Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: The value of 'least privilege'
From: Matthew Wollenweber <mjw () CYBERWART COM>
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:36:15 -0400
I'd add to this, "how long does it take your security staff to determine if a host is compromised?" If the answer is longer than to image the machine, then admin restrictions don't necessarily improve security that much. Most users seem to be downloading fake AV, fake movies, and malicious PDFs. If you see them downloading malware, can you ignore the alerts and trust the the lack of admin access stopped the malware? The only caveat I'd mention is that if users are generally frustrated that they can't download things, they might accept less malware downloads. On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 10:46 AM, randy marchany <marchany () vt edu> wrote:
While I agree that limiting administrative rights is a good thing, sites need to answer accurately the following questions: 1. How long does it take your IT staff to install software that an end user needs? 2. How long does it take your IT staff to check such software for security issues? Presumably, this is the real reason why end user aren't allowed to install software. If your IT staff doesn't check software for security issues, they can make the same mistake. Do your admins even check for security problems with vendor software? I suspect it's not a thorough check. If the answers to the above questions are "long" and an end user needs the software ASAP (who doesn't?), then the end user will find ways to bypass this restriction in order to get the job done. Having a timely software installation process is critical to the success of this security solution. No sysadmin can anticipate what software is needed at any given point in time. I'm curious to see what the answers are to the above questions. My informal survey answers range from 1 day (ok) to 2 weeks (not ok). -Randy Marchany VA Tech IT Security Office
-- Matthew Wollenweber mjw () cyberwart com 240-753-0281
Current thread:
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Dexter Caldwell (Mar 30)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- The value of 'least privilege' Allison Dolan (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Mike Hanson (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' randy marchany (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Eric Case (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Basgen, Brian (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Eric Case (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Sarazen, Daniel (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Jeffrey I. Schiller (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Matthew Wollenweber (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Howe, Joe (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' Steve Werby (Mar 30)
- Re: The value of 'least privilege' randy marchany (Mar 30)