Thursday, September 6, 2012
Secure a Home Wireless Network with these Helpful Tips
The amount of technology in the modern home is astounding. The average household used to be lucky to have a telephone and a television. Now most homes have at least one television, mobile phones, computers, and high-speed internet access. The world of technology is trending toward wireless technology. In the interest of eliminating tangles of cords connecting devices to the web, most households opt to set up a wireless router to enable multiple devices in their home to connect without cords.
Setting up a wireless network may remove the clutter of cords and the inconvenience of being tied to one are of the home, but it does have disadvantages. A wireless home network is vulnerable to hacking attempts by thieves interested in stealing critical data from the devices on your network. The following tips will help you establish a secure home network that allows you to manage your finances, shop, and surf the web safely.
Secure Access to your Router
The wireless router that serves as the heart of your wireless home network is also a vulnerable point of entry for thieves to hack into your devices and files. The first step any user should take in securing their network is to secure their router with a custom username and password.
After your computer is connected to the internet, simply go to 192.168.1.1 in your internet browser. This will take you to the administration webpage for your wireless network. The first time you access this page it may not ask for a username and password, or it will be set to a factory default. Once you have accessed the administration webpage look for a tab entitled “Administration” or “Management.” Under this tab you’ll be able to set a custom username and password to control access to your router and network.
Some helpful tips to keep in mind at this junction include creativity. Be as creative as possible with a password for your network; don’t make it simple names or birthdays. Try to be unique. If you are having trouble reaching the administration webpage, as not all routers use 192.168.1.1, check the manual that came with your router or call tech support.
Encrypt your Connection
Hackers feast on un-encrypted networks and in 2012 there is no excuse for not encrypting your home network. Encryption technology has been in the mainstream for a few years and any self respecting router made in the last 5 years has some form of it. As packets of data are sent from each point they are scrambled into undecipherable jumbled data for their journey and unscrambled at the other end. There are limitations to encryption when dealing with older computers or routers. All points on your network must run the same encryption technology, so choose the highest order encryption available throughout your network. WPA2 is the highest encryption technology available to the mainstream; it is based on 128-bit key of scrambled data per packet. This is far superior to the older encryption protocols that were based on 64-bit encryption or even less. Of course encryption is only as good as the password you choose, so make sure you use at least 20 characters in your SSID password.
Setting up encryption is easy. While installing the software for your router you are likely going to be asked what level of encryption you would like. If you already installed the software and skipped that step, you can still add encryption protection. Simply logon to your router’s administration page and go to the “Security” tab. Here you will be able to select the level of encryption and develop your own encryption key.
Be Vigilant and Active
Once you’ve completed the steps above, continue to keep an eye on your router, settings, and security passwords. A few extra tips in this category include checking the router manufacturer’s website for firmware updates. While not necessary, a firmware update for your router could provide fixes for common bugs that weaken your security and also provide new security features that enhance your protection.
If you’re comfortable doing so, you can also tinker with the power settings of your modem and router. The more power provided to them, the greater the strength and reach of your wireless signal. Full power can result in your signal being transmitted beyond your home, making it easier for thieves to access your network and files from the street. Lowering the power settings will shrink the reach of your signal to further secure your network.
These steps are more than sufficient to ensure that your network is secure to deter thieves from attempting to hack into your devices. If you feel as though these are not enough, there is one more tool at your disposal. The Service Set Identifier, SSID, is the name of your network and is broadcast to the surrounding area.
It is possible to hide your SSID from public broadcast under the “Wireless” tab on your router administration webpage. It is worth noting that this step is not considered a true security feature; it merely prevents your network from being easily identified. This step does not provide any added level of security.
These few steps can be completed in just 20 minutes and will ensure that your wireless home network is adequately protected from thieves looking to steal sensitive data.
Author Bio:
David is a freelance technology writer whose articles appear on various technology blogs.
Setting up a wireless network may remove the clutter of cords and the inconvenience of being tied to one are of the home, but it does have disadvantages. A wireless home network is vulnerable to hacking attempts by thieves interested in stealing critical data from the devices on your network. The following tips will help you establish a secure home network that allows you to manage your finances, shop, and surf the web safely.
