It is perhaps the headache of any IT head when it comes to implement policies to have a smooth running network and department. But while the essence of a good security system is evident, it is really the implementation part that is hard to accomplish.

For one, the transition and building of security awareness from various threats that can easily make their way towards an acclaimed secure network is abundant. Manually or transmitted, suspicious files will always find a way especially if you are not that adamant towards making sure that all bases are covered as far as the security of your system and data is concerned.

Many people fail to appreciate that value of the data they have gathered. They fail to appreciate the value of a strict IT policy mainly because all they care about is a workstation to use and opening files (both internal and external) as they please. So if you put all these things together, you can imagine the problems that an IT guy has to work with. But to some, taking the initiative such as passwords and some hardware exclusions has to be made.

If you notice, some drives like the usual floppy drives or even USB ports are either missing or disabled. To make them work, certain permissions and passwords are set for them to be enabled. Only the IT administrator would know these security measures and basic as they may seem, they really help a lot.

This is just a basic but effective way that IT personnel use. There are the usual network policies but for the sake of people who want to making it doubly sure, old and basic practices such as this is perhaps the best way to go.

Tags: it, management, policy

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, Operating Systems, Physical Security, Privacy & Anonymity, Security Policies

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If there is one thing to be learned from Mr. Terry Childs, a talented network engineer who was jailed due to computer tampering, you better be careful at who you choose to have administrative rights as far as network access and security is concerned. Apparently for some reason, Mr. Childs has refused to turn over the administrative passwords for the larger part of the San Francisco Department of Technology FiberWAN.

A petty issue with a run-in that he had with his agency had was said to be the cause of it all. But while that may sound off-topic, he has been tagged as becoming unstable and apparently this has lead to his being charged with four felony counts of computer tampering. The bail was set at $5 million dollars which most people including his lawyer said was crazy.

Let this be a lesson that the power of technology, once it goes to the wrong hands, may be entirely catastrophic. While technology breakthroughs are something to look up to, it remains that the people behind them have to be likewise trusted. Better yet, it would be best to have the technology guy and an authorized executive have access to make sure that nothing of this nature would occur as well.

Childs was said to be maniacal at the start so you have to wonder, why did you entrust the guy with the passwords and rights to the network security? Surely this was already a problem at the start and now that it has escalated towards paralyzing most of the operations only one man who is obviously psychologically disturbed holds the key to it. No wonder the bail was set at such a crazy amount of $5 Million!

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Tags: computer tampering, felony, FiberWAN, Network Security, San Francisco Department of Technology, terry childs

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, News, Operating Systems, Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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We keep on talking about how important it is to build on security for our computer and our network but we fail to realize that it will ultimately lie on how responsible the assigned user will be when it comes to safeguarding his username and password as far as access to the computer or network is concerned. Apparently, there is always a human error in these cases and if we look at some news briefs, we will notice that majority of hacking or intrusion issues originate at the hands of one person.

This is not actually saying that an assigned user has the ability to control or have companies at the tip of his fingers. Remember, one act of illegal practice can be a cause for legal action. In fact, it is easier to uphold the law on such a person to safeguard the interest of a company. So either way, no person in his right mind would want to bear the burden of being sued and taken to court for something that was bestowed upon him with complete trust.

Hacking is one thing but divulging is another. This is a practice that should be corrected in most cases. People fail to realize the importance of their participation in a network. No matter how great a security barrier is against any outside intruders, security protection includes making sure that the trusted employee is indeed a reliable one. In short, cleaning up the bad vibes and potential threats start internally rather than external.

Tags: computer, legal action, network, password, security, username

Categories: IT Security Basics, Network Security, Security Policies

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Are you like me who has the bad habit of forgetting the passwords to your online accounts? Except for sites I frequently visit, like those for web-based services, I can’t keep track and lose passwords all the time. There’s no true solution to this problem. I’ve tried using the same passwords for multiple accounts, but that’s pretty dangerous – if one of your accounts gets hacked, they can guess what sites you frequent and gain access to your data. Writing it down can be downright dangerous – it’s even easier to lose paper and notebooks during your daily routine. It also boils down to an issue of trust with the people you live and work with.

