Dependency updater

Service accounts

A service account is a non-human privileged account that an operating system uses to run applications, automated services, virtual machine instances, and other background processes.

A service account provides a way to assign an identity and permissions to a computer program or process that performs a specialized task.

Service accounts have privileges that allow extensive access to system resources either locally or across the domain.

While service accounts can be created manually, they are often preinstalled and preconfigured as part of an operating system or another software program.

Service accounts pose a greater risk compared to other privileged accounts as they can potentially enable bad actors to hide in plain sight by operating under the cloak of a valid program. Many such programs run continuously, giving attackers persistent access.

Cybercriminals who hack a service account can elevate privileges to gain ever more access. Adopting a phantom identity allows them to roam freely through corporate IT networks and cloud environments without arousing suspicions.

Updating service accounts

If a service running on a machine relies on a credential managed by FortiPAM, the dependency updater feature offers the ability to update the service credential immediately after FortiPAM changes the credential. FortiPAM ensures that the service does not fail during authentication.

Dependency Updater in Secret Settings displays a list of dependency updaters.

A dependency updater defines the service identifier and its type.

For every dependency updater, the following columns are displayed by default:

• Name

• Service Name

• Update After Restart

• References

The Dependency Updater tab contains the following options:

Create	Select to create a new dependency updater. See Creating a dependency updater.
Search	Enter a search term in the search field, then hit Enter to search the dependency updater list. To narrow down your search, see Column filter.
Edit	Select to edit the selected dependency updater.
Delete	Select to delete the selected the selected dependency updaters.
Clear Selection	Select to clear the currently selected dependency updater entries from selection.

For updating the Windows server, WinRM service must be configured on the target machine, and there must be a privileged account for the target machine in FortiPAM.

See Updating a service account credential Example.