RE: Secure Home Networking?

From: Brewis, Mark (mark.brewisat_private)
Date: Thu May 29 2003 - 09:10:04 PDT

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    -----Original Message-----
    From: R. DuFresne [mailto:dufresneat_private]
    Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 12:53 AM
    To: Sandy Turner
    Cc: pen-testat_private
    Subject: Re: Secure Home Networking?
    
    >>Perhaps one of the more nasty tests to do on home users is to e-mail then
    >>a trojan ot two that will backdoor the system.  If they point and click
    >>and let it run/install, then they are *not* a candidate for a vpn tunnel
    >>into work.
    
    There are obviously some fairly major legal issues with this approach,
    without some form of authorisation/disclaimer.  Also, I'm not sure how much
    benefit you get from it, unless you send stuff from some innocuous email
    address.  If a sysadmin sends a user a mail with a subject of "Your
    automatic VPN configuration utility", and it is a legitimate source and the
    user activates it, what do you gain?  They trust you (obviously never read
    BOFH www.theregister.co.uk) - if they open an email from evilat_private and
    execute an attachment of the latest naked celebrity, then you don't want to
    let them have a computer.  Obviously those are the extremes, and there is
    plenty of scope there for innocuous looking mail.
    
    >>Aside from that get all the netbui/netbios toys you can get
    >>your hands on and see what might be bound to the internet interface.
    
    Best you can do is scan them on a periodic basis with nmap and Nessus etc,
    if you aren't able to dictate the home network configuration.  Make sure you
    are covered legally for this, though.
    
    Create a Security Policy for home users, and get them to sign up to it.  See
    if you can audit them against it periodically.  Once you're out of the
    corporate environment, though, there are limitations on what you can do.
    
    Mark
    
    Mark Brewis
    
    Security Consultant
    EDS
    Information Assurance Group
    Wavendon Tower
    Milton Keynes
    Buckinghamshire
    MK17 8LX.
    
    Tel:	+44 (0)1908 28 4234/4013
    Fax:	+44 (0)1908 28 4393
    E@:	mark.brewisat_private
    
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