MeshCentral - CrowdSec, LDAP, CAPTCHA, DNS Multi-Relay and more

MeshCentral has kept up its evolution with many more security related improvements. The big one this week is the integration of a CrowdSec bouncer that is now built-into MeshCentral to allow rapid and collective reactions to internet threats. We also have an improved LDAP integration with account images, optional CAPTCHA for new accounts on the login screen, a powerful improvement to DNS web relay to allow multiple HTTP/HTTPS session at the same time and more improvements to MeshCentral Router and the MeshCentral web site. On a personal note, I will be taking vacations from September 7th to October 19th to mostly travel and relax in Europe. In any case, here are this week’s developments in detail:

  • CrowdSec bouncer integration. CrowdSec is a French company that runs a free, open source, community driven IP address reputation service. Servers install the CrowdSec agent and notify the CrowdSec server of detected threats and from what IP addresses they are coming from which is then sent out to the community. MeshCentral now has a built-in CrowdSec bouncer that can be setup to dis-allow, CAPTCH or allow incoming login requests depending on CrowdSec agent decisions. This makes MeshCentral instances that are on CrowdSec more secure against detected threats and allows contributions to the global knowledge pool.
  • Improved LDAP integration. MeshCentral has had LDAP integration for a long time, but this week, the latest version has improved this a lot. There is more flexibility in how LDAP can be configured but the LDAP feature that will get noticed the most is that MeshCentral can now synchronize the LDAP account image. When you log into a MeshCentral server connected to LDAP, your account image is transferred into the MeshCentral server and used when chatting to devices or other users, used for consent requests and message boxes.
  • Optional CAPTCHA for new accounts on the login screen. MeshCentral can be configured to allow account creation on the login page with various controls on who can create accounts. This week, MeshCentral now has an additional option to have a CAPTCHA show up on the login page when creating new accounts. When enabled, this provides extra security against possible account creating bots and so, enhancing the security of the server. The CATCHA is generated locally, and no 3rd party server is used.
  • Multiple DNS web relays at the same time. In the last weeks, we added an innovative technique for MeshCentral to relay remote web pages to an administrator using just a web browser, no additional tools required. This week, the feature was further enhanced so that multiple DNS names can point to the MeshCentral server and used simultaneously by the same user. So, a single user can open many remote web sites at the same time from their browser. There is a new YouTube video on this topic here.
  • MeshCentral Router improvements. MeshCentral Router has had a few more user interface improvements and this week, your can now opt to collapse device groups automatically or not. This new option is in the settings dialog box. There where more improvements to the built-in remote desktop viewer and much more.
  • MeshCentral “My Files” editor. The MeshCentral built-in text editor is now available in the “My Files” tab, allowing users to quickly edit text files that are stored in your MeshCentral instance.
  • MeshCentral YouTube Channel Update. The MeshCentral YouTube channel crossed 75k total views last week and is now over 77k views as this is being typed. More videos are being planned to continue the weekly video premiere cadence. The channel qualified for YouTube monetization, and I opted into the program so to turn off all ads. Hopefully, viewers will now see less ads than before when the channel was not a YouTube partner.

Many other features have been added and bug fixes included. As usual, feedback is appreciated. If you see any problems or need support on something, please create a new issue on GitHub or help other users. For more information, visit the portal at https://meshcentral.com.

Enjoy!
Ylian
MeshCentral, Blog, Twitter,
Reddit, GitHub, YouTube.








Popular posts from this blog

Starting work at Microsoft

Image
Hi everyone. It’s been a while since the last blog post and I wanted up update everyone on what is going on. As many of you know already from a discussion on GitHub , Bryan and I have been laid-off from Intel in early November 2022. This was quite a surprise as MeshCentral, MeshCommander, MeshCMD and other tools where widely used. This said, Intel has been having poor financials and Bryan and I where part of a very large first wave of downsizing by the company that involved many people that I know and worked with for a long time. I had been working for Intel for over 25 years having started in September 1998. Over the years I worked on IPsec key negotiation, Universal Plug & Play, DLNA and Intel® AMT. I loved working on all these projects and especially loved working with the open-source community on Mesh projects. Obviously, this was not my decision and Bryan and I had look for what comes next. One option was to continue working on MeshCentral as part of another company or with
Read more

MeshCentral - Windows ARM64, NodeJS v11, NPM Packages

Image
Hi all. It's been a while since I last posted and now that I am settling a bit more in my work at Microsoft, I have a bit of time to occasionally look after MeshCentral again. It's about time, there where a bunch of things that needed to get fixed. Before that, I want to say that I am doing great. I am working on Microsoft Forms which is one of the offerings of Microsoft 365. For kicks, I started a YouTube channel on Microsoft Forms here during a Microsoft hacking week. I tried to up my game since the videos I last published for MeshCentral. Also, I wanted to share pictures below. I was at a Tesla Supercharger last weekend and, by luck, got to see a Tesla Cybertruck in person. It's very big. Obviously, this is a release candidate driven by a Tesla employee. I saw it after attempting to see the solar eclipse over Oregon, but sadly, too many clouds and saw nothing. In any case, back to MeshCentral. In the last few months a few things have happened with the new releases. Wind
Read more

MeshCentral - New Windows Agents - Installation Dialog, Customization and Server Lock

Image
Lots is going on with MeshCentral, just yesterday Bryan Roe released a new MeshAgent for Windows with many improvements. An improved installation dialog box, logo customization and, to continue MeshCentral’s leadership in security, a new agent code signing locking feature that will surely be used by many to improve trust and security of their MeshCentral installation. In addition to this, we have many more server improvements to cover. In detail: MeshAgent with improved installation dialog box . The new MeshAgent for Windows is much improved with months of changes and bug fixes. The most noticeable feature is by far the new installation dialog with the new logo and connection details button. The new installer is a lot friendlier and easier on end-users. MeshAgent with improved customizations . In addition to all the existing agent customizations available in prior versions, the MeshAgent has new server settings for the installation text and logo. You can now set your own 200x200 PNG c
Read more