Secure Access to your Router
The wireless router that serves as the heart of your wireless home network is also a vulnerable point of entry for thieves to hack into your devices and files. The first step any user should take in securing their network is to secure their router with a custom username and password.
After your computer is connected to the internet, simply go to 192.168.1.1 in your internet browser. This will take you to the administration webpage for your wireless network. The first time you access this page it may not ask for a username and password, or it will be set to a factory default. Once you have accessed the administration webpage look for a tab entitled “Administration” or “Management.” Under this tab you’ll be able to set a custom username and password to control access to your router and network.
Some helpful tips to keep in mind at this junction include creativity. Be as creative as possible with a password for your network; don’t make it simple names or birthdays. Try to be unique. If you are having trouble reaching the administration webpage, as not all routers use 192.168.1.1, check the manual that came with your router or call tech support.
Encrypt your Connection
Hackers feast on un-encrypted networks and in 2012 there is no excuse for not encrypting your home network. Encryption technology has been in the mainstream for a few years and any self respecting router made in the last 5 years has some form of it. As packets of data are sent from each point they are scrambled into undecipherable jumbled data for their journey and unscrambled at the other end. There are limitations to encryption when dealing with older computers or routers. All points on your network must run the same encryption technology, so choose the highest order encryption available throughout your network. WPA2 is the highest encryption technology available to the mainstream; it is based on 128-bit key of scrambled data per packet. This is far superior to the older encryption protocols that were based on 64-bit encryption or even less. Of course encryption is only as good as the password you choose, so make sure you use at least 20 characters in your SSID password.
Setting up encryption is easy. While installing the software for your router you are likely going to be asked what level of encryption you would like. If you already installed the software and skipped that step, you can still add encryption protection. Simply logon to your router’s administration page and go to the “Security” tab. Here you will be able to select the level of encryption and develop your own encryption key.
Be Vigilant and Active
Once you’ve completed the steps above, continue to keep an eye on your router, settings, and security passwords. A few extra tips in this category include checking the router manufacturer’s website for firmware updates. While not necessary, a firmware update for your router could provide fixes for common bugs that weaken your security and also provide new security features that enhance your protection.
If you’re comfortable doing so, you can also tinker with the power settings of your modem and router. The more power provided to them, the greater the strength and reach of your wireless signal. Full power can result in your signal being transmitted beyond your home, making it easier for thieves to access your network and files from the street. Lowering the power settings will shrink the reach of your signal to further secure your network.
These steps are more than sufficient to ensure that your network is secure to deter thieves from attempting to hack into your devices. If you feel as though these are not enough, there is one more tool at your disposal. The Service Set Identifier, SSID, is the name of your network and is broadcast to the surrounding area.
It is possible to hide your SSID from public broadcast under the “Wireless” tab on your router administration webpage. It is worth noting that this step is not considered a true security feature; it merely prevents your network from being easily identified. This step does not provide any added level of security.
These few steps can be completed in just 20 minutes and will ensure that your wireless home network is adequately protected from thieves looking to steal sensitive data.
Author Bio:
David is a freelance technology writer whose articles appear on various technology blogs.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
What You Should Know about the FBI Apple UDID Breach
A hacker group "Anti-Sec" has released over 1 million UDID's they "found" on an FBI laptop. Before we begin an Apple UDID (Unique Device Identifier), which as the name states, is a unique alpha-numeric number that's tied to each iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This number, up until iOS 5.1, was taken without permission when a user would download certain apps and other activities. Having this information would allow advertisers to focus ads based off apps and experiences a user was running. With that said, here's the posting by Anti-sec:
"During the second week of March 2012, a Dell Vostro notebook, used by Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K. Stangl from FBI Regional Cyber Action Team and New York FBI Office Evidence Response Team was breached using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability on Java, during the shell session some files were downloaded from his Desktop folder one of them with the name of “NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv” turned to be a list of 12,367,232 Apple iOS devices including Unique Device Identifiers (UDID), user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers, addresses, etc. the personal details fields referring to people appears many times empty leaving the whole list incompleted on many parts. no other file on the same folder makes mention about this list or its purpose."
