Tips

Tips

• One-time password tokens: Best practices for two-factor authentication

  In this tip, Joel Dubin examines how to physically secure one-time password tokens and how to properly implement them to provide effective two-factor authentication.  Continue Reading

• Ajax security: How to prevent exploits in five steps

  While Ajax can make your Web pages feel faster and more responsive, this Internet-based service, like many Web development tools, has its security concerns. In this tip, SearchSecurity.com expert Michael Cobb examines how Ajax works, how hackers can...  Continue Reading

• Interpreting and acting on Nmap scan results

  As we continue our series on Nmap in the enterprise, SearchSecurity expert contributor Michael Cobb explains how to run some of the more regular Nmap scans.  Continue Reading

• Mitigate botnets in five steps

  Don't let bots provide back door access to your computing environment. In this tip, Tony Bradley reveals the evolution of bot code, and strategies to mitigate the botnet threat.  Continue Reading

• Four ways to isolate sensitive servers

  When the security issue arises, a discussion of isolating a sensitive server usually follows. While often impractical, learn four ways to isolate sensitive servers if the need becomes a necessity.  Continue Reading

• Network access control: Compliance enabler or detractor?

  No one technology is a regulatory compliance cure-all, but network access control (NAC) does have its benefits. In this article from Identity and Access Management Security School, guest instructor Mike Rothman outlines the pros and cons of ...  Continue Reading

• Techniques for improving Nmap port scan times

  As we continue our series on using Nmap in the enterprise, SearchSecurity expert Michael Cobb provides commands that will help you adjust your Nmap scan times appropriately -- whether you want Nmap to run slow and quietly, fast and furious, or ...  Continue Reading

• Telecommuting security: Protecting sensitive data inside and out

  The rash of laptop thefts in recent months has brought telecommuting and remote access security to the forefront of many information security professionals' minds. In this tip, Joel Dubin examines the mistakes made in the VA data theft case and ...  Continue Reading

• CRLF injection attacks: How they work and what to do about them

  CRLF injection attacks may not be as popular as other application attacks, but they can be just as devastating. Learn how CRLF injection attacks are executed and how to defend your organization against these attacks.  Continue Reading

• Nmap: Firewall configuration testing

  This tip, in our Nmap manual series, explains how Nmap can be used to test the effectiveness of a firewall configuration. Learn how to use the open source network mapper to better understand how your firewall handles uninvited traffic and to test ...  Continue Reading

• Email filtering tools and techniques

  Email filtering tools help organizations enforce acceptable use policies, filtering office email and blocking personal email traveling over the corporate network. This tip introduces the two classes of email filtering tools and how to choose the one...  Continue Reading

• Utilizing Active Directory to automate provisioning

  This article focuses on utilizing Active Directory and Group Policy to automate provisioning.  Continue Reading

• Five freeware tools for mitigating network vulnerabilities

  From Nmap to Snort, there are a variety of viable freeware tools available for information security professionals. In this tip, Michael Cobb reviews five freeware tools and explains why he believes they are the best tools in their space.  Continue Reading

• Nmap: More port scanning techniques

  In this fifth tip in our Nmap manual, SearchSecurity.com expert Michael Cobb looks at some of the Nmap port scanning techniques that exploit certain idiosyncrasies of specific platforms or protocols in order to better differentiate between open and ...  Continue Reading

• How to configure a server to prevent unauthorized network access

  Learn from other security practitioners as they share ways to configure a network so unauthorized users cannot access files, folders and other sensitive information.  Continue Reading

• PIX firewall configuration from scratch

  Learn how to configure passwords, IP addresses, network address translation (NAT) and basic firewall rules in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Nmap: How to scan ports and services

  Nmap is the ideal tool for performing a simple network inventory or vulnerability assessment. This article offers tips on how to use a Nmap  Continue Reading

• FISMA essentials for information security practitioners

  This tip provides an overview of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and what information security professionals need to do in order to comply.  Continue Reading

• Blocking Web anonymizers in the enterprise

  As Internet privacy concerns continue to proliferate, so does the use of Web anonymizers. While these tools can help you block employee access to certain Web sites, they are also beneficial in helping employees evade your efforts. In this tip, ...  Continue Reading

• Security concerns of extended schema in Active Directory

  The Active Directory default schema can be changed if needed. The presence of third-party products that do this can complicate the issue, especially when security is concerned.  Continue Reading

• An introduction to Active Directory Federation Services

  Brien M. Posey discusses key features of Microsofts's Active Directory Federation Services and how it works.  Continue Reading

• How to install and configure Nmap on Linux

  Get tips on how to install and configure Nmap on Linux in an enterprise network environment.  Continue Reading

• Preventing blind SQL injection attacks

  Most security professionals know what SQL injection attacks are and how to protect their Web applications against them. But, they may not know that their preventative measures may be leaving their applications open to blind SQL injection attacks. ...  Continue Reading

• Out-of-office messages: A security hazard?

