Linux Network Security - Page 29

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After An Exploit: Mitigation and Remediation

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As we all know, prevention, detection and response are our three main lines of defence against threats, with a good administrator putting most focus on prevention. As the old adage goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" - a 1:16 ratio for the metrically inclined - but there's always going to be the odd occasion where prevention fails, either through a lack of time or a mistake in one's security procedure. In this article we describe a few hardening and alerting methods for Unix servers that help block vectors for various attacks, including two web-based application attacks and the brute-forcing of SSH passwords. The article then looks at what an administrator should do post-compromise. These incidents have been drawn from both honeypots and real systems.

Brittany Day
Jul 24, 2006

Old UTM is Still New in Network Security

They'll always be with us in the wooly corners of the Web: attackers bent on breaking your network system, stealing your data, pilfering funds, or letting their fingers do the walking through your e-mail and IM threads. Research firm IDC, in its security trends forecast for 2006, said chief security officers, as well as other executives whose job it is to evaluate risk, must account for the broadening scope of emerging threats. At the same time, it warned that many organizations are simply unprepared to handle such multi-layered threats, even if they are aware that the sophistication of attacks is increasing.

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jul 24, 2006

Network Security: Protecting the Patient's Electronic Medical Data in the Health Care Organization

Today there is a growing concern for the security of confidential electronic patient health information in the health care organization. The health care network administrator is usually responsible for implementing information security in the health care organization. The problems faced by the health care organization are the following: third party access to confidential electronic medical records, limited IT budgets and resources, noncompliance and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, security attacks, resting databases in clear text, attainable security policies and educating users on the confidentiality and the security of electronic patient health information. Third party access is a concern because only physicians were responsible for managing the patient

Brittany Day
Jul 20, 2006

Preventing Internal Security Breaches

Security is always on the minds of system administrators. As Intranets have evolved from glorified online cafeteria menus and corporate memos to robust information portals and mission critical applications, the bar has been raised to protect the castle from critters and other unwanted spooks that go bump in the night.

Brittany Day
Jul 14, 2006

Basic journey of a packet

The purpose of this introductory article is to take a basic look at the journey of a packet across the Internet, from packet creation to switches, routers, NAT, and the packet's traverse across the Internet. This topic is recommended for those who are new to the networking and security field and may not have a basic understanding of the underlying process.Previous articles by this author have looked at the importance of two key areas of computer security for new users: programming and networking. While they are different disciplines, both networking and programming should largely be viewed as complimentary. If it were it not for the early programming of networking protocols there would be no network. That said, does one have to be a programmer in order to fully grasp networking concepts and theory at a low level? In many cases, you do not. However, a reader's natural curiosity will likely lead him toward programming at some point, in order to further experiment with various protocols and networking theory.

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jul 07, 2006

Spam once again on the rise

Spam is again on the rise, led by a flood of junk images that spammers have crafted over the past few months to trick e-mail filters, according to security vendors. Called "image-based" spam, these junk images typically do not contain any text, making it harder for filters that look for known URLs or suspicious words to block them.

Brittany Day
Jul 06, 2006

HP: Hacking techniques help security

HP is to launch a penetration-testing service for businesses in October, but has denied reports that it will unleash worms on its customers. The company said on Tuesday it would use the same techniques as hackers to gain access to its customers' machines. However, the exploit code it will use will be controlled and will not propagate itself, HP said. "We use hacking techniques to gain access to the system, but once we have control we make the system safe," said Richard Brown, threat management department manager, HP Labs. "We don't unleash a worm

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jul 06, 2006

Introduction to ipaudit

IPAudit is a handy tool that will allow you to analyze all packets entering and leaving your network. It listens to a network device in promiscuous mode, just as an IDS sensor would, and provides details on hosts, ports, and protocols. It can be used to monitor bandwidth, connection pairs, detect compromises, discover botnets, and see whos scanning your network. When compared to similar tools, such as Cisco System's Netflow it has many advantages (see the SecurityFocus articles on Netflow, part 1 and part 2). It is easier to setup than Netflow, and if you install it on your existing IDS sensors, there is no extra hardware to purchase. Since it captures traffic from a span port, it does not require that you modify the configuration of your networking equipment, or poke holes in firewalls for Netflow data.

