from the 'Contact' tab or the user(s) from the 'Network' tab and click 'Add'. The selected user / group will be added to the Remote User Access List.
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Repeat the procedure for adding more number of users / groups.
To remove a user / group from the Remote User Access List
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Simply select the user / group and click 'Remove'.
To configure the authentication type for the user / group
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Select the user / group in the Remote User Access List in the upper panel.
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Select the Authentication type from the lower panel. The options are explained below.
i. Allow remote access when I click Accept - If the user requests to gain access to your desktop, you will be prompted to Accept or Decline the request. The user can gain the access only if you accept the request.
ii. Allow automatic remote access - If you want Unite to automatically grant access to your desktop for the selected user, select this option. You have to specify the authentication parameters for automatic access to make sure that only the selected user is accessing your desktop. Select the authentication type from the drop-down menu.
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Password Only - Enables you to set a password for this particular user to access your desktop.
To set password type authentication
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Select 'Password Only' from the drop-down menu.
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Click 'Password' button. A 'Set password' dialog will appear.
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Type a password for authenticating desktop sharing request in the New Password text box and retype the password in the Confirm Password text box.
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Click 'OK'.
This password has to be communicated to the contact. Every time the remote user tries to access your desktop, the user will be prompted to enter this password. On the entry of the correct password, Comodo Unite will allow the remote-user to share your desktop, without asking for your confirmation.
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Certification Only - Enables the use of digital certificates to authenticate the remote-user that is attempting to gain access your desktop. Every time the contact attempts to gain remote access to your desktop, Comodo Unite will request their digital certificate from their machine. Comodo Unite will then authenticate the validity of the certificate by checking that the remote-contact has the corresponding private key installed (a fast but very important process that involves the successful exchange of a token piece of digitally signed data). Once the certificate has been verified the user will be allowed to remotely connect to your machine. You have to specify which certificate will be requested for each specific user by clicking the 'Choose..' button and browsing to the certificate you wish to use.
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Background Note: It is important to know that your contacts should already have a client / email certificate installed for certification based authentication to work. They should also have passed this certificate to you by sending you an email that has been digitally signed with the certificate. You can also obtain a free email certificate and install in your system to authenticate yourself to others. For more details on obtaining the free digital certificate, see Appendix 1- Obtaining a Digital Certificate. |
To set certification type authentication
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Select 'Certification Only' from the drop-down menu.
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Click 'Choose' button to select an access certificate.
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Select an access certificate from the 'Select Certificate' dialog and click 'OK'.
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Password and Certification - Enables true two-factor authentication by requiring remote-users to authenticate themselves using both password and digital certificates. On selecting this option, you have to specify both a password to be used by the selected user and select an email (access) certificate as explained above.
Turn off Desktop Control for this group / user - If you want to block this user / group from accessing your desktop, select this option.
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Click 'OK' for your settings to take effect.
To configure the authentication type for Your Own Desktop Sharing Session
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Select Your User Name (My Computers) from the Remote User Access List in the upper panel.
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Select the Authentication type from the lower panel. The options are explained below.
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Allow remote access automatically - If the your request to gain access to the desktop of your remote computer is received from another computer, the desktop sharing session will commence immediately without any authentication requirements.
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Allow automatic remote access - If you want Unite to check the your authenticity before automatically granting access to desktop of your remote computer, select this option. You have to specify the authentication parameters for automatic access to make sure that only you are accessing your desktop. Select the authentication type from the drop-down menu.
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Password Only - Enables you to set a password for you to access desktop of your remote computer from another computer - meaning you need to enter this password to authenticate yourself to your computer. For more details on setting up a password, click here.
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Certification Only - Enables the use of your digital certificates to authenticate yourself. Every time you attempt to gain remote access to your desktop from another computer, Comodo Unite will request your digital certificate from the other machine. Comodo Unite will then authenticate the validity of the certificate by checking that the the other computer has the corresponding private key installed (a fast but very important process that involves the successful exchange of a token piece of digitally signed data). Once the certificate has been verified you will be allowed to remotely connect to your machine. You need to specify your own certificate by clicking the 'Choose..' button and browsing to the certificate . For more details on selecting the certificate, click here.
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Background Note: It is important to know that all the computers you use should already have your client / email certificate installed for certification based authentication to work. You can obtain a free email certificate and install in your systems. For more details on obtaining the free digital certificate, see Appendix 1- Obtaining a Digital Certificate. |
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Password and Certification - Enables true two-factor authentication by requiring you to authenticate yourself using both password and digital certificates. On selecting this option, you have to specify both a password to be used by the selected user and select an email (access) certificate as explained above.
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Turn off Desktop Control for this group / user - If you do not want to use the feature of accessing your desktop from a remote computer for security reasons, select this option.
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Click 'OK' for your settings to take effect.
The Performance slider enables you to set the speed / quality of the Desktop Sharing sessions when you take share other user's desktop. Higher the access speed, lower the graphical depth and the display quality and vice-versa.
Hot Key to Terminate the Active Desktop Sharing Sessions
In addition to the feasibility of stopping a running desktop sharing session by clicking the 'Remote' icon at the top of the conversation dialog, you can specify a hot key combination to stop the running session immediately. The default combination is Ctrl+ Alt + F10. You can change this combination as you desire.
To set a hot key combination
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Click 'Capture' and press a key to form a combination with Ctrl+ Alt.
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Click 'Apply' for your settings to take effect.