ConnectWise Control is a self-hosted

remote desktop software In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely off of one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server or a ...

application owned by ConnectWise Inc., a software developer based in Tampa, Florida, United States. It was originally developed by Elsinore Technologies in 2008 under the name ScreenConnect.

History

Elsinore Technologies developed ScreenConnect in 2008 as an add-on to their RMM Software IssueNet in order to assist in providing remote support to end users. They later began distributing the software as a standalone product.

Acquisition by ConnectWise

On February 11, 2015, PSA company ConnectWise announced their acquisition of the ScreenConnect software in order to improve the remote control features of the latest release of their RMM Software, LabTech. ScreenConnect, LLC announced that, despite being acquired by ConnectWise, they would continue to operate under their original name in addition to offering their software as a standalone product. Starting in early 2017, ConnectWise changed the name of ScreenConnect to ConnectWise Control, saying that this was to simplify their software under one company.

Product

How it works

The product is a self-hosted server application that permits the primary user to host the software on their own servers, PC,

virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/ emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized h ...

(VM), or

virtual private server A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual machine sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. The virtual dedicated server (VDS) also has a similar meaning. A virtual private server runs its own copy of an operating system (OS), and cus ...

(VPS). Once installed, the central web application can be made visible inside and outside of the

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger ...

(LAN). ConnectWise Control has a proprietary protocol and exposes an open architecture structure that can be utilized by users to implement custom plugins, scripting, or various integrations. A generic use model would start with a host initiating a session through the central web application. A participant would then join a session by clicking on an email link or via the guest page of the application. An unattended client can be created and deployed to a targeted machine without the need for human intervention. The executable is ScreenConnect.ClientService.exe (x86) on Windows based OSs, and is a signed by a COMODO RSA Code Signing CA certificate ublisher: ScreenConnect Software

Features

Most commonly expected features for a product in this arena are present. Examples include reboot and reconnect, drag and drop file transfer, screen recording, safe mode support, multiple monitor, command line access, wake-on-LAN,

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

, chat, and a custom toolbox for quick deployment of support tools. In addition to features that facilitate communication, ConnectWise Control also offers complete control over branding and customization of the product design, logo, color scheme, icons, text strings, and localization.

Security

The software is self-hosted providing users the ability to control the flow of data behind their own firewall and security implementations. ConnectWise Control uses 256-bit AES encryption to package and ship data, supports

two factor authentication Multi-factor authentication (MFA; encompassing two-factor authentication, or 2FA, along with similar terms) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting ...

, has server level video auditing, and granular

role-based security In computer systems security, role-based access control (RBAC) or role-based security is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users. It is an approach to implement mandatory access control (MAC) or discretionary access control ...

. Forms-based and Windows Authentication are optional authentication methods for security purposes.

Compatibility

Host (presenter or technician): can utilize Mac,

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

, iOS or Android operating systems. Guest (customer or participant): can connect from Mac, Linux or Windows. ConnectWise Control can also be utilized to remotely support Android devices, with complete view and control available for devices manufactured by Samsung.

Technology

Server

The on-site ConnectWise Control server is self-hosted, and runs as a

.NET Framework The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...

application. On Microsoft Windows it runs as a set of

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

. In 2015, ConnectWise Control launched a hosted cloud platform, providing a way to use the ConnectWise Control software with no local server installation required. The ConnectWise Control server runs as a set of four discrete services: * The Web Server service is an outward-facing

ASP.NET ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name s ...

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...

application and serves as a portal for both technicians and their end-users * The Relay service provides outward-facing in-session communication and operates on TCP sockets. Communication is encrypted with the AES-256 block cipher. * The Session Manager service provides a data store for both the Web Server and Relay services. It is implemented as WCF

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web service. * The Security Manager service provides a data store for security-related activities, including authentication and auditing

Clients

ConnectWise Control sessions are arranged through the web application. Once users join sessions, a ConnectWise Control client is launched to connect to the Relay service. ConnectWise Control targets clients based on device and operating system: * The .NET client is targeted to Microsoft Windows computers and is activated with a custom URI Scheme which starts the session from an installed handler on the controller's workstation. For end-users joining a support session, a variety of bootstrappers can be used including

Microsoft's Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

ClickOnce ClickOnce is a component of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and later, and supports deploying applications made with Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation. It is similar to Java Web Start for the Java Platform or Zero Install for Linux. ...

technology. * The

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client is targeted to OS X and

computers and is activated with

Java Web Start In computing, Java Web Start (also known as JavaWS, javaws or JAWS) is a deprecated framework developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) that allows users to start application software for the Java Platform directly from the Internet using a web b ...

. * The

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

client is targeted to iPhones and

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s. * The Android client is targeted to Android phones and tablets.

Licensing model

ConnectWise Control is commercial software. Licenses sit in a pool and are available to any user on any workstation. There are three types of license: a single concurrent that allows one simultaneous connection per license, an unlimited which allows an unlimited number of concurrent sessions as long as all sessions are utilizing the same server, and enterprise licenses which provide flexible options for SaaS, multi-user, or custom functionality. The concurrent license types are bought as a one-time purchase, with lifetime support. A subscription model is used for updates, which are free during the first year after purchase, after which the "update license" must be renewed. Pricing for updates depends on when the update license was last-renewed.

Misuse

The program under its previous name of ''ScreenConnect'' has been used in fraudulent

technical support scam A technical support scam, or tech support scam, is a type of fraud in which a scammer claims to offer a legitimate technical support service. Victims contact scammers in a variety of ways, often through fake pop-ups resembling error messages or ...

s where the fraudster is able to gain the control of the victims computer by telephoning and tricking the user to install the software and permitting a connection. The free trial period has been utilized to avoid any software costs in doing this, and similar products such as TeamViewer,

AnyDesk AnyDesk is a remote desktop application distributed by AnyDesk Software GmbH. The proprietary software program provides platform independent remote access to personal computers and other devices running the host application. It offers remote con ...

and Ammyy Admin have also been used for the scam.

References

External links

Product homepage: *https://www.connectwise.com/software/control Documentation: *https://docs.connectwise.com/ConnectWise_Control_Documentation {{Remote administration software Remote desktop Windows remote administration software MacOS remote administration software Internet software for Linux Web Conferencing Internet Protocol based network software Proprietary software