  Automatically generated out-of-office messages, like the kind created by Microsoft Outlook, have come under scrutiny as a possible security hazard for a number of reasons. Should organizations prohibit the use of out-of-office messages? Serdar ...  Continue Reading

• Extranet security strategy considerations

  Extranets can be beneficial for conducting e-commerce, but if they aren't properly secured, they can pose serious risks to you, your business partners and customers. In this tip, our network security expert, Mike Chapple, provides four tactics for ...  Continue Reading

• IIS security: Configure Web server permissions for better access control

  Updating user access controls as business portfolios expand can help protect confidential data. Learn how to secure user access controls and keep your greatest asset under lock and key by configuring IIS Web server permissions, in this tip by ...  Continue Reading

• How to install and configure Nmap for Windows

  In this second installment of our Nmap Technical Manual, SearchSecurity expert Michael Cobb offers pointers on how to install and configure Nmap for Windows.  Continue Reading

• Skype: Its dangers and how to protect against them

  Skype may be free for end users but it could be costing your enterprise its security. This tip outlines the free VoIP solution's security risks and offers tips for keeping Skype off of the network.  Continue Reading

• Nmap: A valuable open source tool for network security

  Open source tool Nmap is a popular choice amongst hackers and security pros alike for network mapping, port-scanning and testing for network vulnerabilities.  Continue Reading

• NetChk Protect 5.5

  Information Security magazine's contributing editor, Wayne Rash , reviews Shavlik Technologies NetChk Protect 5.5  Continue Reading

• HTTP attacks: Strategies for prevention

  Examine how hackers manipulate HTTP requests to solicit an attack, and learn various guidelines developers should follow to mitigate this threat.  Continue Reading

• Achieving network security with tomorrow's antivirus tools

  Learn about antivirus from an intelligence/technology perspective and offers best practices for simple file-type blocking, and the implementation of heuristic- and reputation-based antivirus tools.  Continue Reading

• The key technologies in a network perimeter intrusion defense strategy

  This article lays the groundwork for future discussions of intrusion defense. Joel Snyder introduces technologies that act as strong network perimeter defenses.  Continue Reading

• Pen testing your VPN

  Your VPN is a vital gateway into your network for your company's road warriors, telecommuters and other remote users. Unfortunately, it's also a gateway for the less-than-scrupulous predators prowling the Internet for access to your network. This ...  Continue Reading

• How to implement an effective risk management team

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris describes the roles and responsibilities of an information risk management team.  Continue Reading

• Information risk management: Defining the scope, methodology and tools

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris explains the importance of defining the scope of the IRM team's responsibilities, the difference between qualitative and quantitative risk analysis and the tools used to carry out risk ...  Continue Reading

• How to deal with risk

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris explains the four ways to deal with identified risk: transfer it, avoid it, reduce it or accept it.  Continue Reading

• How to conduct a risk analysis

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris provides step-by-step instructions on conducting a risk analysis.  Continue Reading

• How to define an acceptable level of risk

  Even though management is responsible for defining an organization's acceptable level of risk, the security practitioner should understand the process and be able to illustrate to management how underlining security threats can negatively affect ...  Continue Reading

• Understanding risk

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, contributor Shon Harris explains what risk is and clarifies the differences between risk and vulnerability management.  Continue Reading

• Biometrics: Best practices, future trends

  Biometrics products are improving, but they still require careful consideration and planning before implementation. In this tip, ID and access management expert Joel Dubin reviews some best practices and pitfalls to watch out for.  Continue Reading

• How to write an information risk management policy

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris describes the contents of a risk management policy and provides a sample policy template.  Continue Reading

• Defining adequate security controls

  Because of the changing nature of technology, the language in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is purposefully vague. This article explores the meaning of adequate security controls and what is required for SOX compliance.  Continue Reading

• Designing a DMZ using iptables

  In this tip, excerpted from ITKnowledge Exchange, security practitioners share strategies used to design a demilitarized zone using iptables.  Continue Reading

• Ten dos and don'ts for secure coding

  Security practitioners should understand how developers introduce security vulnerabilities into applications and work to support the developers in improving code quality and security. Encouragement and support for improvement must be a fundamental ...  Continue Reading

• Best practices for pen testing Web applications

  Performing a Web application penetration test can gauge how well your Web application can withstand an attack. In this tip, platform security expert Michael Cobb provides best practices for performing Web application pen test.  Continue Reading

• Protect your business from a Google hack

  Learn how to use advanced operators, special searching techniques offered by Google that enable advanced queries, to discover if your company's sensitive security information is exposed on the Internet before a black hat does. This tip offers a ...  Continue Reading

