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• Two-Factor Authentication - (2FA/MFA) for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

miniOrange integrates with Microsoft windows operating system to add Two-factor / Multi-Factor authentication for Remote Desktop (RDP) connection, Windows Logon, and local logons. You can integrate with your on-premise or Hybrid Active Directory (AD) to secure your workforce / employees and the corporate network.

Ransomware attacks are primarily associated with unprotected Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Considering the pace of Password-based security breaches relying only on basic usernames and passwords to secure RDP user's accounts is no longer an option. That’s the reason it has become neccessary to add additional layers of security to filter out unauthorized users for Windows logon and RDP. miniOrange Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) prevents these sorts of Password Based breaches and adds an additional layer of security to your Microsoft Windows account.

Enabling Windows logon and RDP 2FA/MFA always verifies identities before allowing access, making it more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to your Microsoft Windows account. miniOrange Credential Provider can be installed on Microsoft Windows logon Client and Server operating systems to enable the Multi-Factor Authentication to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Remote Desktop (RDP) and Windows logon MFA solution is also responsible for your User Management with a Microsoft Active Directory or an LDAP directory. With this windows logon and RDP 2FA / MFA solution, users will get easy access to the endpoints they need to access by increasing identity assurance and reducing the risk and exposure. You can also enable offline access accordingly for secure authentication. miniOrange's advanced Two-factor authentication (2FA/MFA) solution organizations are able to get secure access to all work applications, for all their users, from anywhere, with any device they choose.

miniOrange 2FA/MFA Credential Provider for Windows logon and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access supports following Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Methods:-

Authentication Type	Method	Supported
miniOrange Authenticator	Soft Token
	miniOrange Push Notification
Mobile Token	Google Authenticator
	Microsoft Authenticator
	Authy Authenticator
SMS	OTP Over SMS
	SMS with Link
Email	OTP Over Email
	Email with Link
Call Verification	OTP Over Call
Hardware Token	Yubikey Hardware Token
	Display Hardware Token

System Requirements for miniOrange Two-factor / Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA / MFA) Windows logon and RDP Credential Provider

miniOrange Credential Provider for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Access supports both client and server operating systems.

Supported Microsoft Windows Client versions:

• Windows 7 SP1
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10
• Windows 11



Supported Windows Server versions(GUI and core installs):

• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

miniOrange Two-Factor/Multi Factor Authentication(2FA/MFA) Credential Provider for Remote Desktop (RDP) Protocol and Windows logon also requires .NET Framework 4.5 or later. If the correct .NET version is not present on your system then miniOrange Credential Provider setup prompts you to install the .NET Framework.

miniOrange Two-Factor/Multi Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) Credential Provider can also be installed via group policy software publishing and Group policy administrative templates.

Prerequisites for Windows & RDP 2FA/MFA

• .NET Framework 4.8
• miniOrange Cloud Account or Onpremise Setup.
• Enroll Users in miniOrange before Configuration:
1. The username of the user in miniOrange should be the same as in Windows Username.
2. This is required so that the service can prompt the appropriate 2FA for the customer based on the defined policy and provide secure access to machine/RDP.
3. There are multiple methods to add users in miniOrange.
   1. Admin can add end users
   2. Setup user provisioning from your existing identity source or Active directory.

Step by step guide to setup Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) for Windows Logon

1. Download 2FA Module

• Click here to download the Windows MFA module.

2. Setup your miniOrange dashboard for Windows 2FA

In this step, we are going to setup your 2FA preferences, such as:

• Which users should be asked for 2FA during windows logon.
• What 2FA methods can they use.

2.1 Adding app and policy for 2FA

• Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Apps and click on Add Applicaton button.



• In Choose Application Type click on Create App button in Desktop application type.



• Add Windows app on miniOrange.



• Add App Name.



• Select Login Method as Password and Enable 2-Factor Authentication (2FA).



• Click on Save.

2.2 Choose which 2FA options the users can use

• Go to 2-Factor Authentication >> Choose 2FA Options for End User



• Disable the methods you don’t want your users to configure or use for MFA

3. Setup miniOrange Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) Credential Provider for Windows Logon

• Open miniOrange 2FA Configuration in Start Menu




• Make sure "miniOrange service" status is running and in the "Credential Provider/GINA status" section the "Registered" and "Enabled" are "Yes". If any of these are not as intended, see this FAQ to fix it




3a : Integrate the module to miniOrange account.

• Click on Plugin Selection, Double Click on miniOrangeunder plugin Name.