It's one thing to have a privacy breach by advertisers, but what's the FBI doing with over 1 million Apple UDID's? Why is this on an agency laptop and what are they doing with this information? I'd be very interested to see what vendor was "asked" to cough this information up and what the FBI was using it for.
Also, it's very interesting to see that the Java fiasco is still in full blown and being exploited to the fullest. This is a problem for everyone, but I would have hoped the FBI would have taken this vulnerability more serious.
To verify that your Apple UDID isn't on the list of IDs released use the following link to verify: http://kimosabe.net/test.html. If you are on the list I'd be very interested in speaking with you in more detail. You can see my "About Me" page with contact details.
"During the second week of March 2012, a Dell Vostro notebook, used by Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K. Stangl from FBI Regional Cyber Action Team and New York FBI Office Evidence Response Team was breached using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability on Java, during the shell session some files were downloaded from his Desktop folder one of them with the name of “NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv” turned to be a list of 12,367,232 Apple iOS devices including Unique Device Identifiers (UDID), user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers, addresses, etc. the personal details fields referring to people appears many times empty leaving the whole list incompleted on many parts. no other file on the same folder makes mention about this list or its purpose."
It's one thing to have a privacy breach by advertisers, but what's the FBI doing with over 1 million Apple UDID's? Why is this on an agency laptop and what are they doing with this information? I'd be very interested to see what vendor was "asked" to cough this information up and what the FBI was using it for.
Also, it's very interesting to see that the Java fiasco is still in full blown and being exploited to the fullest. This is a problem for everyone, but I would have hoped the FBI would have taken this vulnerability more serious.
To verify that your Apple UDID isn't on the list of IDs released use the following link to verify: http://kimosabe.net/test.html. If you are on the list I'd be very interested in speaking with you in more detail. You can see my "About Me" page with contact details.
Network Security Horror Stories: Firewall Misconfigurations
Here we are with our second installment of network security horror stories and having already discuss some of the firewall change control issues
in this article we’re going to review some firewall misconfigurations
I’ve seen at client sites. The firewall plays an important part in your
security architecture and needs to be configured properly in order to
gain the most from this layer of security. Here are a few stories of
classic firewall misconfigurations:
1. Dangerous Ports Open
2. Remote Control Gone Wrong
1. Dangerous Ports Open
There was a particular network I worked
in once that was constantly being breached. We started looking at ways
the attackers were gaining access and noticed that there were improperly
configured firewall rules that allowed full NetBios access to all
systems in the DMZ. These webservers were also running all applications
as administrator with an old version of Microsoft IIS.
After cleaning up the firewall access
rules, removing unneeded services and updating vulnerable software we
were able to help the network owners for the time being. There should be
a constant audit of your environment as well as vulnerability scans
both internally and externally that would find this low hanging fruit.
Using tools that point out vulnerabilities and areas that you’re not
compliant are extremely beneficial to your security posture.
2. Remote Control Gone Wrong
Once while troubleshooting a server
outage of a critical server I noticed that the firewall was previously
configured to have these servers put in a group that allowed RDP access
to them through the firewall and they were NAT’d directly into the
server VLAN, which wasn’t in the DMZ. This allowed attackers to gain
access directly through the firewall, bypass the DMZ and used this box
as a pivot point in the server VLAN.
Noticing this I confronted the firewall
and server administrator as to why this was configured this way. Their
response was that this is how the vendor came in to perform maintenance
on the server when it crashed. Little did they know that it wasn’t only
the vendor that was using this access and that the server wasn’t only
crashing, but it was compromised. Using other tools like Webex or
GoToMeeting would be a safer and easier method to troubleshoot issues
over the web.
Read the rest of the article at Algosec.com blog: http://blog.algosec.com/2012/09/network-security-horror-stories-firewall-misconfigurations.html
Monday, September 3, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
FireEye - A vendor you should be aware of...
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