RE: Caching a sniffer

["Andrew Shore" <andrew.shore () holistecs com>]

Agreed, switches can be made to give up secrets, however, as I have sub
sequentially pointed out if ARP/CAM table poisoning is used switches
will report moving mac address problems to their management tools and
hence you will be able to determine where the sniffer is plugged.

A simple syslog monitoring tool will give you this information.

Any medium to large organisation should be using manageable network
devices (rather than the cheap un-manged small type) and all of these
(to my knowledge) support at least syslog free out of the box. A simple
Linux server will then collect any data, and every company has an old PC
they can acquire for this purpose. 

Just trying to help :)

 
Andrew Shore
Senior Security Specialist
DDI. 01302 308 165
andrew.shore () holistecs com
 
 
 
Company Number 04943010
VAT Number 828 8635 82
 
 
Holistic Technologies Ltd
Unit 7 Shaw Wood Business Park
Shaw Wood Way
Doncaster
South Yorkshire
DN2 5TB
T. 0870 240 1442
F. 0870 240 1443
www.holistecs.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Jackson [mailto:sjackson () horizonusa com] 
Sent: 25 March 2004 16:37
To: Andrew Shore; Patrick Toomey
Cc: security-basics () securityfocus com; ksaenz () spinaweb com au;
gillettdavid () fhda edu
Subject: RE: Caching a sniffer

> A switch is not a hub/router. In fact it is a micro segmented bridge.

It's nice I get so much attention, you all sure know how to make a man
feel 
wanted :-). Now let the rebuttal begin.

As my response to Fernando, which hopefully will get posted to the list
soon 
then this message, states that switches have numerous functionality and 
systems that operate at higher layers of the OSI model then just 2. As
with 
most network connected devices they need to have functionality on other
layers 
besides the one where their core functionality resides. Case in point,
bridges 
merely forward traffic destined to address on other interfaces, limiting
broadcast 
in each segment, this is the core functionality of a switch. I will
retract my 
earlier statement in place of this one which better suites the core
functionality 
of the switch, in this case you guys win.

With that stated, switches can make decisions on traffic based on IP 
information which resides at the Network layer (layer 3) of the OSI
model, as 
opposed to MAC address information which resides at the Data-Link layer 
(layer 2) of the OSI model. Most switches provide IGMP functionality for
systems 
to announce they multicast group membership, which is all layer 3 data.
Some 
switches allow you to set ACL's or security based on IP information, not
just 
MAC or layer 2 information. Some switch can also make routing or 
'gateway of last resort' decisions.

> A switch operates at layer 2 of the OSI model i.e. MAC address layer. 

Layer 2 of the OSI model is the Data Link layer. LLC and MAC are logical
parts 
of that layer and not layers themselves.


> Therefore if someone has plugged a scanner into a network point they
will not be 
> able to sniff any useful information from the network unless that
person has admin 
> access to the switch. You can check this by ensuring that none of the
ports on the 
> switches are in span mode

Through ARP poising, brought up by David, and MacOf which I mentioned
allow people 
to sniff traffic on a switched network. You don't need to be using SPAN
to sniff 
traffic, that just the way us admins do it.

Shawn Jackson
Systems Administrator
Horizon USA
1190 Trademark Dr #107
Reno NV 89521

www.horizonusa.com
Email: sjackson () horizonusa com
Phone: (775) 858-2338
       (800) 325-1199 x338




---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethical Hacking at the InfoSec Institute. Mention this ad and get $545 off
any course! All of our class sizes are guaranteed to be 10 students or less
to facilitate one-on-one interaction with one of our expert instructors.
Attend a course taught by an expert instructor with years of in-the-field
pen testing experience in our state of the art hacking lab. Master the skills
of an Ethical Hacker to better assess the security of your organization.
Visit us at:
http://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/ethical_hacking_training.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------