• What's new in the revision of ISO 17799

  SearchSecurity expert Michael Cobb outlines the latest changes to the ISO 17799 standard.  Continue Reading

• Automate SQL injection testing

  Manual testing for SQL injection requires much effort with little guarantee that you'll find every vulnerability. Instead, run automated SQL injection tests. In this tip, security guru Kevin Beaver shows you how.  Continue Reading

• Checklist: 11 things to do after a hack

  Your network's been cracked, what do you do next? Contributor Jonathan Hassell recommends following these eleven steps to limit damage and preserve evidence.  Continue Reading

• Cheat sheet: Access management solutions and their pros and cons

  A cheat sheet of the most common access solutions with a brief description, and their risks and pros and cons to help you choose the solution that is right for your organization.  Continue Reading

• Simplifying Nessus security scans with a spreadsheet model

  In this tip, expert George Wrenn explains how to divide networks into small, manageable IP spaces and maintain Nessus data with a spreadsheet model.  Continue Reading

• Nessus vulnerability assessment with the SANS Top 20

  Using the SANS Top 20 in conjunction with Nessus can help you eliminate exposures that give unauthorized privileged access to vulnerable hosts.  Continue Reading

• Secure data transmission methods

  The main purpose of this tip is to explore secure data transmission options that are available to help meet regulatory and legal requirements.  Continue Reading

• An overview of the risk management process

  In this installment of the Risk Management Guide, Shon Harris provides a 10,000-foot view of the risk management process.  Continue Reading

• How to use IPsec filtering rules to filter network traffic

  Learn how to control what enters and exits your PCs by using IPsec filtering rules to filter particular protocol and port combinations for both inbound and outbound network traffic.  Continue Reading

• RSS: The next malware target?

  A recent report from Trend Micro names RSS as the next likely target for bot worm attacks and predicts feed hijackings will be prevalent with the release of IE 7. In this tip, security expert Mike Chapple explains how RSS could be exploited, and ...  Continue Reading

• Why form fields aren't a good place to hide sensitive information

  Web security guru Michael Cobb, takes an in-depth look at the dangers of HIDDEN form fields, how attackers use them to gain unauthorized entry or hijack sessions, and most importantly, how to secure the information sent in these fields.  Continue Reading

• The 5 A's of functional SAN security

  This tip examines why admins should follow the 5 A's of SAN security: Authentication, access, audits, alarms and availability, to keep their SAN secure.  Continue Reading

• Service-level agreement advantages and disadvantages

  Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of service-level agreements.  Continue Reading

• How to prevent phishing scams and protect customers

  In this tip, Web security guru, Nalneesh Gaur examines how hackers are using phishing scams to exploit financial sectors of the industry, why you should care and what you can do to prevent these attacks.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for managing secure Web server configurations

  In this tip, Michael Cobb, our Web security guru takes an in-depth look at ways to manage securing configurations of multiple Web servers. He explains the process from frequency to documentation and replication.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of migrating to Firefox

  Making the switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox isn't a security cure-all. Here are some factors to consider before you change Web browsers.  Continue Reading

• Educate users about security awareness

  User education is one of the hardest security layers for administrators to implement. This article by contributor Tony Bradley provides the top ten things users should know about information security.  Continue Reading

• Using attack responses to improve intrusion detection

  IPSes must detect an attack as it comes into the network; however, IDSes have the advantage of identifying an intrusion based on incoming our outgoing network traffic.  Continue Reading

• Block and reroute denial-of-service attacks

  Prevent denial-of-service and distributed denial-of-service attacks from taking down your network by blocking and rerouting DDoS and DoS traffic using honeypots, subnets and intrusion detection and prevention systems.  Continue Reading

• Securing Web apps against authenticated users

  Improve Web site security by securing Web applications from authenticated users and avoiding client-side authentication.  Continue Reading

• IPsec and SSL VPNs: Solving remote access problems

  Learn how to solve remote access problems in this Information Security Decisions presentation by security expert Joel Snyder.  Continue Reading

• How to secure session tokens

  Dos and don'ts for protecting session IDs for users of e-commerce Web sites.  Continue Reading

• How to build a secure network from the ground up

  Receive peer advice on what steps are crucial when building a secure network from the ground up. Also learn what resources are available to guide you through this process.  Continue Reading

• Protect your Web site against path traversal attacks

  How to protect your Web site against path traversal attacks.  Continue Reading

• Auditing firewall activity

  This Firewall Architecture Tutorial tip shows how completing a firewall audit of activity can help in the management of valuable firewall data.  Continue Reading

• How to choose a firewall

  Despite the development and evolution of security technologies, the firewall remains a vital component of any network architecture, and today's organizations have myriad options to choose from. This tip outlines five basic questions you should ask ...  Continue Reading

