Ammyy Admin issue

[ccritchie]

Ammyy Admin issue

I am having an issue with unattended access.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Not me, but I have only been using Ammy Admin for a half-dozen connects. Did you set a password for connections to prevent this sort of thing? You can't do that in advance if they download the program from the Ammyy site, of course, which is why I set up the program and host it on my site for download by the customer.

 

[Larry Sabo]

It's explained on the Ammyy site, here. That's for unattended connections, but it also applies to regular connections, i.e., where Ammyy is not running as a service.

 

[16k_zx81]

Thanks for your reply, Larry. How do you go about setting a password?

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[16k_zx81]

Yeah, Im all in favour of free software, but I wonder about the business cost of losing remote customers to 'mishaps' like this, not to mention reputation and WOM issues that could arise. Its a pretty alarming anecdote.

I concede that this may have been a simple configuration issue, and that there's every possibility the software was not at fault. . Im thinking back to when I used ammyy a couple of times, years ago, and at that point it was pretty unimpressive. It may have come a long way, but cant help but wonder if its entirely ideal for business use, compared to some of the more established commercial offerings available.

 

[ccritchie]

Ammyy is a very easy-to-use tool, and I was considering getting the business license, but wanted to see how it works in the real world. Of course, now I am re-considering.

To compound the issue, because it's so easy to use and there is a free version available, there are reports out there of people being scammed using this tool (http://www.avforums.com/forums/isps-internet/1241546-ammyy-phone-call-scam.html) Even Ammyy has something about it on its site. (http://www.ammyy.com/en/admin_mu.html) Whether Ammyy is a good product or not, its image is being tarnished by folks who are getting burned and even assume that Ammyy is behind the scam.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

It looks like the IDs assigned are sequential, and I just tried a few subsequent IDs and "fell into" some random computer, which is pretty insecure really. They should at least assign random IDs.

So you've got a small windows of time where someone could randomly connect, then the user could hit "yes" to allow. Unless you talk them through setting a password before turning on the service.

Unless of course you use the Larry method, which I guess is only for a paid licence?

 

[Larry Sabo]

If you're using it for business, you're supposed to have a Business (premium) license, which is only $60USD. I have one, of course, and find the program to be excellent. Wouldn't think of using it without password protection of the connection though.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

If you're using it for business, you're supposed to have a Business (premium) license, which is only $60USD. I have one, of course, and find the program to be excellent. Wouldn't think of using it without password protection of the connection though.

I've only used it in anger two times so far, and that's just the free trial version.

For $60 (£38) it's a bargain and well worth a punt.

 

[Vicenarian]

Just a tip; Ammyy admin is used a LOT by the 'Microsoft Scammers' as of late.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

Just a tip; Ammyy admin is used a LOT by the 'Microsoft Scammers' as of late.

Sold!




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[ccritchie]

Just a tip; Ammyy admin is used a LOT by the 'Microsoft Scammers' as of late.

Yes, I mentioned that in my earlier post.

 

[RedFoxComp]

Yes, I mentioned that in my earlier post.

In fact, so much so that Microsoft Security Essentials is automatically detecting and removing it as malicious software.

 

[MobileTechie]

In fact, so much so that Microsoft Security Essentials is automatically detecting and removing it as malicious software.

Not that I've noticed and I use it all the time.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Kaspersky sees it as benign, so that's good enough for me.

 

[MobileTechie]

I don't think there is any doubt about it being benign is there? Just because some scammers use a product doesn't make it part of the scam. They also use CCleaner and MBAM.

 

[codegreen]

It looks like the IDs assigned are sequential, and I just tried a few subsequent IDs and "fell into" some random computer, which is pretty insecure really. They should at least assign random IDs.

"Pretty insecure" is quite the understatement. This alone is enough to keep me far away from Ammyy.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

"Pretty insecure" is quite the understatement. This alone is enough to keep me far away from Ammyy.

It's fine for trialing on your own workbench PCs - and once you're happy with it then you buy it and can assign a password as Larry mentioned above.

For the cost, feature set and ease-of-use I think it's worth it.

 

[Larry Sabo]

I don't think there is any doubt about it being benign is there? Just because some scammers use a product doesn't make it part of the scam. They also use CCleaner and MBAM.

There was in RedFox's post...

In fact, so much so that Microsoft Security Essentials is automatically detecting and removing it as malicious software.

That's why I posted what I did.

 

[MobileTechie]

There was in RedFox's post...That's why I posted what I did.

I know. I was agreeing with you.