Data security

May 9 2008   6:20PM GMT

Did you see this? - a live honeynet

Posted by: Troy Tate
anti-virus, Data security, howto, CIO, DataManagement, Sandbox, Security, antivirus, forensics, malware, Monitoring, research, honeynet, honeypot, botnet, SQL Server

I just came across the Shadowserver Foundation. According to their mission:

The Shadowserver Foundation is an all volunteer watchdog group of security professionals that gather, track, and report on malware, botnet activity, and electronic fraud. It is the mission of the Shadowserver Foundation to improve the security of the Internet by raising awareness of the presence of compromised servers, malicious attackers, and the spread of malware.

This is a great resource to find out what’s happening “in the wild” and to help sell security protection to your organization. This is real stuff happening in the real world. For example, take a look at how detailed the blog entry is on the winzipices.cn SQL injection / malware attack. This gives you enough information to fight the threat and feel confident you understand it.  Well done to the Shadowserver Foundation!

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together &
practice safe networking!

 

May 2 2008   6:26PM GMT

Did you see this? - Gideon’s INFOSEC list

Posted by: Troy Tate
Data security, CIO, DataManagement, Security, NIST

This site is dedicated to increasing security awareness among the general population and the technology community. The Basic Security section is focused on the average person. The Advanced Security section should be of interest to technologists, senior management and legislators. Direct access to security information makes this site unique. Within a few clicks, you should have access to what you are looking for.

The resources listed on this site are updated roughly quarterly. To keep current, consider subscribing to Gideon’s INFOSEC list. The lists’ primary focuses are security resources, security news, industry trends and vulnerabilities. Gideon’s list is low volume and “Distribution Only”.

This site does not accept sponsors or donations of any kind.

Apr 23 2008   5:13PM GMT

Dear John…. let’s talk about Cisco

Posted by: Troy Tate
Networking, tools, Data security, LAN, WAN

Don’t you wish that every vendor’s competitor had something similar to the Dear John (Chambers of Cisco fame) site found here.

What would a Dear Bill (Gates) letter website look like? Well a video documentary was produced and can be found here.  Isn’t he a charming young man? A quick Google search for “Dear Bill Gates” turned up around 452,000 hits. Lots of folks writing with some very interesting perspectives. How about an entire book written as a letter to Bill Gates? Mark Hughes did just that and you can find his book on Amazon for $16.95 (ISBN 1412014719). I wonder if writing to Mr. Gates is like writing a letter to Santa Claus. You feel excited putting words to paper but then realize that there is little chance the letter will actually be read by the intended reader.

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Apr 18 2008   1:16PM GMT

Did you see this? - Georgia requires security metric reporting

Posted by: Troy Tate
Data security, DataManagement, Security, Monitoring, NIST, reporting, metrics, government

I saw this news release recently and wondered what standard metrics Georgia government agencies will be reporting and how they will be gathering the information. Are there any Georgia readers out there? How are you addressing this activity for your agency?

News Release

Gov. Perdue Signs Executive Order Strengthening Georgia’s Information Technology Security

Mar 20, 2008, News Report

Gov. Perdue today signed an executive order to protect state data by standardizing information security reporting.

“This executive order is a critical part of the larger plan I announced in December 2007 to transform the state’s technology and shore up the underpinnings we found lacking,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.  “As I stated then, technology is the foundation of a well-run, modern-day enterprise.  This action will go a long way toward addressing our security gaps and giving the state the secure IT infrastructure it requires to responsibly serve Georgia’s citizens.”

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Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Apr 4 2008   1:40PM GMT

Did you see this? - Sandbox behavior

Posted by: Troy Tate
Data security, Security, Monitoring, tools

Many of our organizations use “standard” anti-virus like the Symantec, McAfee, Panda, Trend-Micro products. Virus signatures are still valuable, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like there are newer detection methods out there that are challenging this time-tested technology. Heuristics have gotten stronger. The new kid on the block now seems to be sandboxing or behavioral analysis.

An advertisement came across my desk the other day for one of these solutions that caught my eye with its tagline. The tagline read:

If a car crashes and it takes six seconds for the airbag to be released, would you feel safe? No? Then you think like us at Norman.

Hmmmm… is that challenging the old school way of doing anti-virus? What is the new way? Take a look at:

Norman Sandbox analyzer from Norman Data Defense.

Is anyone using this type of technology? What has been your experience? Does it make sense to move to something like this from the tried-true old-school signature-based anti-virus?

Let me know by adding some comments to this blog.

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Mar 26 2008   6:04PM GMT

Did you see this? - The People’s Forensics

Posted by: Troy Tate
Data security, tools, wiki, howto, Security, forensics

This blog topic, and future versions, will be dedicated to websites I discover in my internet journey that seems to be useful and may help someone else out there with some need they may have.

Today’s website is called the Forensics Wiki . Of interest in particular to you security practitioners out there would be the tools section. To gain some education and knowledge, you might want to check out the How-To section. This wiki seems to be in it’s infancy stage. The value potential is high though.

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!