Legacy Systems As a Security Risk
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1 Legacy Systems as a Security Risk CONTENTS For anyone who has spent any time in IT operations, the topic of legacy systems Monthly Article and the trouble they cause has almost certainly come up. From cost, to utility, to expertise, there are many reasons that these systems inevitably remain in place Legacy Systems as a Security and in service long after their originally projected lifespan. The cycle is Risk................................P.1-2 predictable. IT operations warns the business of the dire consequences to Updates uptime and reliability if the systems are not updated, yet the system remains in NSOC Update.................P.2-3 service. They will discuss the increasingly costly maintenance, or the inability to OCISO Updates..............P.3-4 make adjustments to the system because there is no one who knows how the Bad Rabbit.........................P.4 system works. Still the system remains as is. ISO Spotlight: IT could use an ally. Charlotte Russell.............P.5-7 In security, a similar discussion is unfolding. With a rash of global-scale cybersecurity events this year, such as the WannayCry ransomware epidemic, the release of the NSA’s catalog of weaponizable system exploits, and the EVENTS resurgence of Apache Struts vulnerabilities, the issue of un-patched systems is Microsoft Azure getting fresh attention. More specifically, the fact that many systems are not only un-patched, but actually un-patchable, is starting to be discussed in terms Hackfest + Training - that are well-known across every enterprise: Technical debt. IT may finally have November 7 the ally they have been looking for as the security community zeroes in on this • DIR Calendar Link problematic class of risky systems. This is not a new issue. A quick search of the topic brings up article results dating DIR Monthly Webinar - back to at least 2002 which detail the struggle facing CIOs in dealing with legacy November 15: Machine systems (which includes server and desktop systems alike). While the struggle Learning/AI: Hard Facts, historically focuses around the IT operations space and the typical stated need Conclusions and Actions for ease of maintenance and reliable uptime, there is a new focus on modernizing legacy systems. The reason is simple: security. • 12:00 – 1:00 pm For security, technical debt comes in two forms. The first is built into new systems and software that are hastily built and deployed without due diligence to ensure proper security. The second is more insidious. It grows and becomes apparent as the system ages. Every Microsoft user can relate to the need for, and frustration with, frequent product updates. Servers, tablets, desktops, and applications alike - they all need to be updated for both operational and security reasons. So what happens when the updates slow down and eventually stop? The threats do not. This is the technical debt of legacy. Every time a system goes out of date, either temporarily or permanently it introduces 2 additional risk which must be handled or accepted. In the past, the approach has been accepting these risks. That approach seems to be shifting when this risk is EVENTS, cont. posed as a security issue, and with good reason. No one wants to be in the next Innotech Conference - headline for a preventable incident. November 16 @ Austin Of course, it is not as simple as waving a magic security stick and remediating or replacing the systems. Usually, replacing or updating a legacy system requires Convention Center massive planning, methodical execution, business buy-in, and lots of funding. In • http://www.innotechco many cases an organization will a more difficult time than if a system was just nferences.com/austin/ replaced. They will need to take an inventory of what systems they have that • Innotech is offering might need to be remediated as many organizations do not even know what all free admission of legacy systems are in use. Some organizations are doing just that. A study of public sector staff with federal systems presented to the US Congress in May 2016 highlighted the issues at the federal level and declared the pervasive reliance on obsolete the coupon DIR99 technology to be a “ticking time bomb.” e-Records Conference - The problem is not limited to the federal government, or any sector for that November 17 @ JJ Pickle matter. Legacy systems modernization is a challenge facing every application of Conference Center modern computing across all sectors and it is a huge concern. As anyone who has spent any time in security knows, it only takes one open door to let an • DIR Calendar Link attacker in, and that door does not have to belong to the victim. It can belong to a trusted partner, a hapless client, or a well-meaning insider. If there is a way, a determined foe will find it. After recognizing the problem, assessing the risk, and determining that the stakes are just too high, it is time to take action. Security is uniquely positioned to help IT do just that. Security departments and practitioners have a unique set of tools and skills. Security is tasked with identifying and, when possible, remediating risk. It is what frequently sets them aside from their IT operations counterparts. While identifying, understanding, and classifying risks is a daily task for security, it is not so for operations. Operations relies on a CMDB and processes to understand what they have and in what state those things exist (in terms of configuration and operationalization). Security does exactly the opposite, frequently starting with a blank slate and methodically testing, prodding, poking and documenting the systems on their network. In other words, security takes an inventory… exactly what IT needs to kick off their efforts. The next thing security frequently does is monitor those systems for abnormal behavior and check them for known vulnerabilities. This means that security has the information IT needs to prioritize which systems should be remediated first, a crucial early step in the meticulous planning process mentioned previously. Security is also another voice that can speak up and assist IT as they move to eliminate the technical debt aged in by legacy systems. NSOC Update: WIFI KRACK...is the sky falling? As many of you are aware, a new zero-day vulnerability in WIFI’s WPA2 protocol named KRACK was recently made public. WPA2 is the authentication and encryption protocol for securing wireless network connections/sessions. The vulnerability isn’t an issue with configuration but is a design flaw within the protocol. And everyone is wondering what this means to WIFI users and networks. WPA2 uses a 4-way handshake to establish a secure connection between a device and access point via a known password. The first two handshakes authenticate the device and access point via the password. The third handshake generates a key that will be used by both sides to encrypt and decrypt the wireless communications. It is this third 3 handshake that is vulnerable to attack. The attackers would reinstall a key they know in his handshake. If successful, the connection is granted. The attacker has full sight of the WIFI connections without even joining the network. From here they can carry out any number of attacks, including network sniffing, man-in-the-middle, etc. This attack where they reinstall the key is called a Key Re-installment Attack or KRACK. Is the sky falling? Are all WIFI networks at risk? Are there patches to remediate this vulnerability? No. No. In some cases, yes, and in some cases, no. No, the sky isn’t falling. Let’s consider the actual attack vector and attack in today’s environment. First, this is a WIFI attack. This means the attacker must be in close proximity of your WIFI network to be able to access it. This greatly reduces the number of attackers that can take advantage of this vulnerability. Secondly, this vulnerability has NOT been exploited in the wild yet. According to researchers, this is a very sophisticated and complex vulnerability to successfully exploit. And there is not a hacking tool available today that exploits this vulnerability for you. Since the exploiting of KRACK takes some expertise, this again greatly reduces the number of attackers that can pull off a KRACK attack. So in terms of immediate threats, the risk is low. The sky isn’t falling. No, not all WIFI networks are vulnerable. The researchers that discovered this vulnerability made the manufacturers aware months ago before announcing it publicly. Many of the operating systems have been fixed. The newer versions of Windows and iOS are unaffected. Many products by Apple, Cisco, Fortinet, Intel and Linux have already had patches made or are in progress of being made. The patches that are being produced limit the WPA2 protocol and prevent the key from being re-installed. The most serious impact of KRACK is on Android and the Internet of Things (IoT). The other serious impact is to the small cable modem/WIFI Router combo devices used by most homes and small businesses. Think of devices like Netgear and Linksys cable modems sitting in your living room. These devices are high volume, low cost, static devices that are not easily upgraded or patched. Considering the difficulty of successfully exploiting KRACK at this time, the risk remains low even at Starbucks. However, that will change when tools that can exploit KRACK hit the black market. Once this happens, the risk elevates for Android devices, old cable modem/routers, and IoT devices like WIFI security cameras. So, this isn’t a complete security breakdown for WIFI. At this point in time, it isn’t even a high-risk threat. As we move forward, we would hope that the bigger businesses operating over WIFI will upgrade their equipment to remove this threat.