Re: Oh Dear, Where to start?!

[Patrick Boucher <pboucher () gardienvirtuel com>]

Greetings,

 Well,  I've been in your situation.  And it should not be a very 
difficult task. First of all you want to know what kind of level of 
Security your Org need.

First i'll check the Ciritical applications..
- Are they in a DMZ
- Are they securely configured and installed.
- Do a Backup in case something goes wrong while you work on it.

Then i would check the firewall Config. On the Nat they may be ipchains 
or iptables config..  (If it's a linux)
After, make sure everybody have an Anti-Virus installed on their computer

After that I would start writing a Security policies..  and teach theses 
policities to the End User (make sure Upper management support you for 
that, If they don't approve or even follow your guide line nobody will)

But the very first step is, do you have anything critical ? (If the 
compagnie is a 5 persons with a Dlink Di-704 and ADSL) With no Server, 1 
printer.. then All you need is a Anti-virus.

Patrick



Steve Frank wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> Ok... I am in a bit of a jam here and I was hoping to
> get some feedback from some of you with appropriate
> experience in the field of network security and policy
> development.
>
> I am an senior at RIT studying (essentially) systems
> administration. My main focus and priority has been
> computer security and policy development. I recently
> took a internship with a small government office
> helping out with computer administration tasks. Upon
> arrival, I decided it would be fun to do a windows
> update to see what sort of things would come up for my
> PC. Low and behold, there were over 40 critical
> updates, driver updates, and recommended updates. 
>
> Right off the bat this triggered the feeling that
> there was absolutely no security or update plans in
> place at this particular organization. I quickly
> addressed the issue, and have been working to draft a
> comprehensive security policy and implement technical
> controls.
>
> What I need advice on is the following: If you were
> introduced to a mixed network (literally all versions
> of windows since 3.1 and mac systems) that have no
> updates, backups, or patches installed... connected to
> a network with only a basic NAT table and no other
> security... with not even anti-virus software
> enabled... with no user policies or disaster plans in
> place... with unprotected netbios shares everywhere...
> where would you start the process of building some
> sort of security solution?
>
> I mean, I've seen passwords on monitors, shared
> accounts, open public ports (even the wiring cabinet
> was unlocked in plain view of passbys to the
> building). I've been tasked with creating the security
> policies relating to internet use, network and phone
> use, passwords, physical security, backup/disaster
> plans, antivirus, incident response, email
> use/protection, and whatever else needs done. This
> wouldnt be so bad normally I guess, but there is
> virtually no budget allocated to help for this project
> and I have approximately 3 months to do it. To make
> matters worse, I am also responsible for systems
> admin, network admin, tech support, programming, and
> whatever other tasks may need to be done in the
> meantime.
>
> So basically, if you had to start from nothing, where
> would you start first? What would you consider to be
> the most important things to be implemented? I am
> literally working from ground zero here... heh!
>
> Thank so much in advance ;-)
>
> Steve Frank
>
> ----------------
> President SPARSA
> Security Practices and Research Student Association
> Rochester Institute of Technology
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
> http://sbc.yahoo.com
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Evaluating SSL VPNs' Consider NEOTERIS, chosen as leader by top analysts!
> The Gartner Group just put Neoteris in the top of its Magic Quadrant,
> while InStat has confirmed Neoteris as the leader in marketshare.
>     
> Find out why, and see how you can get plug-n-play secure remote access in
> about an hour, with no client, server changes, or ongoing maintenance.
>          
> Visit us at: http://www.neoteris.com/promos/sf-6-9.htm
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>  

--
Patrick Boucher
Tél.: (450) 967-1617
Télec.: (450) 967-2641




---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evaluating SSL VPNs' Consider NEOTERIS, chosen as leader by top analysts!
The Gartner Group just put Neoteris in the top of its Magic Quadrant,
while InStat has confirmed Neoteris as the leader in marketshare.
    
Find out why, and see how you can get plug-n-play secure remote access in
about an hour, with no client, server changes, or ongoing maintenance.
         
Visit us at: http://www.neoteris.com/promos/sf-6-9.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------