Roles

Deep Security uses role-based access control (RBAC) to restrict user permissions to parts of Deep Security. Once you have installed Deep Security Manager, you should create individual accounts for each user and assign each user a role that will restrict their activities to all but those necessary for the completion of their duties.

Deep Security comes pre-configured with two roles:

  • Full Access: The full access role grants the user all possible privileges in terms of managing the Deep Security system including creating, editing, and deleting computers, computer groups, policies, rules, Malware Scan Configurations, and others.
  • Auditor: The auditor role gives the user the ability to view all the information in the Deep Security system but without the ability to make any modifications except to their own personal settings, such as password, contact information, dashboard layout preferences, and others.
Depending on the level of access granted, controls in Deep Security Manager will be either visible and changeable, visible only but disabled or hidden. For a list of the rights granted in the preconfigured roles, as well as the default rights settings when creating a new role, see Create and manage users.

You can create new roles which can restrict users from editing or even seeing Deep Security objects such as specific computers, the properties of security rules, or the system settings.

Before creating user accounts, identify the roles that your users will take and itemize what Deep Security objects those roles will require access to and what the nature of that access will be (viewing, editing, creating, and so on). Once you have created your roles, you can then begin creating user accounts and assigning them specific roles.

Do not create a new role by duplicating and then modifying the full access role. To ensure that a new role only grants the rights you intend, create the new role by clicking New in the toolbar. The rights for a new role are set at the most restrictive settings by default. You can then proceed to grant only the rights that are required. If you duplicate the full access role and then apply restrictions, you risk granting some rights that you did not intend.

From the main page you can:

  • Create New Roles ()
  • Examine or modify the Properties of an existing Role ()
  • Duplicate (and then modify) existing Roles ()
  • Delete a Role ()

Clicking New () or Properties () displays the Role properties window with six tabs (General, Computer Rights, Policy Rights, User Rights, Other Rights, and Assigned To).

General

The name and description of the role.

Access type

Select whether users with this Role will have access to Deep Security Manager, the Deep Security Manager Web service API, or both.

To enable the Web service API, go to Administration > System Settings > Advanced > SOAP Web Service API.

Computer Rights

Computer and group rights

Use the Computer and Group Rights panel to confer viewing, editing, deleting, alert-dismissal, and event tagging rights to users in a role. These rights can apply to all computers and computer groups or they can be restricted to only certain computers. If you wish to restrict access, select the Selected Computers radio button and put a check next to the computer groups and computers that users in this role will have access to.

These rights restrictions will affect not only the user's access to computers in Deep Security Manager, but also what information is visible, including events and alerts. As well, email notifications will only be sent if they relate to data that the user has access rights to.

Four basic options are available:

  • Allow viewing of non-selected computers and data: If users in this role have restricted edit, delete, or dismiss-alerts rights, you can still allow them to view but not change information about other computers by checking this box.
  • Allow viewing of events and alerts not related to computers: Set this option to allow users in this role to view non-computer-related information (for example, system events, like users being locked out, new firewall rules being created, IP Lists being deleted, and so on)
    The previous two settings affect the data that users have access to. Although the ability of a user to make changes to computers have been restricted, these two settings control whether they can see information relating to computers they don't otherwise have access to. This includes receiving email notifications related to those computers.
  • Allow new computers to be created in selected Groups: Set this option to allow users in this role to create new computers in the computer groups they have access to.
  • Allow sub-groups to be added/removed in selected Groups: Set this option to allow users in this role to create and delete subgroups within the computer groups they have access to.

Advanced rights

  • Allow computer file imports: Allow Users in this Role to import computers using files created using the Deep Security Manager's Computer Export option.
  • Allow Directories to be added, removed and synchronized: Allow Users in this Role to add, remove, and synchronize computers that are being managed using an LDAP-based directory like MS Active Directory.
  • Allow VMware vCenters to be added, removed and synchronized: Allow Users in this Role to add, remove and synchronize VMware vCenters.
  • Allow Cloud Providers to be added, removed, and sychronized: Allow Users in this Role to add, remove, and synchronize Cloud Providers.

Policy rights

Determines the rights a user in a particular role has to create, delete, modify, or import policies.

Use the Policy Rights panel to confer viewing, editing, and deleting rights to users in a role. These rights can apply to all policies or they can be restricted to only certain policies. If you wish to restrict access, click Selected Policies and put a check mark next to the policies that users in this role will have access to.

When you allow rights to a policy that has "child" policies, users automatically get rights to the child policies as well.

Two basic options are available:

  • Allow viewing of non-selected Policies: If users in this Role have restricted edit or delete rights, you can still allow them to view but not change information about other policies by checking this box.
  • Allow new Policies to be created: Set this option to allow users in this role to create new policies.

Advanced rights

  • Allow Policy imports: Allow users in this role to import policies using files created with the Deep Security Manager Export option on the Policies tab.

User rights

The options on the User Rights tab allow you to define permissions for administrator accounts.

  • Change own password and contact information only: Users in this role can change their own password and contact information only.
  • Create and manage Users with equal or less access: Users in this role can create and manage any users who do not have any privileges greater than theirs. If there is even a single privilege that exceeds those of the users with this role, the users with this role will not be able to create or manage them.
  • Have full control over all Roles and Users: Gives users in this role the ability to create and edit and users or roles without restrictions.
    Be careful when using this last option. If you assign this option to a role, you may give a user with otherwise restricted privileges the ability to create and then sign in as a User with full unrestricted access to all aspects of the Deep Security Manager.

Custom rights

You can further restrict the ability of a user to view, create, edit, or delete users and roles by selecting Custom and using the options in the Custom Rights panel. Some options may be restricted for certain users if the Can only manipulate Users with equal or lesser rights option is selected (see below).

Delegate authority

Selecting the Can only manipulate Users with equal or lesser rights option will limit the authority of users in this role. They will only be able to effect changes to users that have equal or lesser rights than themselves.

When this option is selected, Users in this Role will not be able to create, edit, or delete roles.

Selecting this option also places restrictions on some of the options in the Custom Rights area:

  • Can Create New Users: Can only create users with equal or lesser rights.
  • Can Edit User Properties: Can only edit a user (or set or reset password) with equal or lesser rights.
  • Can Delete Users: Can only delete users with equal or lesser rights.

Other rights

You can restrict roles' permissions so that they can only access specific Deep Security features, and sometimes specific actions with those features. This can be useful if, for example, you have a team of administrators, and you want to make sure that they don't accidentally impact each others' work.

By default, roles are View Only or Hide for each feature. To allow to full control or customized access, select Custom from the list.

Assigned to

The Assigned To tab displays a list of the users who have been assigned this role.