Re: Need Some Guidance Please

[Daniel Clemens <daniel.clemens () packetninjas net>]

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On Apr 17, 2009, at 11:35 PM, Jeffrey Walton wrote:

> This can get you in trouble. I've been part of many incidences where
> alarms start going off (literally - What's Up Gold and NetIQ) in the
> NOC because the Security Team was testing without informing anyone.
> The result is that someone higher up on the food chain gets very
> irritated because the NOC team had to report downtime on servers.

So the servers aren't patched or reliable enough to withstand a scan?  
Sounds like something you might want to know about incase it was a  
real attack.
Sounds like the _assessment_ is working and showing flaws in your  
architecture.


> And
> it only gets worst when Domain Controllers are forced to reboot
> because a test 'got away' from the Security team. I was also part of a
> database recovery because a server was rebooted due to a penetration
> test. Again, no one was informed, the DBA did not have an up to date
> backup, and the instantaneous reboot corrupted the database.

Hackers rarely inform sysadmin of their intentions.

> In the end, nearly anyone can acquire and use the tools.

True people can use acquire tools. But the people who drive those  
tools make the difference.
We have thousands of people in the world that drive cars, but only few  
of them drive race cars for a living.
A good pentester doesn't just use all the tools, he knows where  
certain configuration and implementation flaws will crop up and how he  
can leverage them to his or her advantage.

| Daniel Uriah Clemens
| Packetninjas L.L.C | | http://www.packetninjas.net
| c. 205.567.6850
"Moments of sorrow are moments of sobriety"










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