Forwarded From: William Knowles <erehwont_private> [TechWeb] (7.6.98) A number of Australian companies that operate toll-free phone-line connections to their computer networks are leaving themselves open to security breaches, according to a new study. Australian security company Shake Communications used a modem to dial up every toll-free number it could locate in Australia. Two percent of the 48,000 numbers called let Shake connect to a computer system, some of which offered no resistance to intrusion. Toll-free 1-800 numbers are widely used to encourage customers to call sales or service personnel. But the numbers are also used for internal purposes such as interoffice communications, remote access by staff, and, in some cases, electronic access for customers. These internal numbers are not generally published. Shake's modem was able to connect to 1,389 computer systems, and to get information from 166 of them without breaking the law. Under Australian law, any attempt to penetrate a computer system is illegal, so Shake was limited to dialing the phone number, seeing what was at the other end, then hanging up. Shake's modem took more than 500 hours to dial all the numbers. Of the 166 phone numbers connected to computers, 16 of them had no authentication procedures, two allowed callers to bypass log-in procedures, and another three gave callers access to the computer's root directory, usually reserved for system administrators. Just over one-third of the computers revealed their operating system and version. Only four of the systems connected to appeared to have a sophisticated means of establishing user authentication, said Shake's technical director, Simon Johnson. "I was astounded at the lack of security," he said, adding that banking and finance companies, followed by IT and media, appeared to be the most lax. "In some cases, we were automatically logged on to their internal networks," he said. Shake got the idea for the study from hackers themselves, who often circulate lists of 1-800 numbers as lines of attack for company computer systems. The obvious lesson: Don't use 1-800 numbers for internal corporate access, Johnson said. "If you do -- and I advise not to -- at least have some strong authentication," he said. The study showed how slack some Australian companies can be about computer security, said Ben Barton, business-development manager with the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team, a Queensland computer-security company. But he said Australia was probably little different in this regard than anywhere else, especially the United States. The level of computer security in Australia is unlikely to be significantly lower than in the United States, said a computer crime specialist with the Australian Federal Police, who asked not to be named. He said the size of a company doesn't necessarily reflect its commitment to security. "I've seen some very serious [about security] large companies and some very serious small companies," he said. "I've also seen the reverse." -o- Subscribe: mail majordomot_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 13 2001 - 12:58:08 PDT