Two weeks ago, I essentially claimed that nearly every company I know is hacked -- and in many cases, thoroughly hacked. Although there's a bit of hyperbole in that statement, it isn't that far from reality. That statement, however, has led some readers to believe detecting hackers and preventing attacks is impossible. Nothing could be further from the truth.. Discovering malicious hackers Despite what the movies show, hackers are never good enough to go unnoticed. Even the professionals hackers who are making millions of dollars really don't do much to stay hidden. They don't need to: Most admins aren't looking. The Verizon 2008 Data Breach Investigations Report [PDF], which is quickly becoming one of the most respected sources on computer crime statistics, said it best: "Evidence of events leading up to 82 percent of data breaches was available to the organization prior to actual compromise. Regardless of the particular type of event monitoring in use, the result was the same: Information regarding the attack was neither noticed nor acted upon." Your No. 1 tool for detecting malicious activities is your log files. Most admins don't turn them on, and those who do usually don't monitor them. Additionally, many companies only turn on logging on their servers, even though most of the malicious break-ins occur on their user's workstations. The link for this article located at InfoWorld is no longer available. . Grasping the methods to identify intruders within your networks and recognizing the crucial role of surveillance in logs to avert security incidents.. Breach Prevention, Log File Analysis, Cybersecurity Awareness. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Earlier this month, a series of worms--the first of which was named Zotob--took down a significant number of Windows 2000 PCs around the world. Microsoft issued a patch and said there was no threat to Windows XP systems unless the attacker had valid log-on credentials. About two weeks later, Microsoft discovered that wasn't the case, and said the same vulnerability that Zotob used to victimize Windows 2000 systems also existed on some Windows XP systems. . It's enough to make any IT department go mad. So several Philadelphia-area businesses and organizations are testing out a new model called the Cyber Incident Detection & Data Analysis Center, which lets private-sector entities anonymously share cyberthreat and attack data with their peers. CIDDAC's plan is to help keep members up to date about the latest threats and provide them with trend-analysis information about specific intrusion activity that they can use to assess risks to their own networks. It also expects to link the service with government agencies such as the Homeland Security Department and the FBI, providing them with anonymous information that could be used in the fight against cybercrime. Similar programs exist, but they haven't solved the problem of companies being reluctant to report security breaches (see box). The service most closely resembles the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, although that service has no direct link with federal law enforcement. There's also the Software Engineering Institute's CERT Coordination Center, a federally funded research and development center operated by Carnegie Mellon University. The link for this article located at Security Pipeline is no longer available. . It's enough to make any IT department go mad. So several Philadelphia-area businesses and organizati. earlier, month, series, worms--the, first, which, named, zotob--took, significant. . Brittany Day
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