Problem solve

Problem solve

Get help with specific problems with your technologies, process and projects.

• Comparing FTP vs. TFTP

  There are some differences between FTP and TFTP, but here's the catch: both are inherently insecure protocols. Continue Reading

• What OSI Layer 4 protocol does FTP use to guarantee data delivery?

  What OSI Layer 4 protocol does FTP use to guarantee data delivery? Continue Reading

• What firewall features will best protect a LAN from Internet hack attacks and malware?

  In the case of a small network, the necessary firewall doesn't need to be anything complicated. Network security expert Mike Chapple reviews the key features of the network device. Continue Reading

• PCI DSS 3.1 requirement best practices

  Requirement 3.1 of the PCI Data Security Standard requires minimum cardholder data storage. In this tip, learn how to determine how much data your organization should store. Continue Reading

• ID and password authentication: Keeping data safe with management and policies

  Learn how to improve authentication and avoid password hacking with management policies that enforce password expiration, length and complexity requirements. Continue Reading

• Lessons learned: The Countrywide Financial breach

  The data breach at Countrywide Financial Corp. seems like something out of a TV crime drama: Two men regularly copied customer data and secretly sold it as leads to other mortgage brokers. The tale suggests that data theft is, more often than not, ...Continue Reading

• Recovering stolen laptops one step at a time

  When a student's laptop was stolen last year on a university campus, police and IT investigators went to work, recovering it within a matter of weeks. Neil Spellman, one of the investigators on the case, offers some best practices on what to do if a...Continue Reading

• Is it impossible to successfully remove a rootkit?

  In this expert Q&A, Michael Cobb takes a closer a look at the nature of rootkits to see why they can be so difficult to remove.Continue Reading

• What are the basics of a Web browser exploit?

  John Strand explains how attackers target a flaw in either the browser or in an application that the browser calls to process a Web request.Continue Reading

• Risk assessments: Internal vs. external

  Risk assessments are a necessary function at financial firms, but how do you know whether to conduct them internally or to use a third party? Expert Rick Lawhorn explores the pros and cons in this tip.Continue Reading

• How to lay the foundation for role entitlement management

  Role entitlement management is a daunting task, however, there are steps you can take to lay the foundation for a successful management process. In this tip, expert Rick Lawhorn details these seven steps.Continue Reading

• What vendors would you recommend for software write-blockers?

  In a forensics investigation, a software write-blocker can be very helpful. But which vendors offer the best blockers? Security management expert Mike Rothman explains what to look for.Continue Reading

• Key management challenges and best practices

  Key management is essential to a successful encryption project. In this tip, expert Randy Nash explains the challenges financial organizations face when implementing key management and some of the best practices to overcome them.Continue Reading

• Is the Orange Book still relevant for assessing security controls?

  Is the Orange Book still the be-all and end-all for assessing security controls in the enterprise? Security management expert Mike Rothman explains what happened to the Orange Book, and the Common Criteria for Information Technology Security ...Continue Reading

• Ophcrack: Password cracking made easy

  Scott Sidel examines the open source security tool Ophcrack, a password cracking tool aimed at ensuring the strength of corporate passwords.Continue Reading

• Should iPhone email be sent without SSL encryption?

  SSL encrypts all of the communication between your iPhone and your mail server. Network security expert Mike Chapple explains how important that feature really is.Continue Reading

• GLBA risk assessment steps to success

  GLBA requires financial firms to protect their data from anticipated risks. How can those risks be determined? Follow these steps to perform a risk assessment at your financial organization.Continue Reading

• Should a domain controller be placed within the DMZ?

  When creating an Active Directory network, is it necessary to place domain controllers in the DMZ? Network security expert Mike Chapple explains.Continue Reading

• Is Triple DES a more secure encryption scheme than DUKPT?

  Both DES and TDES use a symmetric key, but Michael Cobb explains their separate and distinct roles in protecting financial transactions.Continue Reading

• What is the purpose of RFID identification?

  RFID identification can be used to keep track of everything from credit cards to livestock. But what security risks are involved?Continue Reading

• Intrusion detection system deployment recommendations

  Before you take the time and effort to deploy an IDS, consider this advice.Continue Reading

• How to secure an FTP connection

  Network security expert Mike Chapple offers three tips that enable an FTP connection without opening up an enterprise to security risks.Continue Reading

• Is centralized logging worth all the effort?

  Network log records play an extremely important role in any well-constructed security program. Expert Mike Chapple explains how to implement a centralized logging infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Does SOX provision email archiving?

  Although SOX may lack specificity regarding certain controls, it does have clear mandates for email retention.Continue Reading

• Built-in Windows commands to determine if a system has been hacked

  In this tip, contributor Ed Skoudis identifies five of the most useful Windows command-line tools for machine analysis and discusses how they can assist administrators in determining if a machine has been hacked.Continue Reading

• What techniques are being used to hack smart cards?

  Hacked smart cards are a large potential threat to enterprises that utilize them. Learn how to thwart smart card hackers.Continue Reading

• What are the dangers of using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags?

  In this expert response, Joel Dubin discusses the dangers associated with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and how users can protect themselves.Continue Reading

• What software development practices prevent input validation attacks?