The situation’s pretty dire if a relative passes away and all his contacts are in an online address book. The was the the case of William Talcott, a San Francisco poet who passed away in June and basically took his password to the grave. His daughter was unable to contact his friends, and though the web provider will grant them access after a court order, it will take months of legal haggling in court, causing needless emotional pain for his descendants

The solution? A password manager that keeps track of your passwords. Some users make their own with their database and password locking it, but these makeshift databases aren’t encrypted and they’re quite easy to crack. There are commercial and open source password managers available for download online. All you need to do is add the website, your account name and password, select one password to lock your data, and then it will keep track of your passwords for you. They offer different features, which can include password generators, autoform filling, and different levels of encryptions. Some sites, like those of banks and other e-commerce activities, don’t allow autoform filling for security reasons. Though most of these are currently made for Windows, there are also versions for other operating systems. A word of warning though: if you forgot your password to your password manager and it doesn’t have a retrieve password option, you can’t access your database. So make sure to remember your database password!

[tags]passwords,e-commerce,operating systems,online security,phishing[/tags]

Tags: e-commerce, IT Security Basics, online-security, Operating Systems, passwords, phishing, Security Policies, Tips

Categories: IT Security Basics, Security Policies, Tips

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In every office, you have to have some policies when it comes to sharing of files and downloading of files. Why? For one thing, those computers are the company’s resources. And it should be that during work hours, people ought to limit their downloads except for materials that are necessary for their work to get done.

How do you formulate your policies when it comes to these matters?

If you are working in a creative environment, anything could be used as your inspiration. That is why there are companies who allow surfing within office hours and it does not really matter what sites you visit. Although some of them do block some sites that are mainly of the personal nature like Friendster, My Space and other similar sites. There are also some that ban blogging services like Blogger. They would even issue memos regarding the matter.

If you work in a strictly confidential project, it would be difficult to try to make sure that nothing leaks out. If you are connected via the Internet, chances are your works could be intercepted in one way or another by hackers. So you have to be careful that you have firewall activated. As others would say, just block off everything except interoffice email.

Employees must be briefed carefully so that they will not be surprised in case they were surfing the ‘net one time and they find out that there are blocked sites. Also, you have to make sure you observe how the employees work. Those in the financial business would have to guard a lot of information. They would have to ensure that the employees understand the policies and that they would follow them in order to ensure that everything will be secure. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. You would not want to lose your valuable clients.

Tags: internet, office, Real-World Issues, security, Security Policies, work

Categories: Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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Harmful objects can be obtained from the web. We are all aware that Malware and Trojans are rampant objects that have been wandering of anywhere on the Internet, especially websites that are often visited by people for reference and information. Such sites would get hijacked and also contaminate visiting users as well, something that can be done through Internet cookies stored on the web folder in the machines.

While developers and security administrators have religiously searched for ways to find such solutions, the ever changing development of new threats coming from the Internet has been far from over. To date, even the well-protected workstations can still be penetrated by objects that are not immediately visible.

Internet fences in the form of firewalls and software protection templates have tried to stop such intrusions but need to be updated frequently to answer the related threats. Without such temporary fences that are up, workstations are sitting ducks waiting to be shot, and if web administrators are not up to date with the new threats, the fences used are good as gone once they occur.

Tags: firewall, Malware, Spyware, trojans

Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Physical Security, Security Policies, Spyware

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In general, teaching people is a difficult task. You have to carefully plan on how to address them and be relevant. Each person would have different needs. Whether you plan to teach your staff and employees, or your family and friends, you have to brace yourself.

