Chapter 4: Security Baselines

Security+ Guide to Network Security

Fundamentals
Second Edition
 Objectives

Disable nonessential systems

Harden operating systems
Harden applications
Harden networks

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 Disabling Nonessential Systems

First step in establishing a defense against computer

attacks is to turn off all nonessential systems
The background program waits in the computers
random access memory (RAM) until the user presses
a specific combination of keys (a hot key), such as
Ctrl+Shift+P
Then, the idling program springs to life

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)
Early terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs
performed functions such as displaying an instant
calculator, small notepad, or address book
In Microsoft Windows, a background program, such
as Svchostexe, is called a process
The process provides a service to the operating
system indicated by the service name, such as
AppMgmt

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)
Users can view the display name of a service, which
gives a detailed description, such as Application
Management
A single process can provide multiple services

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)
A service can be set to one of the following modes:
Automatic
Manual
Disabled
Besides preventing attackers from attaching
malicious code to services, disabling nonessential
services blocks entries into the system

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)
The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) provides for a
connectionless TCP/IP transfer
TCP and UDP are based on port numbers
Socket: combination of an IP address and a port number
The IP address is separated from the port number by a
colon, as in 19814611820:80

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 Disabling Nonessential
Systems (continued)

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 Hardening Operating Systems

Hardening: process of reducing vulnerabilities

A hardened system is configured and updated to
protect against attacks
Three broad categories of items should be hardened:
Operating systems
Applications that the operating system runs
Networks

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 Hardening Operating
Systems (continued)
You can harden the operating system that runs on the
local client or the network operating system (NOS)
that manages and controls the network, such as
Windows Server 2003 or Novell NetWare

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 Applying Updates
Operating systems are intended to be dynamic
As users needs change, new hardware is introduced,
and more sophisticated attacks are unleashed,
operating systems must be updated on a regular
basis
However, vendors release a new version of an
operating system every two to four years
Vendors use certain terms to refer to the different
types of updates (listed in Table 4-3 on page 109)

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 Applying Updates (continued)

A service pack (a cumulative set of updates including

fixes for problems that have not been made available
through updates) provides the broadest and most
complete update
A hotfix does not typically address security issues;
instead, it corrects a specific software problem

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 Applying Updates (continued)

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 Applying Updates (continued)

A patch or a software update fixes a security flaw or

other problem
May be released on a regular or irregular basis,
depending on the vendor or support team
A good patch management system includes the
features listed on pages 111 and 112 of the text

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 Securing the File System

Another means of hardening an operating system is

to restrict user access
Generally, users can be assigned permissions to
access folders (also called directories in DOS and
UNIX/Linux) and the files contained within them

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Securing the File System (continued)

Microsoft Windows provides a centralized method of

defining security on the Microsoft Management
Console (MMC)
A Windows utility that accepts additional components
(snap-ins)
After you apply a security template to organize security
settings, you can import the settings to a group of
computers (Group Policy object)

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Securing the File System (continued)

Group Policy settings: components of a users

desktop environment that a network system
administrator needs to manage
Group Policy settings cannot override a global setting
for all computers (domain-based setting)
Windows stores settings for the computers hardware
and software in a database (the registry)

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 Hardening Applications

Just as you must harden operating systems, you

must also harden the applications that run on those
systems
Hotfixes, service packs, and patches are generally
available for most applications; although, not usually
with the same frequency as for an operating system

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 Hardening Servers

Harden servers to prevent attackers from breaking

through the software
Web server delivers text, graphics, animation, audio,
and video to Internet users around the world
Refer to the steps on page 115 to harden a Web
server

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

Mail server is used to send and receive electronic

messages
In a normal setting, a mail server serves an
organization or set of users
All e-mail is sent through the mail server from a
trusted user or received from an outsider and
intended for a trusted user

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

In an open mail relay, a mail server processes e-mail

messages not sent by or intended for a local user
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server is used to store
and access files through the Internet
Typically used to accommodate users who want to
download or upload files

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

FTP servers can be set to accept anonymous logons

using a window similar that shown in Figure 4-8
A Domain Name Service (DNS) server makes the
Internet available to ordinary users
DNS servers frequently update each other by
transmitting all domains and IP addresses of which
they are aware (zone transfer)

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

IP addresses and other information can be used in an

attack
USENET is a worldwide bulletin board system that
can be accessed through the Internet or many online
services
The Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) is the
protocol used to send, distribute, and retrieve
USENET messages through NNTP servers

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 Hardening Servers (continued)

Print/file servers on a local area network (LAN) allow

users to share documents on a central server or to
share printers
Hardening a print/file server involves the tasks listed
on page 119 of the text
A DHCP server allocates IP addresses using the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
DHCP servers lease IP addresses to clients

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 Hardening Data Repositories

Data repository: container that holds electronic

information
Two major data repositories: directory services and
company databases
Directory service: database stored on the network
that contains all information about users and network
devices along with privileges to those resources

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 Hardening Data
Repositories (continued)
Active Directory is the directory service for Windows
Active Directory is stored in the Security Accounts
Manager (SAM) database
The primary domain controller (PDC) houses the
SAM database

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 Hardening Networks

Two-fold process for keeping a network secure:

Secure the network with necessary updates
Properly configure it

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 Firmware Updates

RAM is volatileinterrupting the power source

causes RAM to lose its entire contents
Read-only memory (ROM) is different from RAM in
two ways:
Contents of ROM are fixed
ROM is nonvolatiledisabling the power source does
not erase its contents

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 Firmware Updates (continued)

ROM, Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

(EPROM), and Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) are firmware
To erase an EPROM chip, hold the chip under
ultraviolet light so the light passes through its crystal
window
The contents of EEPROM chips can also be erased
using electrical signals applied to specific pins

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 Network Configuration

You must properly configure network equipment to

resist attacks
The primary method of resisting attacks is to filter
data packets as they arrive at the perimeter of the
network

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 Network Configuration (continued)

Rule base or access control list (ACL): rules a

network device uses to permit or deny a packet
(not to be confused with ACLs used in securing a
file system)
Rules are composed of several settings (listed on
pages 122 and 123 of the text)
Observe the basic guidelines on page 124 of the text
when creating rules

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 Network Configuration (continued)

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 Summary

Establishing a security baseline creates a basis for

information security
Hardening the operating system involves applying the
necessary updates to the software
Securing the file system is another step in hardening
a system

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 Summary (continued)

Applications and operating systems must be

hardened by installing the latest patches and updates
Servers, such as Web servers, mail servers, FTP
servers, DNS servers, NNTP servers, print/file
servers, and DHCP servers, must be hardened to
prevent attackers from corrupting them or using the
server to launch other attacks

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