Time Is Of The Essence When Implementing Security Best Practices
Six years ago the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the IRS for lax security practices. Now it would seem that six years is plenty of time to get the right security policies in place, but while the IRS is showing progress, it has yet to remediate 65 of the 88 previously reported weaknesses – and now the most recent GAO audit has turned up 37 new weaknesses to add to the list. This news affects every tax-paying citizen in the U.S., as all of our information is at risk, and it’s a good example of why every organization needs to be paying attention to their own security policies.
President Obama Endorses Least Privilege
We have showed that the insider threat is significant in this blog for the last 2 years and have even pointed out recently that it made the Wall St Journal among other well respected publications. But, when President Obama aims to stop WikiLeaks-style disclosures, then least privilege has really come of age.
Samsung Mobile Devices Vulnerable to Website Wipe
According to IBTimes, Samsung, one of the leaders in manufacturing Android devices, has a very serious bug in their TouchWiz implementation of Android. Samsung, like most manufacturers, modifies the stock Android image to add in its own modifications and enhancements.
Terminator V: Utilities Under Fire Without Least Privilege
Remember the premise of Terminator and about another 100 or so Hollywood movies that have computers taking over the world? The first step in this conquest is always that we rely heavily on machines being connected to the worldwide web to make our life easier. This becomes problematic when said equipment is managing critical infrastructure like say electricity, water, communications, etc. Wait isn’t that what we’ve now done?
Protecting Yourself and Satisfying Auditors With Least Privilege
Within the complex world of IT infrastructure exists a vitally important group of people: those charged with administering a company’s most critical assets and protecting its most sensitive data. They are known as privileged users, and by definition they possess a collection of access rights reserved only for those a company has entrusted with significant responsibility in safeguarding not just data, but also brand reputation, customer trust, and sustained revenue.
The Best New IT Security Book You Have To Buy Now!
Okay, so I am a bit biased since I am one of the co-authors of this book published by Apress Media, but in the spirit of full disclosure this is an independent industry view on mitigating insider threats across physical, virtual and cloud infrastructure and doesn’t even mention BeyondTrust.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday – October 2011
Welcome to another exciting episode of Patch Tuesday, where Microsoft has released a total of 8 bulletins concerning 23 CVEs. 2 bulletins are rated as critical, mostly covering issues within Internet Explorer, while the rest are not as riveting.
Insiders Run Rampant in Healthcare and Financial Services Industries
Most consumers don’t blink an eye when they’re asked to provide their social security number to a healthcare or banking professional. We place complete trust into the hands of these individuals, yet employees within financial services and healthcare industries perhaps are the most notorious for snooping and disclosing sensitive information.
Android Handset Makers – Adding Value or Vulnerabilities?
So many things in life can cause perception to over take reality and one great example of that is as it relates to Google’s Android security. Android itself is a very robust and security minded operating system backed by one of the best security research teams in the business. One of the big things that…
Speaking of Human Nature, Desktop Computing And Least Privilege
Indeed, people are known to behave differently inside and outside of the office, where the culture is different. Lines between professional and home life become blurred, and people take the suit off at home, log in in their shorts, but that doesn’t mean they should take their corporate hat off, as well. But what is the answer? Eliminating administrator rights without allowing for the elevation of certain job-necessary privileges is not the answer. Locking down a system is like asking everyone to raise his or her hand to go to the bathroom, – it shows the downside of mistrusting human nature.