Brittany Day
Jul 03, 2006

Using ICMP tunneling to steal Internet

The scenario is you are without Internet connectivity anywhere. You have found either an open wireless access pointed or perhaps you're staying in a hotel which permits rented Internet via services like Spectrum Interactive [1] (previously known as UKExplorer). You make the connection, whether its physically connecting the Ethernet cables, or instructing you're wireless adapter to lock onto the radio signal. You are prompted with some sort of authorization page when you open a browser. You don't have access to it, so what do you do?

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jul 01, 2006

Get a quick VPN with OpenVPN

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are a means for connecting to a remote network and making it look like a local one. This means you can connect to your work location and have full access to resources (if so configured on the work side), such as shared printers, work files, etc. There are a number of VPN products freely available; some are kernel-level like openswan and can be fairly difficult to configure. OpenVPN, available at https://openvpn.net/, doesn't require patching the kernel and can be extremely straightforward. Configuration is more difficult if you want to use a lot of its features, but for a quick client/server VPN, you can be up and running in minutes.

Benjamin D. Thomas
Jun 27, 2006

10 things you should do to protect your network against wireless devices

There's no shortage of information explaining how to create a secure wireless network. But what about securing your network FROM wireless devices? This list of pointers from Dr. Thomas Shinder will help you reduce the risk.

Brittany Day
Jun 21, 2006

Top 100 Network Security Tools

After the tremendously successful 2000 and 2003 security tools surveys, Insecure.Org is delighted to release this 2006 survey. I (Fyodor) asked users from the nmap-hackers mailing list to share their favorite tools, and 3,243 people responded. This allowed me to expand the list to 100 tools, and even subdivide them into categories. Anyone in the security field would be well advised to go over the list and investigate tools they are unfamiliar with. I discovered several powerful new tools this way. I also will be pointing newbies to this site whenever they write me saying

Brittany Day
Jun 21, 2006

Network security is virtually here

Network security will be one of the next areas for virtualisation, reckons Scott Lucas, the director of product marketing at Extreme Networks. The aim, he says, is to move away from applying security at specific places in the network, and instead make it available throughout.

Brittany Day
Jun 20, 2006

Zfone: A New Approach for Securing VoIP Communication

This paper reviews some security challenges currently faced by VoIP systems as well as their potential solutions. Particularly, it focuses on Zfone, a vendor-neutral security solution developed by PGP

Brittany Day
Jun 20, 2006

Agent-based or Agent-less Network Monitoring

When monitoring the availability of services between networked clients and servers, it is important to ensure a correct and timely response between those devices, for example to meet service level agreements (SLAs). This is often referred to as end-to-end service management and encompasses the need to monitor applications, servers and interconnecting networks.

Anthony Pell
Jun 20, 2006

For Better Security, Touch Your Printer

Security is more than just passwords on your desktop. Every agency knows physical security is just as important. However, within a department there is normally not much to protect documents from users already in the building. And that can cause trouble.

Brittany Day
Jun 19, 2006

10 ways to protect yourself with 'pragmatic network security'

In the increasingly federated, network-based IT environment, perimeter security is important but not sufficient by itself to protect a company's secrets, warns Mike Rothman, president and principal analyst of Security Incite and former Meta Group Inc. security analyst.

Brittany Day
Jun 16, 2006

Hardening Network Routing

In today’s world we are constantly reminded of the day to day dangers that exist in our society. According to statistics people are becoming the victims of Identity Theft at an alarming rate, it is estimated that 246,570 people had their identities stolen in 2004 alone. Businesses are taking every precaution imaginable to protect the privacy of their consumers. We live in an electronic age, things like paying bills, shopping, ordering clothing, and banking are done online. Yes; it is a very convenient way to do business! It is also very dangerous!

Brittany Day
Jun 16, 2006

Survey on inadequate storage of administrative passwords

Cyber-Ark revealed the results of their annual survey which illuminates the industry-wide struggle to safely and easily share and manage administrative passwords. The survey shows that the majority of IT professionals mismanage the storage of passwords by keeping them in inaccessible or unsecured locations.

Brittany Day
Jun 15, 2006

Is Your VoIP Phone Vulnerable?

It's become a familiar pattern in online security. A groundbreaking way to communicate emerges, spreads like wildfire, and then hackers find a way to use it to their advantage. Security companies react—but not before the problem has succeeded in wreaking havoc. It happened with e-mail and is happening now with instant messaging and mobile devices.

Brittany Day
Jun 14, 2006

Linux Network Security - Page 29

Linux Pentesting Distros: An Essential Tool for Strengthening Network Security

Enhancing Network Security with Linux Proxy Servers

OPNsense 24.7 'Thriving Tiger': Elevating Open-Source Network Security and Performance