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Welcome to the Tenable Network Security Podcast - Episode 19

Announcements

• A new blog post has been released titled "Microsoft Patch Tuesday - January 2010 - "Aged Cheese" Edition" and covers the latest patches released from Microsoft, in addition to some useful plugins to detect deprecated operating systems. Marcus Ranum also published an article titled, "Afterbytes with Marcus Ranum - Using A Dedicated PC For Online Banking".
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Interview: Jake Kouns

Jake Kouns is the co-founder and President of the Open Security Foundation which oversees the operations of the Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) and the Dataloss DB project.. Kouns' primary focus is to provide management oversight and define the strategic direction the project.

ABA Recommends Using Dedicated PC for Online Banking

Date: January 1 & 4, 2010

Synopsis: The American Bankers' Association (ABA) issued guidance to small and mid-sized businesses regarding how to protect themselves from the growing problem of unauthorized Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. Of special note is the recommendation that businesses use a dedicated PC that is never used for email or web browsing to conduct online banking transactions.

Sources: Online banking warning surprises some experts, Businesses warned about online banking

This particular bit of news seems to have gotten disproportionate attention. On one hand, people see it as "ABA tells home users to use a dedicated PC!" and on the other it's business as usual.

But, it's not business as usual - what ABA is doing is recommending a specific response to a deeper problem. The problem is not "online banking" or anything like it; what we're seeing here is an implicit statement that endpoint trust is finally beginning to matter, as cybercriminals are increasingly attacking the shoddy operating systems that everyone seems to use for general purposes.

Airport "Security"

Those of us who travel through any U.S. airport are used to the inconvenience of airport security - the long lines, metal detectors, having to take off your shoes, belts, earrings, and of course the ominous "liquids and gels" inspection. While most people accept these inconveniences as an unfortunate necessity, much of what has been implemented shares some of the common pitfalls found in many computer and network security programs. Using the U.S. airport security model as an example, let’s take a look at some of the security being implemented and relate it to security gone wrong in the enterprise:

The dreaded long lines at airport security are a by-product of the current security model at U.S. airports.

I recently attended the San Francisco IANS Security Forum, where Hart Rossman and I facilitated several of the roundtable sessions. I thought I'd summarize a few of the "take-aways" and useful comments from each.

The story:

US and Russia Discussing Cyber Warfare and Cyber Security

Officials from the US and Russia are meeting to discuss improving Internet security and establishing cyber warfare policy. The Russians would like to see a cyber warfare disarmament treaty between the two countries. The talks are a step forward for the US, as the previous administration refused to engage in cyber warfare discussions with Russia.

Date: December 13 & 14, 2009

Sources: In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security & U.S. and Russian officials talk cyberissues

I see this as a positive step toward acknowledging that "cyberwarfare" between superpowers is stupid, unless it's done in the context of full-on conflict. We'd all rather avoid that, thank you!!