Server Audit for the Dauntless

If you’re looking for an insightful server audit, and you’re dauntless, you might want to jump on this train.

First, why do you need to be dauntless?

Because you’re going to need to obtain your data from a number of different sources; the bigger your company, the more likely you’ll need to call on and question more than a handful of people.

Because comparing and tracking all the servers that are on one list, but not another can be a challenge.

Because it his highly LIKELY that you WILL find something and the server team will not be happy.

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Internal Attacker Detected: Conclusion

Minutes later, one of the security techs met me at Lynn’s cube with a box that we quickly filled with the contents of her desk: files, CDs, DVDs, notedpads, books, etc. The other help desk analysts in adjacent cubes looked at us with silent questions on their faces.

I noticed that one of them was a new employee that had attended my security presentation in employee orientation last week, so he knew who I was. That meant rumors would spread quickly. While I never enjoyed walkouts, they reminded the staff that security incidents have consequences.

This is a multi-part series. See Internal Attacker Detected: Part 1, Internal Attacker Detected: Part 2, and Internal Attacker Detected: Part 3.

Others on my team had already imaged the old computer and had started imaging the new one across the network as soon as my meeting with Lynn began (by design, she was not told of the meeting beforehand). Both images would be sent off to the Forensics team.

Risk: Look Both Ways

On my walk to work, I cross a lot of 1-way streets. I always look both ways. Sometimes, when a friend or colleague is walking with me, I get teased me about this. I always reply with this question: Have you ever driven down a 1-way street the wrong way? For some reason, I never get a reply and another subject surfaces.

When I crossed one of those streets the other day, I realized that some people look at audit/security/risk the same way. They only look one way because of the people or rules or controls or norms that govern the activity. They fail to think outside of the cubicle and look the other way–the path seldom traveled.

IIA Basics for Auditors

The  Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has back-to-basics articles for new auditors (and like Dummies books, the topics can be a reference for the rest of us). Even security pros might want to read a few of these to better understand their auditors, or how those auditors should be doing their jobs.

The topics are as follows (no special order):

Conclusion: Audit Server Disappeared

In Case File: Audit Server Disappeared, I noted that a friend of mine learned that  IT had, on its own prerogative, wiped a server belonging to Internal Audit because “it never appeared to be used.”

Some of you already commented on some of the issues involved in this incident and the normal IT activities that should have prevented this incident (or at least alerted IT that something was wrong). Let’s review those comments and I’ll add some other details and comments.

Shipley on Cloud Computing Risks

Greg Shipley,* CTO of Neohapsis, wrote an article in Information Week magazine about cloud computing risks, making the following points:

1) One company discovered it was using Amazon’s cloud services when employees tried to expense the bills. It’s 10 o’clock; do you know where your clouds are?

It’s not Business, it’s Personal

I wonder sometimes how many controls fail due to personal issues instead of design and performance issues. In other words, do controls fail more because of communication, turf, and personal issues or is it that the control is poorly designed or not performed?