Remember one key principle to network security, the device itself is useless and not of much value. The data and what resides on the device is all that matters. Make sure that information is always protected.
Archive for the 'Internal Risks' Category
19
Dec
11
Network Security Planning 101
05
Dec
11
Where are all your eggs stored?
In my experience very few executives, weather IT or otherwise, know where all their data is stored. I do not mean this to sound insulting or judgmental. The reason executives don’t know is that this information is rarely properly documented. This is a scary thing. We recently have been involved with a few clients in “getting control” of their IT assets after some turnovers and it is very costly. Wrangling all of this in is always a challenging and time consuming task.
My advice to any executive that is responsible for IT or other digital assets, is to take time to understand all of the areas where your data resides and make sure that the data is protected and backed up. There is nothing worse than not knowing something when you are thrown into a situation when you have to know. These situations could be from employee turnover to employee termination. Getting access ahead of time is basic continuity planning and needs to be as the top priority for any organization.
23
Nov
11
Louis Ferrante on Business Risk
I am reading a great and also entertaining book I highly recommend by Louis Ferrante. In his book, Mob Rules (Click Here), he has a great section that applies directly to what risks companies face and the security concerns.
People are lonely and many are unhappy with the company they work for. Beer, wine, or a cocktail will loosen people’s screws, but most people will talk if you are willing to listen.
This is precisely why social engineering is so effective in gaining access to a company’s data. How will your employees react to a social engineering attack? Test before you find out for real.
So with the recent blocking of VPN (read blocking of company data) traffic in Pakistan announced, I thought of a question for businesses operating in that region. What are you doing to block Pakistan and these countries from accessing your data? That is to say, what security measures have you put in place to protect your company intellectual property?
Copyrights, trademarks, and patents don’t necessarily mean much across borders. The countries you operate in need to back the rights you hold for them to mean anything internationally. Several countries are known for, if not for endorsing but, not enforcing protected products and IP.
Ask yourself one question; is my company data safe when it leaves the country I am based in? This same question holds true weather you are US based or based in Argentina, Brazil, or South Africa. When devices leave your borders you need to maintain privacy and control. If not employees accessing your office could very well be the target of snooping.
21
Oct
11
The Human Side
When evaluating your company security you cannot exclude the human element of security. No matter how secure your technology is, no matter how many products you buy if people are involved you have risk. DLP is one way to mitigate the human element.
10
Jun
11
The First Domino’s Fall
For years we have heard arguments that Mac is much more secure than Windows. While looking at the statistics of malware infections that comment is true the figures are not representative of the truth. Just because no one broke into my car last night doesn’t mean the Jeep I am renting is the safest car in the world. It just means no one tried last night.
Recently a piece of malware was found to infect Mac computers. The infection was interesting from a security perspective because it didn’t require admin privileges to execute. That is pretty serious that someone figured that out. This exposes a huge hole in User Access Control on the MAC platform. My feeling is this is the first in a long line of attacks coming for the Mac. Once a major door is exposed it is easy for others to get on the bus.
Windows users are trained to be cautious on their computers. Mac users are much more free spirited in that they feel insulated from any attack. They think that it only happens to those Windows people over there. This is prime picking for an attacker.
I am sure people will say I am biased towards Windows and I am not. I believe all devices are at risk because all devices are made by humans. As the Apple brand grows and gains market share these attacks will increase rapidly. The risks will be great and the damage may be worse than Windows because they aren’t expecting it. Policies and controls need to be in place on any platform and in every vertical.
09
Jun
11
Rising Tides in the Mobile World
I read a post by someone recently that had me a bit perturbed. It was in reference to the new features coming out in Apple’s iCloud service. The writer said that everything is over for Rim now that Apple has this service. It was written in a way that was almost cheering their demise on. I almost snapped back and said why did it take Apple so long to do what Rim did 12 years ago? Stephanie set me straight though, you can’t convince a Yankee fan that the Red Sox are a good team too.
The comment was shallow and showed obvious bias. It was probably written by someone who was just bursting with excitement at the new service. It was also ignorant in that if it wasn’t for Rim the iPhone wouldn’t be where it is today. And in 5 years if it wasn’t for the iPhone the next hot phone won’t be where it is. I don’t want any company in the mobile space to go under. I believe a rising tide lifts all boats and healthy competition is ultimately good for the consumer.
I also don’t really have a favorite in this space. My concerns are mainly how these foreign devices are going to affect internal security at the enterprise level.
My question for anyone in the market is what security is built into any of these platforms? Rim has done a phenomenal job of security up until this point and I hope that trend continues. I also hope that track record is forcing Apple engineers to equal or exceed that level of security. Android isn’t doing such a hot job so far but my gut is that will change soon. Open source is great in theory but not a good idea in the case of mobile security where most people have zero protection.
09
Mar
11
The Ultimate in Babysitting
This article really makes me mad. I will cover the security risks in a second but I need to editorialize it first. What people are protesting and don’t like is the fact that their power usage will be looked at and their usage could be questioned. This reporter simply ignores that fact.
On the security side, this is a big risk. If malware could get control of the “Meter-Net” (my term) then they could really have control over our most private location, our homes.
This could also lead to a physical attack or break in, timing an outage in a house or neighborhood when the power usage is down.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-03-09-smartmeter09_ST_N.htm
02
Feb
11
Check That Policy
We are in the process of evaluating some new firewall software. While this software is incredibly powerful one thing jumped off of the page for me, the granularity. The configuration of this software could be anywhere from very short, not that secure, to hours and hours for a really secure policy. After we continued through it I started to wonder what they were thinking when they wrote the program.
While I know that granularity is important some thought to user interface needs to be given while developing the software. This particular one you had to dig to find what you were looking for then when you did you almost wanted to leave because it was so intimidating on where to start.
Here is a brief checklist, off the top of my head, of what needs to be tested in any firewall policy:
- Check to make sure company applications work.
- Check to make sure other things do not, too many people stop when something is working and they never test for the failure of other items.
- Have the policy checked by another pair of eyes. Too much room for error here.
- Check to see if users are users faster or slower after the installation.
- If slower look at the firewall to see why, maybe it is under powered or something is mis-configured.
14
Dec
10
WikiLeaks Data Loss
If you don’t want something leaked don’t write it down, put it in a memo, and distribute it. Why is that concept so hard? It isn’t necessarily feasible though. I think Julian is a jerk and I would never defend his actions, but some responsibility has to be on the side of those who wrote down the information that they wanted kept secret.
Great business lesson here, data can leave your organization. What are you doing to protect your exit door?
