[ISN] Security UPDATE--Mobile Computing Security Through Obscurity--June 23, 2004

From: InfoSec News (isn@private)
Date: Fri Jun 25 2004 - 06:10:13 PDT

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    1. In Focus: Mobile Computing Security Through Obscurity
    
    2. Security News and Features
       - Recent Security Vulnerabilities
       - eBook: Preemptive Email Security and Management
       - News: Audit Reveals Spyware Infestation
       - News: Secure SMS and Your Passwords
    
    3. Security Toolkit
       - FAQ
       - Featured Thread
    
    4. New and Improved
       - Monitor Your System and Applications
       - Protect Your Privacy
    
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    ==== 1. In Focus: Mobile Computing Security Through Obscurity ====
       by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity dot net
    
    I wonder if part of your job as security administrator or manager
    includes handling mobile phone security? Someone at your company
    should be tending to that responsibility, especially if employees are
    storing company information on their phones.
    
    Last week, Kaspersky Labs announced the discovery of the first virus
    to infect mobile phones. The virus, which Kaspersky named Cabir,
    affects mobile phones that use the Symbian OS. The virus is relatively
    harmless--its only purpose is to propagate itself, and it does so only
    to other phones that have Bluetooth enabled and are broadcasting their
    presence. However, Denis Zenkin, head of Corporate Communications at
    Kaspersky Labs, said that sooner or later, more malicious forms of
    mobile phone malware that will possibly destroy or steal data will
    begin to spread.
       http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=1689517
    
    Since Cabir spreads to mobile phones that broadcast their presence via
    Bluetooth wireless technology, you might want to configure Symbian to
    use Bluetooth in an invisible mode that doesn't broadcast the phone's
    presence. Configure other mobile phone OSs too to prevent any future
    attacks against them. Using invisible mode is similar to configuring
    wireless Access Points (APs) to not broadcast their SSID. If an AP
    broadcasts its SSID, intruders can detect it and use it as a starting
    point for penetrating your network. Bluetooth invisible mode is also
    similar to using a firewall, which makes your internal networks
    invisible to connected networks.
    
    These security measures are probably common sense for you, but they
    might not be for mobile phone users in your organization. You could
    explain the security needs to users by comparing their
    Bluetooth-broadcasting mobile phone to a wallet or purse left lying on
    a car seat while they're out of the car. The wallet or purse is
    essentially begging somebody to break into the car and steal it. A
    little security through obscurity might save a lot of frustration
    sooner or later. Some people might disagree, but I think you can gain
    a fair amount of security by obscuring the presence of anything,
    whether it be a wallet, purse, or wireless network.
    
    Of course, you can gain plenty of security by adding device
    protection, such as antivirus software for mobile phones, which is
    available from many antivirus software vendors. And, as I mentioned
    earlier, you might also consider some configuration changes to your
    mobile phone OS, particularly disabling Bluetooth broadcasts to make
    the devices somewhat invisible.
    
    If you're interested in other problems with Bluetooth and mobile
    phones, you might want to read about a few other related
    vulnerabilities, which are mentioned in a recent Integralis press
    release.
    http://www.integralis.co.uk/about_us/press_releases/2004/150604PR.html
    
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    ==== 2. Security News and Features ====
    
    Recent Security Vulnerabilities
       If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security
    Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security
    vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these discoveries
    at
       http://www.winnetmag.com/departments/departmentid/752/752.html
    
    eBook: Preemptive Email Security and Management
       In this free eBook, author Peter Bowyer details a preventive
    approach to eliminating spam and viruses, stopping directory harvest
    attacks, guarding content, and improving email performance. The first
    two chapters of the book are already online. You can download them in
    PDF format from our Windows IT Library.
       http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/ebooks/emailsecurity/index.cfm
    
    News: Audit Reveals Spyware Infestation
       An April audit conducted by EarthLink and Webroot Software scoured
    420,761 computer systems. The audit discovered more than 11.3 million
    instances of spyware and Trojan horse programs installed on the
    computers.
       http://www.winnetmag.com/article/articleid/43016/43016.html
    
    News: Secure SMS and Your Passwords
       Microsoft released two new security-related articles that cover
    Systems Management Server (SMS) environments and user password
    management. The SMS article, "Scenarios and Procedures for Microsoft
    Systems Management Server 2003: Security," details security
    fundamentals, how to secure SMS, and how to maintain SMS security. The
    password article, "Mind Those Passwords!" addresses the problems many
    users face in managing numerous passwords.
       http://www.winnetmag.com/article/articleid/43021/43021.html
    
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    ==== 3. Security Toolkit ====
    
    FAQ: How Can I Enable the Security Tab at the Exchange Organization
    Level?
       by John Savill, http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsnt20002003faq
    
    A. By default, the Security tab isn't displayed on an Exchange
    organization's properties page. To display the tab, perform these
    steps:
    
       1. Start the registry editor (regedit.exe).
       2. Navigate to the
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\EXAdmin subkey.
       3. From the Edit menu, select New and click DWORD Value.
       4. Enter the name ShowSecurityPage and press Enter.
       5. Double-click the new value and set it to 1. Click OK.
       6. Close the registry editor.
    
    The Security tab will now be displayed on the Exchange organization's
    properties page. On the Security tab, you can turn off the Send As and
    Receive As deny settings to grant Exchange administrators full access
    to all mailboxes in the organization. Using the Security tab to allow
    full access is a simpler way to grant administrators access to users'
    mailboxes than the technique described in the FAQ "How can I configure
    Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 administrators so that they can access
    all users' mailboxes?" at the URL below. However, keep in mind that
    the Security tab lets you grant access only to all mailboxes or none.
       http://www.winnetmag.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=42867
    
    Featured Thread: Port Filtering on Windows 2000 Server
       (One message in this thread)
       Jeff writes that he needs to tighten security on a Windows 2000
    Advanced Server Web server. He wants to allow most UDP traffic, except
    through ports 161 and 445. He doesn't want to use the OS's IP
    filtering because it only lets you define allowed ports, not blocked
    ports, which means that he'd have to manually create a long list of
    allowed ports. Do you know an easy way to accomplish this task? Lend a
    hand or read the responses:
    http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=42&threadid=122412
    
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       WinGuides released Privacy Guardian 3.0, a privacy protection tool
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