Some of the factors that would affect how you would teach them about IT security are as follows:

• the person’s experience with computers
  Has the person used a computer before? What has the person done so far? Install an operating system? Used some particular applications like word processing software or a web browser like Internet Explorer?
• the person’s experience with going online
  Each of us would have had different experiences when it comes to our online presence and habits like downloading, checking email and the like. When it comes to downloading materials be it online textbooks or anything else, it would be good to take a profile of the sites the person uses as resources.
• enthusiasm
  Whether you believe it or not, enthusiasm could affect the reception of the person to ideas and all that. Talking about security is not exactly the same as talking about your favorite car or favorite pet. Unless you think you could gush about firewalls and all those details, that is. Then again, it depends on the person’s experience, as said before.

No matter how easy or difficult it could be, no matter what background the person has, this is an important thing to learn. You are the one who can do it. May you teach them well.

Tags: Real-World Issues, Security Policies

Categories: Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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Viruses and malware issues are far from being a thing of the past. On the contrary, they seem to grow large by numbers as each day passes. Thus the works of security software companies have their work cut out for them. There is not definite date to which such threats and intrusions would wholly be resolved.

For the time being, it would be advisable for people to scan third party storage devices such as diskettes, USB drives and mobile storages to be safe and sound. These wandering viruses can attack at any time and this is a fact anywhere computer related materials are concerned.

Files can go as far as infecting the executable files, hence document, excel and compiled scripts are baits for immediate infection and malicious intrusions. Software applications also have their limits as their development teams cater only to a specific genre for known harmful files. But it is better to lower the risk of intrusion than not having protection at all.

[tags]scan, spyware, virus, infections, spyware, malware, trojans[/tags]

Tags: infections, Malware, scan, Spyware, trojans, virus

Categories: Backups, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Operating Systems, Programming, Real-World Issues, Security Policies, Spyware, Storage, Tips, Wireless Security

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If you have not heard, the RSA 2009 security conference was held in San Francisco in the past week. This conference is a significant one in the industry, and even more so now since we have been facing many different and new threats cropping up here and there. This year, however, what I have been reading about the RSA is not that good. A lot of people are saying that it came a little flat.

John Oltsik of CNET blames the economy for this. He also points out three other reasons:

1.The speakers. The keynote speakers really had nothing new to say. This was especially troubling because the lineup looked so strong. Unfortunately, the most disappointing speaker of all was President Obama’s cybersecurity point person, Melissa Hathaway, who read from a script and said next to nothing about her cybersecurity research effort. Hathaway underwhelmed an audience of security professionals, missing an opportunity to bond with a constituency whose support is critical to her success.

2. The topics. In the past, there was always one topic at RSA that grabbed everyone’s attention. Not this year–same old tired stuff.

3. The vendors. I’m now convinced that most security vendors have no conception of what their customers need. Vendors pitch point technology solutions while users are crying for help to secure their IT-based business processes. There are really only a few security vendors that recognize this. I can’t overstate how much this disconnect alienates the security community.

It is pretty depressing, isn’t it? Do you have other perspectives that might give us more positive views?

Categories: General, News, Security Policies

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Who said that Obama does not have a techie side to him? If reports earlier this month are to be believed, the newbie President is not ignoring the importance of cyber space. Iain Thomson of Vnunet.com had this report early this month:

US president Barack Obama has ordered an immediate 60-day review of the online security of government IT systems to check for vulnerabilities.

“The national security and economic health of the US depend on the security, stability and integrity of our nation’s cyber space, both in the public and private sectors,” said John Brennan, assistant to the president for counter-terrorism and homeland security.

First thoughts…this is wonderful; this coming from the head of the country, it should be a good sign. However, I was thinking about the 60-day limit – would this be enough? More so, are the intelligence arms going to be part of this review? I doubt that the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA will allow anyone to take a look into their systems. Maybe the review is just for the less sensitive government agencies. Who knows?
In any case, I was just thinking of those people who love hacking systems to get credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and the like. Those days will probably be gone pretty soon, don’t you think?

Categories: Malware, Network Security, News, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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