Re: password audit help

[Nikhil Wagholikar <visitnikhil () gmail com>]

Dear Jude,

Every security standard in IT today includes a requirement for "Strong
Passwords". The very common standard of all, ISO 27001:2005, controls
11.3.1 and 11.5.3 mentions the use of quality passwords. This should
be enough for getting approval from management for conducting password
audits.

1. To further strong your case for getting management approvals for
conducting password audits is - even if Administrators set strong
password policy on OS/systems, still passwords like 'Password@123',
'admin#4321', 'myorgname123' also fit the strong password criteria,
however in actual, they are not really difficult to crack/discover by
hackers using simple tools freely available on Internet.

2. As I mentioned, there are lot of free tools available on Internet.
Few of them which I tried and gave best results were 'John the Ripper'
and 'Ophcrack'. More Info:

John the Ripper: http://www.openwall.com/john/
Ophcrack: http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/

There are lot more tools out there on Internet for password cracking.

3. The best way to report your finding is by achieving your objective
of password audit. Possible suggestions could be:

a. Try highlighting weak passwords of OS/Network device administrators
first, since they are the privileged users and have unlimited access
on various systems within the organization.

b. Highlighting weak passwords of higher management, since data on
their workstations/laptops/system or on Fileserver is more
confidential and sensitive.

c. Highlighting weak passwords of normal users, who are using day to
day data of organization for further processing.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
---
Nikhil Wagholikar

On 13 May 2011 20:36, Jude Nicholas <wyfr1972 () gmail com> wrote:
> Hi all:
>
> I wish to conduct a password audit for all the networked devices in my
> company. We have abt 70 Windows servers, 500 desktops, a few Solaris &
> Linux machines, lots of networked printers, switches and perimeter
> devices. I would like useful tips on:
>
> 1. What's the best way to get management approval for this?  Are there
> any accepted standards or methodologies that I can use to help me get
> management approval, as well as to conduct the audit itself?
>
> 2. There are lots of tools that I can use for this. Are there any that
> *stand out* that can perform pwd checks across various platforms &
> OSes?
>
> 3. What's the best way to report my findings?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help...
>
> Wyfr.
>
> --
> 123 wyfr1972 321
>
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Securing Apache Web Server with thawte Digital Certificate
In this guide we examine the importance of Apache-SSL and who needs an SSL certificate.  We look at how SSL works, how 
it benefits your company and how your customers can tell if a site is secure. You will find out how to test, purchase, 
install and use a thawte Digital Certificate on your Apache web server. Throughout, best practices for set-up are 
highlighted to help you ensure efficient ongoing management of your encryption keys and digital certificates.

http://www.dinclinx.com/Redirect.aspx?36;4175;25;1371;0;5;946;e13b6be442f727d1
------------------------------------------------------------------------