Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Baselines
Chapter 14
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Objectives
• Harden operating systems and network
operating systems.
• Harden applications.
• Establish group policies.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Key Terms
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Application hardening
Baseline
Baselining
Firmware update
Globally unique identifier (GUID)
Group policy
Group policy object (GPO)
Hardening
Hotfix
Network operating system (NOS)
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Key Terms (continued)
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Operating system (OS)
Patch
Patch management
Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
Process identifier (PID)
Run levels
Security template
Service pack
Shadow file
TCP wrappers
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Overview of Baselines
• The process of establishing a system’s security
state is called baselining.
• The resulting product is a security baseline that
allows the system to run safely and securely.
• Once the process has been completed, any similar
systems can be configured with the same baseline
to achieve the same level of security and protection.
• Uniform baselines are critical in large-scale
operations.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Password Selection
• The heart of the problem is that most systems today
are protected only by a simple user ID and
password.
• Selecting a good password for all user accounts is
critical to protecting information systems.
• This is especially true for servers.
• Compromise of a server can mean access to multiple user
passwords.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Operating System and Network
Operating System Hardening
• Common hardening tasks:
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Disabling unnecessary services
Restricting permissions on files and directories
Removing unnecessary software
Applying patches
Removing unnecessary users
Applying password guidelines
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Windows Server 2003
• IIS 6 isolates individual web applications.
• 19 services running under Windows 2000 by
default were disabled under Server 2003.
• Two new service accounts with lower privilege
levels introduced.
• Security Configuration Wizard (SCW).
• Software Restriction Policy (SRP).
• Enhanced audit capabilities were provided.
• Network Access Quarantine Control was
introduced.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Windows Vista
• User Account Control allows users to operate the
system without requiring administrative privileges.
• An outbound filtering capability was added to Windows
Firewall.
• BitLocker allows encryption of all data on a server,
including any data volumes.
• Vista clients work with Network Access Protection
(NAP).
• Windows Defender is a built-in malware detection and
removal tool.
• A new, more-secure version of Internet Explorer.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Vista’s User Access Control in Action
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Windows Server 2008
• BitLocker allows encryption of all data on
server.
• Role-based installation of functions and
capabilities minimizes server footprint.
• Network Access Protection (NAP).
• Read-only domain controllers.
• More granular password policies.
• IIS 7 administration of web sites and web
applications.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Windows 2008 Initial Configuration Tasks
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening UNIX- or Linux-based Operating
Systems
• General UNIX hardening is the same as
hardening for Windows OS
© 2010
Disable unnecessary services
Restrict permissions on files and directories
Remove unnecessary software
Apply patches
etc.
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening UNIX- or Linux-based
Operating Systems (continued)
• ps command run on a Fedora 10 system
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening UNIX- or Linux-based
Operating Systems (continued)
• Service configuration utility from a Fedora 10
system
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Solaris
• Define the system’s purpose.
• Install the operating system.
• Install the software.
– pkgadd
– pkgrm
• Patch the system.
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patchadd
patchrm
smpatch
pkgparam
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Solaris Product Registry Tool
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Sun Update Manager
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Solaris Management Console
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Solaris
• TCP wrappers are filters that compare
incoming connection requests to lists of
authorized and unauthorized connections.
• Controlled by two files:
– hosts.allow
– hosts.deny
• Other commands:
– chmod, chown, chgrp, useradd, passwd
• Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM).
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Linux
• Fedora Add/Remove Software utility
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Linux (continued)
• Fedora User Manager
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Linux (continued)
• Fedora Firewall Configuration GUI
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Mac OS X
• Apple’s operating system is essentially a new
variant of the UNIX operating system.
• The same rough guidelines for all UNIX systems
apply to Mac OS X.
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Mandatory access controls for system resources
Tagged downloads
Execute disable
Library randomization
FileVault
Application-aware firewall
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Mac OS X (continued)
• Firewall utility in Mac OS X 10.5
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Hardening Mac OS X (continued)
• Setting file permissions in Mac OS X
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Updates
• Hotfix
– Small software update to address a specific problem
• Patch
– More formal larger update
– Addresses several problems
– Developed over longer period of time
• Service pack
– Collection of patches and hotfixes in on large
package
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
XP Automatic Updates
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Windows Update Utility in Vista
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Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Fedora Software Package Update Utility
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Network Hardening
• Securing network infrastructure components
typically involves the following activities:
‐ Software updates
‐ Device configuration
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Software Updates
• Maintaining current vendor patch levels for
your infrastructure is one of the most
important things you can do to maintain
security.
• The different vendors for the different
software and hardware must be tracked.
• Software and firmware for each device must
be kept current.
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Device Configuration
• Properly configured network devices are an
important part of network hardening:
– Routers, switches, firewalls, servers, proxies, etc
• Some general steps:
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Limit access.
Choose good passwords.
Turn off unnecessary services.
Change SNMP community strings.
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Application Hardening
• Securing an application against local and
Internet-based attacks
• Securing applications typically involves
the following activities:
‐ Application patches
‐ Hotfixes, patches, upgrades
‐ Patch management
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Patch Management
• A disciplined approach to the acquisition, testing,
and implementation of patches.
• Ability to inventory applications and operating
systems in use
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Notification of patches
Continual scanning of systems patch status
Select which patches to apply
Push patches to systems
Ability to report patch success or failure
Ability to report patch status on any or all systems in the
environment
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Windows Update Utility in Vista
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Patch Management
• Windows Server Update Services
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Group Policies
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Group policy
Group policy object (GPO)
Globally unique identifier (GUID)
Microsoft’s new group policy capabilities:
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Network location awareness
Ability to process without ICMP
VPN compatibility
Power management
Device access blocking
Location-based printing
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Group Policy Object Editor
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Security Templates
• A collection of security settings that can be applied to a
system.
• They configure the following areas:
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© 2010
Account policies
Event log settings
File permissions
Registry permissions
Restricted groups
System services
User rights
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
The MMC with Security Templates Snap-in
© 2010
Principles of Computer Security:
CompTIA Security+® and Beyond, Second Edition
Chapter Summary
• Harden operating systems and network
operating systems.
• Harden applications.
• Establish group policies.
© 2010