March 2009

Sorry for not posting for a bit, my personal life has been busy lately (we moved, hopefully the last time for a long, long time.).

There has been a lot said about the Conficker (downadup, kido, april fools day worm, etc...). I can't really add anything new that hasn't already been said on the Security Bloggers Network. What I would like to say is that I hope that what it does is simply make all the infected computers say "Happy Birthday, Vovo!" because the now infamous April 1st target is my Vovo's birthday and I always for get to call. (If it does do this, I swear, I didn't make it happen...).

(Yes this is my sense of humor, and if you like it then I am your friend for life - nobody gets me :o)

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The OWASP Foundation, March 30, 2009 – The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) today announced the official release of the free OWASP Security Code Review Guide v1.1. The Code Review Guide provides details on how to review code for all sorts of application vulnerabilities. Together with the OWASP Security Developer Guide and OWASP Security Testing Guide, OWASP has created a powerful suite of books that covers most of what people need to know about application security. The 216 page book can be downloaded from the OWASP website or a bound copy can be ordered for the cost of printing.

The Code Review Project is led by long time OWASP participant Eoin Keary from Dublin, Ireland. Like all OWASP projects, the work is performed by Eoin’s team in a free and open manner, and coordinated via the OWASP wiki and project mailing list. Everyone is welcome to download the guide and benefit from OWASP’s research. You can also join the project and contribute to making the guide even better.

“Despite the many claims that code review is too expensive or time consuming, there is no question that it is the fastest and most accurate way to find and diagnose many security problems. There are also dozens of serious security problems that simply can't be found any other way.” said OWASP Chair Jeff Williams. “Still, code review is no panacea. Static tools, dynamic tools, and manual testing all have an important role to play in verifying the security of an application.”

There is overwhelming evidence that the vast majority of web applications contain security holes that are increasingly putting people and organizations at serious risk. Our Code Review Guide is one part of OWASP’s strategy to make application security visible and enable the market to support the development of secure application software.

OWASP is a free and open community that focuses on improving application security. Join the thousands of organizations that are using OWASP guidance to run a responsible application security program. Anyone can join our community and use our free tools and documents, attend our free conferences and local chapter meetings, and join projects to make the world’s software safe for the Internet.

About OWASP -The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is an open community dedicated to enabling organizations to develop, purchase, and maintain applications that can be trusted. All of the OWASP tools, documents, forums, and chapters are free and open to anyone interested in improving application security. We advocate approaching application security as a people, process, and technology problem because the most effective approaches to application security include improvements in all of these areas. We can be found at http://www.owasp.org.

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Remember the earlier post about how Citrix will be offering its XenServer Enterprise hypervisor for free? Well its now available to be downloaded for free. See how Citrix attempts to smother VMware ESXi with its superior features here

Share, its free!

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If you are new to or would like to know more about the conficker worm that has given many administrators sleepless nights, I have compiled a few URLs to resources that will help you understand how the worm operates, how to detect it  and how to contain it. Note however that some of the authors of these tools have indicated that they are to be used as proof of concept. Therefore you run them on your production system at your own risk.

Information about Worm:Win32/Conficker.D (Info about conficker from Microsoft Malware Protection Center)

The 7 Most Important Things to Know About Conficker (From PCMAG’s Security Watch)

Know Your Enemy: Containing Conficker (From the Honeynet Project)

Detecting Conficker with Nessus (From Tenable)

Containing Conficker (Also published by the Honeynet Project)

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So the FAA came out with some statements about the security of their networks, that Martin McKeay covered nicely on his blog
So that brings me today's Security Song Parody

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After seven months of blogging at ZDNet, I am back to the personal blog. The fall-off in advertising revenue across the media space has necessitated cutbacks, and my spot on the security beat was axed. I won't stop generating content, but I am not quite sure where it will be hosted right now. I will update you as soon as I find out. In the meantime, here is a full list of posts I have authored on ZDNet, and I hope to see many of you at RSA. Also, here is my updated RSS feed. Take care.

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Bob Blakley has a great blog post up here on the effect that privacy breach insurance may have on privacy. He describes how the concept of moral hazard applies to this area, with the unintended consequence that the actual privacy of data may get worse as a result. Worth reading.

Jim

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McAfee, Inc. Firewall Enterprise (Sidewinder) has received both the 1.2 and the 2.1 Enhanced Certifications for IPSec at ICSA Labs. (...)

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Conficker is quickly becoming a mainstream news story as April 1 approaches, the date that the worm is programmed to “phone home” for further instructions. It has been discussed in various news outlets, even garnering a primetime spot on 60 Minutes this past weekend. The worm has been a great source of concern for IT execs the past couple of months, though the actual severity is yet to be determined. There are several mitigating factors that are supposed to minimize the chance for compromise, and a number of ways to detect and remove the virus. Another potential weapon against Conficker that should be considered is the use of OpenDNS to block the worm from communicating with command and control servers for further instructions.

In analyzing the virus, engineers have found that Conficker uses an algorithm to determine a number of different domains to contact for further instructions beginning on April 1. The algorithm was used to determine the exact list of domains that would be used. OpenDNS recently added a feature which would block access to these domains: “We’ve teamed with Kaspersky Lab to identify those domains, and stop resolving them. This means if you’re using OpenDNS, Conficker will do your network no damage“. From a management perspective, this is a much less intensive solution than attempting to block the domains on your local DNS servers and dealing with the overhead involved.

While using OpenDNS might not be feasible for larger enterprises, this is a great solution for SMB’s and home users. I’ve used it personally for some time now; the amount of centralized control available and ease of use makes it extremely attractive. A wealth of reporting features are also available, including one to specifically identify requests to known malware sites (like Conficker). Steps still need to be taken to ensure that Conficker is identified and removed from your network, but this is a good way to ensure that if any instances go undiscovered, they won’t be able to cause further harm.

Related Links:

OpenDNS
In depth analysis of Conficker
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