A proxy service receives requests from a remote caller to configure a main service. The proxy service authenticates the caller and validates the request. The proxy service then passes the request along to the main service if the caller can be authenticated and if the request can be validated. The proxy service runs at a non-privileged level, but when the proxy service passes the request to the main service, the proxy service impersonates the caller so that the request to the main service is made at the original caller's level of privilege. The main service can block all inbound network traffic, since network requests to configure the main service are received by the proxy, which is a local object from the perspective of the main service. Additionally, the proxy can block inbound traffic other than a certain class of requests (e.g., Remote Procedure Calls).