Host Hardening. OS Vulnerability test. CERT Report on systems vulnerabilities. (March 21, 2011)

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1 Host Hardening (March 21, 2011) Abdou Illia Spring 2011 CERT Report on systems vulnerabilities Source: CERT 2 OS Vulnerability test Source: y_summary OS market share for 2006 OS tested: Win XP, Win Server 2003, Win Vista Ultimate, Mac OS Classic, OS X 10.4 Server, OS X 10.4 Tiger FreeBSD 6.2, Solaris 10, Fedora Core 6, Slackware 11.0, Suse Enterprise 10, Ubuntu 6.10 Tools used to test vulnerabilities: Scanning tools (Track, Nessus) Network mapping (Nmap command) 3 1

2 Your knowledge about Host hardening Today, how long it will take for a hacker to own a server with OS installation defaults that is connected to the Internet? a) A week b) A day or two c) Two weeks What needs to be done, first, in order to prevent a hacker from taking over a server with OS installation defaults that has to be connected to the Internet? a) Lock the server room b) Configure the firewall to deny all inbound traffic to the server c) Download and install patches for known vulnerabilities 4 Your knowledge about Host hardening You performed an Out-of-the-box installation of Windows XP and Linux FreeBSD 6.2 on two different computers. Which computer is more likely to be secure? a) Windows XP b) Linux FreeBSD 6.2 c) They will have the same level of security 5 What is Hardening Host Computers? A series of actions to be taken in order to make it hard for an attacker to successfully attack computers in a network environment Because it s easy to overlook something in the hardening process, businesses need to adopt a standard hardening methodology or a standard security baseline Need to have different security baseline for different kind of host; i.e. Different security baselines for different OS and versions Different security baselines for different types of servers (web servers, mail servers, etc.) and applications 6 2

3 Security Baseline Organization could use different standards OS vendors baselines and tools e.g. Follow MS Installation procedure and use Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Standards Agencies baselines e.g. CobiT* Security Baseline Company s own security baselines Security Baseline to be implemented by Server administrators known as systems admin * Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology 7 Elements of Hardening Physical security Secure installation and configuration Fix known vulnerabilities Remove/Turn off unnecessary services (applications) Harden all remaining applications Manage users and groups Manage access permissions For individual files and directories, assign access permissions to specific users and groups Back up the server regularly Advanced protections A c c o r d i n g t o b a s e l i n e 8 Example of Security Baseline for Win XP Clients OS Installation Create a single partition on HDD Format disk using NTFS file system Install Win XP and Service Pack 3 Fixing OS vulnerabilities Download and install latest patches Turn on Windows Automatic Updates checking Configure Windows Firewall Block incoming connections except KeyAccess and Remote Assistance Turn off unnecessary services Turn off Alerter, Network Dynamic Data Exchange, telnet Application Installation Centrally assign applications using group policies Fixing applications vulnerabilities Turn on each application s automatic update checking 9 3

4 Hardening servers Be aware of the 5 P s of security and compliance Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance Plan the installation Identify The purpose of the server. Example: provides easy & fast access to Internet services The services provided on the server Network service software (client and server) The users or types of users of the server Determine Privileges for each category of users If and how users will authenticate How appropriate access rights will be enforced Which OS and server applications meet the requirements The security baseline(s) for installation & deployment Install, configure, and secure the OS according to the security baseline Install, configure, and secure server software according to sec. baseline Test the security Add network defenses Monitor and Maintain 10 Hardening servers (cont.) Choose the OS that provides the following: Ability to restrict admin access (Administrator vs. Administrators) Granular control of data access Ability to disable services Ability to control executables Ability to log activities Host-based firewall Support for strong authentication and encryption Disable or remove unnecessary services or applications Remove rather than disable to prevent re-enabling Additional services increases the attack vector More services can increase host load and decrease performance Reducing services reduces logs and makes detection of intrusion easier 11 Hardening servers (cont.) Configure user authentication Remove or disable unnecessary accounts (e.g. Guest account) Change names and passwords for default accounts Disable inactive accounts Assign rights to groups not individual users Don't permit shared accounts if possible Configure time sync Enforce appropriate password policy Use 2-factor authentication when necessary Always use encrypted authentication 12 4

5 Windows Hardening Most Windows hardening done using Graphical User Interface 13 Windows Hardening Turning services and applications on/off in Windows 14 Q: Reducing services can increase host load and decrease performance: T F Windows Hardening Domain configuration and directory service needed for central security setting Windows 2000 introduced hierarchical domain structure with Active Directory Domain is a collection of resources Domain contains one or more domain controllers, member servers, client PCs Group policy objects (GPOs) on a domain controller can implement security policies throughout a domain 15 5

6 UNIX / Linux Hardening Many versions of UNIX No standards guideline for hardening User can select the user interface Graphic User Interface (GUI) Command-Line Interfaces (CLIs) or shells CLIs are case-sensitive with commands in lowercase except for file names 16 UNIX / Linux Hardening Three ways to start services inetd program used to start services when requests come in from users rc scripts to start services automatically at boot up Start a service manually by typing its name or executing a batch file that does so Inetd = Internet daemon; i.e. a computer program that runs in the background 17 UNIX / Linux Hardening Starting services upon client requests Services not frequently used are dormant Requests do not go directly to the service Requests are sent to the inetd program which is started at server boot up Program A Program B Program C Program D 4. Start and Process This Request inetd 3. Program C 2. Port Client Request To Port 123 Port 23 Program A Port 80 Program B Port 123 Program C Port 1510 Program D /etc/inetd.config 18 6

7 UNIX / Linux Hardening Turning On/Off unnecessary Services In UNIX Identifying services running at any moment ps command (processor status), usually with aux parameters, lists running programs Shows process name and process ID (PID) netstat tells what services are running on what ports Turning Off Services In UNIX kill PID command is used to kill a particular process kill 47 (If PID=47) Q: You kill some services but see that they are running again the next day. Explain why? 19 Advanced Server Hardening Techniques Need to read Event Logs to diagnose problems Failed logins, changing permissions, starting programs, kernel messages, etc. 20 Advanced Server Hardening Techniques File Encryption Protects files even if attacker breaks in Key escrow: Copy of encryption key is kept elsewhere to protect in case of key loss Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) Select file in Windows Explorer, select Properties Click on General tab s Advanced button Click on the box Encrypt contents to secure data 21 7

8 Advanced Server Hardening Techniques File Integrity Checker Creates snapshot of files: a hashed signature (message digest) for each file After an attack, compares post-hack signature with snapshot This allows systems administrator to determine which files were changed Tripwire is a file integrity checker for Linux/UNIX, Windows, etc.: (ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix) 22 Advanced Server Hardening Techniques Reference Base 1. Earlier Time File 1 File 2 Other Files in Policy List Tripwire File 1 Signature File 2 Signature 2. After Attack File 1 File 2 Other Files in Policy List 3. Comparison to Find Changed Files Tripwire Post-Attack Signatures File 1 Signature File 2 Signature File Integrity problem: many files change for legitimate reasons. So it is difficult to know which ones the attacker changed. 23 Other types of host that can be Hardened Internetwork Operating System (IOS) For Cisco Routers, Some Switches, Firewalls Even cable modems with web-based management interfaces 24 8