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Which security risks are involved when I routinely log in as domain administrator to do some repair on windows machines?

Shall I prefer to log as machine administrator (local user)?

Can a malware spread over if a I log as domain administrator on a infected machine?

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A virus is not going to spread by you just logging in to the machine and it is very difficult to do so via RDP. You should be fine to log in as Domain Admin to fix any issues, logging in as a local Admin would require a deskside visit since the local profile is off the domain.

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  • If a malware gains administrative privileges on a machine, it won't have access to other machines. But if I log in as domain administrator, won't it inherit my permissions?
    – motobói
    Feb 28, 2012 at 14:06
  • The virus can do damage with or without the Admin privelages. You logging in to a machine as an admin is going to do any additional harm especially since your logging in via RDP, your machine is fine. I assume your only logging in to run some virus software?
    – xXPhenom22Xx
    Feb 28, 2012 at 16:00
  • Unless your transferring files back to your host machine or any other machine you will be fine to log in as an admin via RDP and remove the malware or virus
    – xXPhenom22Xx
    Feb 28, 2012 at 16:10
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    I thought you could do more powerful things as a domain administrator than as a local administrator, for instance modify group policies. An attacker might modify group policies to allow insecure protocols, allowing another attack to happen later. Am I mistaken?
    – Nicolas Raoul
    Oct 24, 2013 at 10:04

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