Facebook Google Plus Twitter LinkedIn YouTube RSS Menu Search Resource - BlogResource - WebinarResource - ReportResource - Eventicons_066 icons_067icons_068icons_069icons_070

Tenable Blog

Subscribe

Detecting Credit Cards, SSNs and other Sensitive Data on UNIX/Linux Systems

Nessus, Nessus Enterprise and Nessus Enterprise Cloud users can now remotely scan UNIX and Linux systems for the presence of sensitive information such as credit/debit card numbers, SSNs, company confidential information, and more.

What Can I Discover?

New configuration auditing capabilities have been added for Nessus users to remotely check UNIX and Linux systems for the presence of sensitive information. This capability has been available on Windows systems for some time; you can refer to the blog post titled "Detecting Credit Cards, SSNs and other Sensitive Data at rest with Nessus" for additional information. The Windows sensitive file content checks have been re-created for UNIX/Linux systems, which include the ability to detect:

  • Credit/Debit card numbers (VISA, Mastercard, American Express, and a generic check)
  • PII such as Social Security Numbers (including US and international), EDI health claim numbers, drivers license numbers, and Employee Identification Number (EIN)
  • Adult content
  • Company confidential information (Payroll, NDA, source code, wire transfer information, generic confidential information, financial statements)

PCI Compliance

Credit/debit card information stored in clear-text on remote systems is valuable information to attackers and indicates failure in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Primary Account Numbers (or PANs) must be securely deleted or protected according to the requirement set forth in the PCI DSS.

The PCI DSS states that the first step in the compliance process is to validate cardholder data flows and storage areas to accurately determine the systems that are in scope for PCI compliance. Cardholder data may not be stored in a readable format, so being able to identify storage locations of cardholder data is key.

Configuration & Features

Nessus now supports the following:

 

  • Cross-platform support including Red Hat/CentOS, SunOS, AIX, HP-UX, Mac OS X, BSD
  • LUHN support - LUHN is the formula used to determine if a credit card number if valid or not. Credit cards numbers not verified by the LUHN algorithm are typically not of interest, so Nessus can now ignore non-valid credit card numbers.
  • Current checks support file types of PDF, DOC, XLS, and more. This list is customizable by the Nessus user.

 

In order to run a scan for sensitive data against UNIX and Linux targets, you will need the following:

  • Root-level privileges on the remote host and SSH access to the targets (for instructions on setting up credentialed scanning, please refer to the document Nessus Credential Checks for Unix and Windows).
  • Activation of Plugin ID #72095 (Unix File Contents Compliance Checks).
  • One (or more) of the new audit files in the new UNIX/Linux Sensitive Content Audit category", which can be downloaded from the Tenable Support Portal.
  • New Feature: Optionally, you are able to turn on/off the setting to check for a valid LUHN test. Setting the LUHN value in the audit file to “YES” tells Nessus to only report credit card numbers that are LUHN verified. LUHN checking is also now available in the Windows Sensitive Content Auditing checks.

The results for the new UNIX sensitive content auditing checks, specifically looking for cardholder data, are as follows (click for a larger image and to see both a passed and failed result):

passed find luhn verified valid visa credit card numbers

Click for larger image

failed find luhn verified valid visa credit card numbers

Click for larger image

Checking for PII (Personal Identifiable Information)

Many organizations face challenges when they are required they store and protect PII such as Social Security Numbers. Several US states have put laws in place to help safeguard this information. Despite these regulations, breaches involving Social Security Numbers are still occurring, including a large one last month where 50,000 full and partial SSNs were stolen as a result of a breach at Arkansas State University. Continuously monitoring your systems for the presence of PII, such as Social Security Numbers, is important and Nessus can be used to discover such cases, as shown below:

Failed File contains a US SSN

Click for larger image

For more information about this feature, please refer to the Tenable Discussions Forum entry that contains more technical details about the checks themselves. Tenable customers can go to the Tenable Support Portal and download the new audit file, which can be implemented in all Nessus and SecurityCenter products.

Related Articles

Are You Vulnerable to the Latest Exploits?

Enter your email to receive the latest cyber exposure alerts in your inbox.

tenable.io

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy.

Your Tenable.io Vulnerability Management trial also includes Tenable Lumin, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

tenable.io BUY

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

65 assets

Choose Your Subscription Option:

Buy Now

Try Nessus Professional Free

FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Nessus® is the most comprehensive vulnerability scanner on the market today.

NEW - Nessus Expert Now Available

Nessus Expert adds even more features, including external attack surface scanning, and the ability to add domains and scan cloud infrastructure. Click here to Try Nessus Expert.

Fill out the form below to continue with a Nessus Professional Trial.

Buy Nessus Professional

Nessus® is the most comprehensive vulnerability scanner on the market today. Nessus Professional will help automate the vulnerability scanning process, save time in your compliance cycles and allow you to engage your IT team.

Buy a multi-year license and save. Add Advanced Support for access to phone, community and chat support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Select Your License

Buy a multi-year license and save.

Add Support and Training

Tenable.io

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy.

Your Tenable.io Vulnerability Management trial also includes Tenable Lumin, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Tenable.io BUY

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

65 assets

Choose Your Subscription Option:

Buy Now

Try Tenable.io Web Application Scanning

Enjoy full access to our latest web application scanning offering designed for modern applications as part of the Tenable.io platform. Safely scan your entire online portfolio for vulnerabilities with a high degree of accuracy without heavy manual effort or disruption to critical web applications. Sign up now.

Your Tenable Web Application Scanning trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable Lumin and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Buy Tenable.io Web Application Scanning

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

5 FQDNs

$3,578

Buy Now

Try Tenable.io Container Security

Enjoy full access to the only container security offering integrated into a vulnerability management platform. Monitor container images for vulnerabilities, malware and policy violations. Integrate with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) systems to support DevOps practices, strengthen security and support enterprise policy compliance.

Buy Tenable.io Container Security

Tenable.io Container Security seamlessly and securely enables DevOps processes by providing visibility into the security of container images – including vulnerabilities, malware and policy violations – through integration with the build process.

Try Tenable Lumin

Visualize and explore your Cyber Exposure, track risk reduction over time and benchmark against your peers with Tenable Lumin.

Your Tenable Lumin trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Buy Tenable Lumin

Contact a Sales Representative to see how Lumin can help you gain insight across your entire organization and manage cyber risk.

Try Tenable.cs

Enjoy full access to detect and fix cloud infrastructure misconfigurations and view runtime vulnerabilities. Sign up for your free trial now. To learn more about the trial process click here.

Your Tenable.cs Cloud Security trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable Lumin and Tenable.io Web Application Scanning.

Contact a Sales Rep to Buy Tenable.cs

Contact a Sales Representative to learn more about Tenable.cs Cloud Security and see how easy it is to onboard your cloud accounts and get visibility into both cloud misconfigurations and vulnerabilities within minutes.

Try Nessus Expert Free

FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Built for the modern attack surface, Nessus Expert enables you to see more and protect your organization from vulnerabilities from IT to the cloud.

Already have Nessus Professional?
Upgrade to Nessus Expert free for 7 days.

Buy Nessus Expert

Built for the modern attack surface, Nessus Expert enables you to see more and protect your organization from vulnerabilities from IT to the cloud.

Select Your License

Buy a multi-year license and save more.

Add Support and Training