Global Insecurities

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Global Insecurities

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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January 12, 2013 at 5:35 pm

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Global Insecurities

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SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281334 More actions · Answer 1

Now if only the vendors would agree to use the information.

That would be great. It would be great if on the occasions that vendors do publish something, they would take the time to update it. I have seen several BP documents by vendors that were flat wrong. When they are given the information about these inaccuracies, they need to also do something with that.

Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
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call.copse SSCoach Points: 18050 More actions · Answer 2

It would not seem hard on the face of it to keep a decent company edited wiki or something with up-to date references to best practices for use on each specific supported version of whatever software.

As a cynic though I would never make the mistake of underestimating the natural laziness of the developer or indeed the human in general. Documentation is exposure after all. I don't exclude myself from this condition either sadly.

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 3

Quite simple installations should encourage best practice by default and, possibly, allow insecure configurations only through users' deliberate selections. Unattended installations should be secure as well.

This would ensure that releases can modify installation programs with current best practices.

This, of course, doesn't override the need for public vendor highlighted , internal or 3rd party, documentation.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 76000 More actions · Answer 4

I think that vendors should react faster when a vulnerability is identified. Putting it on the some-time-maybe-never inclusion in the next release simply isn't good enough.

Similarly it would be a great to see commercial software relying on a database showing evidence that it has had a thorough going over by a professional DBA. There are a number of systems with flashy front-ends and/or even relatively bug free code but rely on elevated privileges in the database.

One thing I have come to realise is that if you see a DB with weak design then it will be fronted by code with a weak design.

Where a single individual is responsible for a product then you can put it down to individual lack of knowledge. Where it is a team that produces a product then it is more likely to be a systemic attitude within the organisation.

My principles for attempting to design a secure database are as follows:-

Look to minimize the attack surface area
Make sure that functional interaction with the database is tightly defined, not open ended
Make sure the audience for each function is tightly defined
Do not abdicate responsibility for security to the n-tiers above the DB. Security is a war of attrition. Every layer of security will lose a proportion of hackers even if it is through loss of interest rather than lack of competence
Don't use default settings (including TCP/UDP ports) or accounts

Isolate the stuff you want to keep secure, don't keep it in the same schema, preferably not the same DB and even go as far as to have a specific server. If it is that important to you then it is worth the cost.

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TravisDBA SSCoach Points: 15780 More actions · Answer 5

If your password to anything on a computer is your name or is "password" then you deserve to be hacked IMHO. I mean this is kind of a no brainer.:-D

"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"

djackson 22568 SSChampion Points: 11733 More actions · Answer 6

Great posts so far. My issue is with major corporations that refuse to even acknowledge that they use default accounts and passwords that EVERYONE knows! I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes. I am prety sure all medical software companies do things this way, we have quite a few. These are the companies that are currently under attack from the government, and if they aren't doing anything, I shudder about how bad it must be in other industries.

Dave

Miles Neale SSChampion Points: 13147 More actions · Answer 7

djackson 22568 (1/14/2013)
I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes.

Do you mean to say that you could go but have not ever really gone?

Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

djackson 22568 SSChampion Points: 11733 More actions · Answer 8

Miles Neale (1/14/2013)
djackson 22568 (1/14/2013)
I can go to any hospital that uses (vendor name redacted) software and be in and viewing PHI within minutes.
Do you mean to say that you could go but have not ever really gone?

Um, yeah, that would violate HIPAA! I am not the kind of person to do that. There are a lot of people who would, though.

Worse is that it is pretty easy to find out which hospital uses which vendor's products, then to identify the default user name and passwords. Recently the news had a story about a hospital that had their database encrypted with ransomeware, Steve may have even posted about that. Vendors make it too easy.

Dave