• A 2FA Configuration form will open up

Note:

If you’re using Onpremise IDP application, please replace the IDP Server URL with base URL of your Onpremise IDP application and make sure that URL is accessible from this machine. You can also use the IP of the server where the IDP application is hosted.





• To fill in these details, login to your miniOrange admin account on Cloud orOnpremise.
• Click on the Settings cog on top right and select Product Settings



• Copy the Customer Key and API key



• Now, Go to Apps and copy the name of the Windows application created in step 2.



• Paste all these details in the form and click on Save. Leave the checkboxes as it is. More about them later.




3b. Test MFA

Note:

Please make sure that at this point the user with same username as windows exists in miniOrange and has 2FA set up.
For instructions on setting up 2FA from Self Service Console, see this link .



• Click on Test MFA button



• Enter your machine username which is also present in miniOrange and click on Test MFA



• You will be prompted to select one of the 2FA methods you’ve configured. Select one method and click on Next



• Provide validation,
  1. If asked for OTP, enter OTP and click on Login.
  
  
  

  OR

  2. If asked for approval through Push notification, Accept the Push notification on your phone
  
  
  
  3. After Successful Validation, you’ll see a Test Successful message

3c. Configure Domain

Note:

Skip this step if you’re not configuring this on a domain joined machine



• In Plugin Selection tab, Double click on Domain User Login
• Replace the domain name with your AD domain used before the username.



• To check your domain name, you can also use the command: SET USERDOMAIN
• Click on Save.

4. Use miniOrange MFA during login

• You should see the miniOrange login page after locking the computer or signing Enter your username and password.

Note: The logo and Message on login page can be customized from the General tab in miniOrange configuration




• If you’re using RDP, make an RDP connection using username and password
• You’ll see the 2FA prompt. Proceed with selecting a 2FA option and validating it.
• You will be logged into your account.

a. Disable other login methods (Optional):

• Go to Credential Provider Options tab.
• Check the box “Force miniOrange 2FA on Logon”



• Click on Apply

5. Deployment using Group Policy

For Deployment and Configuration using Group Policy, please see our miniOrange 2FA for Windows Logon Group Policy Documentation.

Further References

miniOrange Credential Provider for Remote Desktop (RDP) and Windows Logon

The user initiates the login to Windows or Remote Desktop Service either through a Remote Desktop Client or via the RD Web login page from his browser, after which the RADIUS request is sent from the miniOrange RD Web component installed on the target machine to the miniOrange RADIUS server, which authenticates the user via Local AD, and after successful authentication, two-factor authentication (2FA) of the user is invoked. After the user validates himself, he is granted access to the Remote Desktop Service (RDP).

A user can try to connect to RDS (Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)) via 2 ways :

• RDC - Remote Desktop Client: If the RemoteApp is launched through a Remote Desktop client application, the users validate their two-factor authentication (2FA) while they enter the Username and Password to get access to the resources. (as this method doesn't support access-challenge response, only out of band authentication methods are supported ).
• RD Web Access - RD login page via browser: If the desktop or RemoteApp is launched through a RD Web Login page, the initial user authentication is done from the machine's AD, after which miniOrange challenges the user for two-factor authentication (2FA) via a RADIUS challenge request. After the users correctly authenticate themselves, they get connected to their resources.
• RD Gateway: If the organizations resources or server are protected by a Remote Desktop Gateway, you can setup 2FA/MFA on top of that as well. First level authentication will be done using the AD credentials and then miniOrange will prompt for the configured 2FA/MFA.
  Check the guide to setup Remote desktop Gateway MFA (RD Gateway MFA/2FA)

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) for RDS via RD Web

How it works

• In this case, the user goes to RD Web login page from his browser to connect to the Remote Desktop Service. He enters his Username and Password, and on submission, the RADIUS request from RD Web component installed on target machine is sent to the miniOrange RADIUS server which authenticates the user via local AD in the target machine.
• Once authenticated, it sends a RADIUS challenge to RD Web, and the RD Web shows OTP screen on browser now. Once the user enters the One Time Passcode, the miniorange IdP verifies it and grants/denies access to the RDS.
• With this, after the user is connected to the Remote Desktop Service, the user can also gain access to published remote app icons on his browser screen, since the session has already been created for the user. Know more about Remote Desktop (RD) Web 2FA/MFA

Additional Resources :

• Setup Linux MFA for desktop and SSH access
  
• MFA for VPN and network devices
  
• Enable secure access using Remote desktop services (RDS) multi factor authentication (MFA/2FA)
  
• Enable SSO and MFA for Microsft Applications
  
• Multi-Factor Authentication - MFA, What is MFA & How MFA work?
• Radius Server Authentication
• Enable MacOS MFA