Desktop computer (workstation): what it is and how it is attacked
A computer somebody sits at to do their job.
Also known as
- workstation
- PC
- desktop
Typing any of them into the editor finds this object.
Why it matters on a security diagram
Where people open attachments and click links, which makes it a routine first foothold.
How it gets attacked, and what reduces it
How it gets attacked
- Attachments and links delivered by email
- Local administrator rights that were never needed
What reduces it
- Remove local administrator rights, which were rarely needed and are routinely used
- Filter attachments and links before they arrive, and expect some to get through anyway
- Keep the machine enrolled in endpoint protection and alert when it is not
Where it sits
- Group
- Endpoints and devices · The things people and processes touch directly.
- Whose side, by default
- Ours · Belongs to the organisation the diagram is about.
- Catalogue identifier
- workstation
Reviewed . CC BY 4.0.
Others in endpoints and devices
- Laptopnotebook · mobile workstationA portable computer that leaves the building.
- Mobile phonesmartphone · mobile · handsetA pocket computer that reads company email.
- PrinterMFP · multifunction device · copierPrints, scans and often emails documents.
- Smart deviceIoT · internet of things · connected device · camera · CCTV · IP camera · security camera · sensor · door lock · smart TVEveryday equipment with a network connection: cameras, sensors, door locks, TVs.
- Plant equipmentOT · ICS · SCADA · operational technologyMachinery that runs a physical process: a pump, a valve, a production line.
- Machine controllerPLC · RTU · programmable logic controllerThe small computer that tells a piece of machinery what to do.
- Door access readercard reader · badge reader · access controlReads a badge to unlock a door.
The endpoints and devices group lists all 8 of them side by side.
Desktop computer on your own diagram
Open the editor, press N, and type workstation. The object is placed and connected to whatever was selected, and Tab adds the next one already joined to it. Nothing is uploaded: the page is served with a Content Security Policy that forbids the browser from making any outbound request at all.
Open the diagram maker