• Placing systems in a firewall topology

  In this Firewall Architecture Tutorial tip, you will learn a firewall topology for placing firewall systems, such as bastion host, screened subnet and multi-homed firewalls.  Continue Reading

• Firewall Architecture Tutorial

  In this Firewall Architecture Tutorial you will learn all aspects of firewall implementation such as how to choose the right type of firewall for your organization, how to choose a firewall topology and how to audit firewall activity.  Continue Reading

• Choosing the right firewall topology: Bastion host, screened subnet or dual firewalls

  An overview of the three most common firewall topologies, including diagrams of a bastion host, screened subnet and dual firewall architectures.  Continue Reading

• How to prevent the risks of client-side caching

  Problems of client-side caching and tips for developers on using secure cache-control directives.  Continue Reading

• How to write an RFP

  The principles of Six Sigma can be applied to the process of writing a request for proposal.  Continue Reading

• Sizing up e-mail appliances

  Information Security magazine tests four e-mail appliances designed to clear the way for safe messaging. Here's how they measured up.  Continue Reading

• Hercules 4.0 Enterprise Vulnerability Management Suite

  Information Security magazine's contributing editor, James C. Foster , reviews Hercules 4.0 Enterprise Vulnerability Management Suite from Citadel Security Software.  Continue Reading

• SMTP policies help reduce the risk of unauthorized mail servers

  SMTP policies can help protect systems from rogue e-mail servers that clog the network with viruses, malware and spam.  Continue Reading

• Using secure MIME (S/MIME) for securing email

  Secure MIME (S/MIME) and digital certificates offer channel professionals a low-cost way to improve their customers' email security. This tip explains how to implement S/MIME and digital certificates for email encryption.  Continue Reading

• Step-by-Step Guide: Best practices for security patch management

  This step-by-step guide offers best practices on how to deploy a security patch and provides the tools you will need to mitigate the risk of a compromised computer.  Continue Reading

• Security patch testing and deployment phase

  Learn what conditions should be met in the security patch testing phase prior to deployment. Also learn how to deploy a security patch and what methods, tools to use to ensure a predicable rollout.  Continue Reading

• Security patch validation and verification

  Learn about the verification and review phase of the security patch deployment cycle. Learn how these phases help ensure the organizations security patch management procedure is proactive.  Continue Reading

• Web security benchmarks

  Learn how to increase your security posture and what resources are available to security admininstrators who want to quickly ramp up their posture of their protected systems.  Continue Reading

• Security awareness training: How to educate employees about spyware

  Educated end users are a valuable defense in the fight against spyware. Learn how to conduct effective security awareness training and create spyware policies.  Continue Reading

• Acceptable use policies will minimize email risks

  Learn why setting comprehensive email acceptable use policies can help minimize email risks and secure your email applications.  Continue Reading

• Improper error handling

  This tip explains what improper error handling is, how it leads to a variety of application attacks, and what programmers can do to secure their Web applications.  Continue Reading

• Avoid the hazards of unvalidated Web application input

  Learn how unvalidate Web application input works and what programmers can do to secure their Web applications.  Continue Reading

• Phishing: The business risks and strategies for mitigating them

  Understand the business risks posed by phishing attacks and strategies for mitigating them.  Continue Reading

• How to perform a bug sweep

  Learn why many corporations have started to perform bug sweeps or Technical Security Counter Measure (TSCM) operations, and five basic technologies used by TSCM operators.  Continue Reading

• IIS vs. Apache: Which is the right security choice?

  From vulnerabilities to administrator and developer skills, this tip analyzes the risks and benefits to weigh when selecting the right Web server for your organization.  Continue Reading

• Technical college vs. university

  Get peer advice on the pros and cons of attending a technical college vs. a university.  Continue Reading

• Using TLS encryption

  Learn how the TLS protocol can help add an extra layer of security to your e-mail infrastructure, and five steps to implementing TLS on your server.  Continue Reading

• A five-point strategy for secure remote access

  Systems with remote access are not only more difficult to secure, they pose a greater risk to the network than systems that sit behind the corporate firewall. Here are best practices for securing remote access endpoints.  Continue Reading

• How to detect and prevent keylogger attacks

  Learn five tactics for protecting your systems against keylogger attacks.  Continue Reading

• How to limit false positives in IPSes

  Learn five tactics for reducing false positives in intrusion-prevention systems.  Continue Reading

• How to reduce spim

  Learn three tips for reducing unsolicited instant messages.  Continue Reading

• Get ready for IPv6: Five security issues to consider

  Learn about the potential hazards of migrating to IPv6 and how to ensure a smooth transition without jeopardizing your company's security.  Continue Reading