11/23/2022
We recently completed an internal project to improve our network's compartmentalization and to provide more visibility for our security monitoring and control tools. We are a few months in now and I have been very pleased with the results.
We've also had a lot of fun with a recently acquired vulnerability scanning tool. The tool does a great job finding known vulnerabilities in all sorts of network-connected hardware and applications.
The more "smart" things we put on our networks the more important these practices become. Because vulnerable connected devices of any kind can be compromised and turned towards internal attacks, being able to separate well patched and highly managed resources like workstations and servers from the ever growing horde of sensors, cameras, video recorders, TVs, and other unmanaged and often never-patched devices is crucial.
Periodic vulnerability scanning helps identify weak points in your systems so you know where to focus your security resources. Patch management goes way beyond Windows Updates. Printers, scanners, TVs, postage appliances, HVAC systems, and more all need occasional patching. Since many of these types of things don't have robust patch management solutions (like Windows Update for Windows), hunting those vulnerabilities yourself is essential.
If you are interested in this topic and want to read a real-world horror story I'm leaving a link below. If you'd like to put some of these practices into place for yourself but need an extra hand, Robert and I would love to assist.
Microsoft said today that security vulnerabilities found to impact a web server discontinued since 2005 have been used to target and compromise organizations in the energy sector.
