Are firewalls making your network less secure?
August 10, 2010 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security
Security infrastructure technologies, like firewalls, antivirus apps and management consoles, do a lot to keep hackers off of corporate networks — but they also open up their own holes for attackers.
Those tools are just as prone to vulnerabilities as other types of software, said the security experts at SecureWorks in a presentation at the recent Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. And they could cause even more serious problems, because of the level of network access those tools are given.
The presenters gave examples of real-world security holes they discovered, including
- an ACL bypass vulnerability in Cisco’s Adaptive Security Appliance firewall
- a problem in Cisco’s Adaptive Security Device Manager that can allow a Cross-site Request forgery, and
- a Cross-site Scripting vulnerability in the web-based interface of McAfee’s Network Security Manager.
The lesson? Security tools shouldn’t be trusted just because they’re security tools. All software is susceptible to bugs, and security infrastructure is no exception. Plus, these systems may be even more vulnerable because hackers have a lot to gain by finding ways to attack them.
To help keep your network safe, SecureWorks recommends:
- Include security infrastructure in the scope of your penetration testing
- Monitor devices’ behavior to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, and nothing more
- Reduce the chances of attack by disabling unnecessary features
- When possible, test the security of tools before you buy them and factor security into buying decisions, and
- Review security advisories closely and patch immediately, as you would with any other software.
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Tags: Black Hat, Cisco, McAfee, SecureWorks, security infrastructure, vulnerabilities
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