Introduction
Teramind's Application Rules allow for a proactive method to restrict or prevent access to specific sections of an application by targeting particular windows and utilizing the powerful Command action. This capability is highly effective for granting users general access while simultaneously preventing changes to critical system or security settings, thereby mitigating the risks associated with accidental configuration errors, compatibility issues, or security vulnerabilities.
Rule Walkthrough
The example below demonstrates how to create an Applications rule to proactively close a specific Control Panel section, the "System and Security" as soon as a user attempts to open it.
Setting Up the Rule
General Settings
1. Assign a Rule Name. For example, “Limit access to the control panel settings”.
2. Select a Parent Policy. For example, “Admin Policy”.
3. Select “Activity” for Rule Type.
4. Select “Applications” under Select the type of activities.
Helpful Resources:
Employees
5. Turn on the Inherit targets from Parent Policy option to use the policy’s default targets.
6. Alternatively, turn it off and manually select the employees, departments and/or computers for the rules target from the Assign to field.
7. Optionally, you can exclude targets in the Exclude from rule field.
Helpful Resources:
Applications
8. A default condition block, "Condition 1," should already be added to the rule. Configure the condition as follows:
Condition 1
9. Add the Application caption criterion by clicking the +Add button.
10. In the Application caption field, specify the title for the window you want to block. For example, "System and Security". The, apply the Equals condition.
The above criteria and condition will detect the System and Security window of the Control Panel:
Helpful Resources:
Actions
11. Select the Command action and in the field provided, enter the following command:
taskkill /F /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq System and Security"
Help Reference:
Rationale for the Rule
The primary justification for implementing this rule is to mitigate the security and stability risks associated with unauthorized or accidental changes to critical system configurations.
This rule utilizes the Application caption criterion to target only the sensitive System and Security section of the Control Panel, leaving other areas accessible.
The Command action executes the taskkill /F /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq System and Security" command immediately upon detection. The effect is an instant and forced closure of the targeted application window. This action effectively preserves system security by preventing access to critical settings, helping to prevent unauthorized configuration changes.