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Cisco Next Generation ISR - Call PBM IT at (888) 233-6471A Cisco Secure Network Foundation uses many tools to keep customer information from unauthorized users inside or outside the business. Virtual private networks (VPNs) allow small offices and traveling workers to communicate with each other and their head office in complete privacy, even when using the public Internet for transport. The highest user authentication standards ensure only valid users can access the VPN network. Strong encryption technologies make the data unintelligible to anyone attempting to intercept VPN communications across a public network. Firewall and IPS at every network entry point helps stop worms, spyware, or hacker attempts from penetrating the business network to steal information. Firewalls are also useful in preventing internal users from accessing sensitive information. For example, internal firewall policies can prevent unauthorized employees from accessing finance, human resources, or accounting computers, or from viewing their traffic. Virtual LANs (VLANs) allow businesses to further segment internal communications within their organization. Sensitive financial or customer information can be placed on its own VLAN, logically separate from employee LANs. The Cisco Secure Network Foundation helps businesses meet legal requirements for the security and privacy of customer information by protecting the network from security breaches or unauthorized intruders from inside or outside the network. Cisco IronPort Web Security Appliances (1) Integrate industry-leading web-usage controls, reputation filtering, malware filtering, and data security, (2) Take advantage of Cisco Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) and global threat correlation technology to help optimize threat detection and mitigation, (3) Combine multiple layers of web security technology to combat complex and sophisticated web-based threats, and (4) Support built-in management capabilities to simplify administration and provide visibility into threat-related activity. Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Solution (1) Provides an intelligent, smooth, and reliable connectivity experience, (2) Is ideal for companies that want to give users a choice of how, when, where, and on what device they access their information, (3) Cisco AnyConnect Version 2.5, with ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances at the headend, provides remote-access connectivity policy enforcement that is context-aware, comprehensive, and preemptive, and (4) Cisco IronPort S-Series Web Security Appliances apply context-aware policy, including enforcing acceptable use and protection from malware for all users. The data diddler is likely the worst sort, since the fact of a break-in might not be immediately obvious. Perhaps he's toying with the numbers in your spreadsheets, or changing the dates in your projections and plans. Maybe he's changing the account numbers for the auto-deposit of certain paychecks. In any case, rare is the case when you'll come in to work one day, and simply know that something is wrong. An accounting procedure might turn up a discrepancy in the books three or four months after the fact. Trying to track the problem down will certainly be difficult, and once that problem is discovered, how can any of your numbers from that time period be trusted? How far back do you have to go before you think that your data is safe? Important terms used for describing how data is stored, processed or transmitted to other locations: (1) Confidentiality, in terms of selecting who or what is allowed access to data and systems. This is achieved through encryption and access control systems. Even knowledge of the existence of data, rather than the information that it contains, may be of significant value to an eavesdropper, (2) The integrity of data, where modification is allowed only by authorized persons or organizations. The modifications could include any changes such as adding to, selectively deleting from, or even changing the status of a set of data, (3) The freshness of data contained in messages. An attacker could capture part or all of a message and re-use it at a later date, passing it off as a new message. Some method of incorporating a freshness indicator (e.g. a time stamp) into messages minimizes the risk of this happening, (4) The authentication of the source of information, often in terms of the identity of a person as well as the physical address of an access point to the network such as a workstation, and (5) The availability of network services, including security procedures, to authorized people when they are needed. Security testing is important for understanding, calibrating, and documenting the operational security posture of an organization. Aside from development of these systems, the operational and security demands must be met in a fast changing threat and vulnerability environment. Attempting to learn and repair the state of your security during a major attack is very expensive in cost and reputation, and is largely ineffective. Operational Security Testing is network security testing conducted during the operational stage of data system life, that is, while the system is operating in its operational environment. The standard one-time password dictionary from RFC 1760 helps maintain backwards compatibility with the various deployed systems, however, support for hexadecimal format passwords will also be mandatory to implement. The standard might specify pass phrase quality checks for the secret pass phrase. The standard will be specified so as to eliminate any possible conflict with the Bellcore trademark on the term S/Key. Deploy Comprehensive Network Security: Cisco adaptive security appliances integrate industry-leading firewalls, unified communications security , VPN technology, intrusion prevention, and content security in a unified platform to (1) Stop attacks before they penetrate the network perimeter, (2) Protect resources and data, as well as voice, video, and multimedia traffic, (3) Control network and application activity, and (4) Reduce deployment and operational costs. Auditors face some challenges when reviewing router and firewall configurations. I'm going to discuss a few of them in this article. My assumption is that there is a device hardening standard in place, which points out the key elements of configuration. I am also assuming configuration review is only small, and not the most important part of audit program (design assessment, change control, access control, etc... have to be done as well). |
