{"id":152,"date":"2009-05-01T09:37:18","date_gmt":"2009-05-01T16:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/brd\/wp\/?p=152"},"modified":"2021-09-25T13:00:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-25T17:00:26","slug":"the-intrigue-of-defensive-computing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/2009\/05\/01\/the-intrigue-of-defensive-computing\/","title":{"rendered":"The intrigue of defensive computing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month my perspective on safe computing and what that really means; not only to me personally, but also as an IT administrator changed.\u00a0 Reinforced may actually be a more accurate word.\u00a0 For months and apparently years the (insert company name) <\/strong>has been operating under the guise of “we’ve been safe so far, so why change things?”\u00a0 This approach towards server and network security has resulted in a really embarrasing lack of safe computing, and really seems to be a less responsible approach than what many were charged with accomplishing.<\/p>\n

In short we were hacked.\u00a0 I wish I could say I was thankful that it was this group over that one, but in the end we were hacked.\u00a0 After this incident hack doesn’t appeal to me as a verb to\u00a0describe the\u00a0malicious, intentioned, educated and well organized attack against the IT network.\u00a0 I wish I could say I am thankful that it didn’t go completely undetected, that I am thankful it didn’t result in severe data-loss, and that I’m thankful for the responsiveness and dedication by the IT staff to mitigate the ensuing chaos.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the following is a non-exhaustive list of failures within the organization for our security:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Lack of perimeter security<\/li>\n
  2. Lack of two-factor authentication<\/li>\n
  3. Lack of centrally managed and monitored antivirus software<\/li>\n
  4. Lack of secured firewalls on servers<\/li>\n
  5. Lack of notification from security department that there was a breach<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All of these resulted from irresponsibility on many different groups.\u00a0 No single entity can be blamed, and no single entity can be thanked for minimizing the impact the incident could have had.\u00a0 Sensitive data *could* have been compromised, and that is a failure in foresight.<\/p>\n

    After I stopped playing the security hat 10 years ago I moved forward with my career and worked on administration and management of progressively larger data networks.\u00a0 At no time did I ever convince myself my network was secure.\u00a0 But then again I’m very paranoid about that.\u00a0 To trounce around with a public IP address sitting on the internet with no IPSec policy and no firewall is inviting the worst.\u00a0 I claim no superiority from one OS to the other, that is irresponsible.<\/p>\n

    My focus on security has instantly been revitalized.\u00a0 In addition to that a recognition of how basic security works has become prominent once again.\u00a0 The only secure computer is one that is turned-off, unplugged from the wall, and stored in a vault.\u00a0\u00a0 This computer will never again be powered on, and that is only a good start.\u00a0 With the ability to freeze memory chips with their electronic registers still full, no computer is or ever will be safe.<\/p>\n

    But I still bank online.<\/p>\n

    There is a need for security at the corporate level that will go beyond the need for personal security on a home PC.\u00a0 But the basics still apply.<\/p>\n

    Have a firewall and Keep your a\/v software up to date.\u00a0 Not terribly difficult.<\/p>\n

    As computers and the networks that connect them become increasingly complex and their scale increases, so to does the complexity and scale of effort needed to properly manage them.\u00a0 The days of building servers from a disc, installing an application and walking away are sadly gone.\u00a0 Sadly as well the days of no-accountability are gone with them.\u00a0 Within the last decade revolutionary changes have transformed every IT shop from a place to hang-out, drink beer, and play video games, to a place where companies increasingly rely on the functionality provide by the services IT provides.<\/p>\n

    Do you think it is acceptable to go 24 hours without email service anymore?\u00a0 How about 48 hours?\u00a0 One week?<\/p>\n

    How do you feel about electricity?\u00a0 The same evolution of automobiles, electricity, the telephone, and flight from luxury to utility has encroached on the “IT is fun” mentatlity that not so long ago was status-quo.\u00a0 IT is now business.<\/p>\n

    And like a brick-and-mortar business, someone breaking in results in a few expected behaviors.\u00a0 The authorities may or may not be called, but locks will probably be replaced, and possibly cameras added.\u00a0 Not much can prevent someone deteremined enough from breaking in.\u00a0 Whether someone’s determination is exposed through physical or digital means has less effect on the desired outcome than one would like.<\/p>\n

    So what is the strongest defense?\u00a0 It is true that you can only build a wall that is high enough to keep people out, until someone comes along and builds a taller ladder.\u00a0\u00a0 Computer security can only be as rigid and secure as that wall.\u00a0 No network\u00a0is impenetrable.\u00a0 Last month I was reading an article from Popular Science about Chinese hacking groups that have near-free reign to exploit the security of global systems.\u00a0 The article doesn’t provide direct linkage to support from the Chinese government, but the author is sure of this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last month my perspective on safe computing and what that really means; not only to me personally, but also as an IT administrator changed.\u00a0 Reinforced may actually be a more accurate word.\u00a0 For months and apparently years the (insert company name) has been operating under the guise of “we’ve been safe so far, so why …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.briandeyo.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}