Global Insecurities

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Global Insecurities

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:35 PM

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Global Insecurities

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Post #1406432

SQLRNNR

Posted Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:40 PM

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Now if only the vendors would agree to use the information.

That would be great. It would be great if on the occasions that vendors do publish something, they would take the time to update it. I have seen several BP documents by vendors that were flat wrong. When they are given the information about these inaccuracies, they need to also do something with that.

Jason AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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MCM SQL Server 2008

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Post #1406433

call.copse

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 2:53 AM

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It would not seem hard on the face of it to keep a decent company edited wiki or something with up-to date references to best practices for use on each specific supported version of whatever software.

As a cynic though I would never make the mistake of underestimating the natural laziness of the developer or indeed the human in general. Documentation is exposure after all. I don't exclude myself from this condition either sadly.

Post #1406618

Gary Varga

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 3:59 AM

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Quite simple installations should encourage best practice by default and, possibly, allow insecure configurations only through users' deliberate selections. Unattended installations should be secure as well.

This would ensure that releases can modify installation programs with current best practices.

This, of course, doesn't override the need for public vendor highlighted , internal or 3rd party, documentation.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

Post #1406648

David.Poole

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 7:09 AM

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I think that vendors should react faster when a vulnerability is identified. Putting it on the some-time-maybe-never inclusion in the next release simply isn't good enough.

Similarly it would be a great to see commercial software relying on a database showing evidence that it has had a thorough going over by a professional DBA. There are a number of systems with flashy front-ends and/or even relatively bug free code but rely on elevated privileges in the database.

One thing I have come to realise is that if you see a DB with weak design then it will be fronted by code with a weak design.

Where a single individual is responsible for a product then you can put it down to individual lack of knowledge. Where it is a team that produces a product then it is more likely to be a systemic attitude within the organisation.

My principles for attempting to design a secure database are as follows:-

Look to minimize the attack surface area

Make sure that functional interaction with the database is tightly defined, not open ended

Make sure the audience for each function is tightly defined

Do not abdicate responsibility for security to the n-tiers above the DB. Security is a war of attrition. Every layer of security will lose a proportion of hackers even if it is through loss of interest rather than lack of competence

Don't use default settings (including TCP/UDP ports) or accounts

that

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Post #1406707

TravisDBA

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 7:18 AM

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If your password to anything on a computer is your name or is "password" then you deserve to be hacked IMHO. I mean this is kind of a no brainer. BigGrin

"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ... BigGrin

Post #1406714

djackson 22568

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 7:46 AM

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Great posts so far. My issue is with major corporations that refuse to even acknowledge that they use default accounts and passwords that EVERYONE knows! I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes. I am prety sure all medical software companies do things this way, we have quite a few. These are the companies that are currently under attack from the government, and if they aren't doing anything, I shudder about how bad it must be in other industries.

Dave

Post #1406738

Miles Neale

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 12:47 PM

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djackson 22568 (1/14/2013)

I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes.

Do you mean to say that you could go but have not ever really gone?

Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

Post #1406914

djackson 22568

Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 1:15 PM

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Miles Neale (1/14/2013)

djackson 22568 (1/14/2013)

I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes.

Do you mean to say that you could go but have not ever really gone?

Um, yeah, that would violate HIPAA! I am not the kind of person to do that. There are a lot of people who would, though.

Worse is that it is pretty easy to find out which hospital uses which vendor's products, then to identify the default user name and passwords. Recently the news had a story about a hospital that had their database encrypted with ransomeware, Steve may have even posted about that. Vendors make it too easy.

Dave

Post #1406919

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