Systems and methods for remote assistance. A user computer is able to generate a ticket that includes temporary credentials for a remote assistance account of the user computer. The ticket is escalated to an expert, who activates the ticket and requests a connection with the user using the encrypted credentials. The user can accept this request if the credentials are validated and provide the expert with a view of the user's desktop. The expert, if necessary, can request control of the user computer and the user can either grant or deny this request. If granted, the user computer can unilaterally terminate the control that was provided to the expert. Because the credentials in the ticket are encrypted, the expert does not know the actual password to the remote assistance account and can only access the user computer interactively.