  Improper input validation leads to numerous kinds of attacks, including cross-site scripting, SQL injection and command injection. In this expert Q&A, Michael Cobb reviews the most important application development practices.Continue Reading

• Developing a patch management policy for third-party applications

  Enterprises may push the latest critical Windows patches once a month, but here's a dirty little secret: Most organizations don't bother patching their third-party applications. The diversity of client-side software -- including everything from ...Continue Reading

• Cleansing an infected mail server

  Learn five measures you can take to when cleaning up a massive email virus infectionContinue Reading

• Firewall redundancy: Deployment scenarios and benefits

  There are, however, several good reasons to deploy multiple firewalls in your organization. Let's take a look at a few scenarios.Continue Reading

• Your physical security budget: Who pays and how much?

  In many organizations, the cost of data center security is a shared expense -- or at least it should be. How much then should you be spending on security and how much of that should be picked up by other business units?Continue Reading

• Ten hacker tricks to exploit SQL Server systems

  SQL Server hackers have a medley of tricks and tools to gain access to your database systems. Learn their techniques and test SQL Server security before they do.Continue Reading

• PCI compliance after the TJX data breach

  The massive TJX data breach reinforced the need for stricter controls when handling credit card information. In this tip, Joel Dubin reexamines the need for the PCI Data Security Standard and advises how to ease the PCI compliance burden.Continue Reading

• What are the pros and cons of using stand-alone authentication that is not Active Directory-based?

  Password managment tools other than Active Directory are available, though they may not be the best access control coordinators.Continue Reading

• Does Teredo present security risks to the enterprise?

  Teredo allows internal networks to transition to IPv6, interconnecting them through their NAT devices and across the IPv4 Internet. Ed Skoudis explains why this function isn't as innocent as it seems.Continue Reading

• How can root and administrator privileges of different systems be delegated on one account?

  In this expert response, Joel Dubin discusses how corporations can manage "superuser" accounts by delegating root and administrator privileges.Continue Reading

• Will FTP ever be a secure way to transfer files?

  A SearchSecurity.com member asks our network security expert Mike Chapple: Is the File Transfer Protocol a secure way to transfer files? As one of his many monthly responses to readers, Chapple reveals a better alternative to FTP.Continue Reading

• What are the security risks of a corporate divestiture?

  Security management expert Mike Rothman discusses the data protection issues involved with a corporate divestiture .Continue Reading

• Preparing for uniform resource identifier (URI) exploits

  URIs have always been a user-friendly way to recognize and access Web resources. By crafting malicious URLs and manipulating protocol handlers, however, attackers have devised new attacks that take advantage of the URI's locator functionality. Web ...Continue Reading

• Choosing from the top PKI products and vendors

  In this expert response, security pro Joel Dubin discusses the best ways to compare PKI products and vendors for enterprise implementation of PKI.Continue Reading

• How should sensitive customer data, such as driver's license information, be handled?

  In this Q&A, Identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin discusses how to properly protect the personal data of a driver's license.Continue Reading

• Enterprise risk management frameworks: Controls for people, processes, technology

  Once responsibilities and requirements are defined, the next stage in developing a successful risk management framework involves developing controls. As Khalid Kark explains, that includes developing a culture of security, using technology in the ...Continue Reading

• Should a router be placed between the firewall and DMZ?

  Modern firewalls have the ability to serve as a router, negating the need of another device on a network. There are exceptions to this router rule, however. Network security expert Mike Chapple explains.Continue Reading

• How does SSL 'sit' between the network layer and application layer?

  SSL is neither a network layer protocol nor an application layer protocol. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, Michael Cobb explains how SSL "sits" between both layers.Continue Reading

• How secure is the Windows registry?

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, platform security expert Michael Cobb explains the weaknesses of the Windows registry and explores other OS alternatives.Continue Reading

• What are the potential risks of giving remote access to a third-party service provider?

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin discusses the potential risks involved with providing remote access to a third-party service provider.Continue Reading

• Is the use of digital certificates with passwords considered two-factor authentication?

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin identifies the factors that contribute to two-factor authentication, such as smart cards and digital certificates.Continue Reading

• How to test an enterprise single sign-on login

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin examines the best ways to test an enterprise single sign-on (SSO) login.Continue Reading

• What are the drawbacks to application firewalls?

  Application-layer firewalls examine ingoing and outgoing traffic more carefully than traditional packet-filtering firewalls, so why are some holding back on deployment? In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, Michael Cobb reveals some cost and performance ...Continue Reading

• What should be done with a RAID-5 array's failed drives?

  Even one failed drive in a RAID-5 array can present an enterprise with serious data protection concerns. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, expert Michael Cobb explains which policies can protect and recover RAID-5 data.Continue Reading

• How secure are document scanners and other 'scan to email' appliances?

  Copiers and document scanners have always posed challenges for information security teams. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, Michael Cobb reveals how the right policies can control the use (and abuse) of these devices.Continue Reading

• What are the alternatives to RC4 and symmetric cryptography systems?

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, network security expert Mike Chapple explains how RC4 encryption stacks up against public key cryptography.Continue Reading

• Digital forensics tool Helix 'does no harm'

  Forensics isn't just for the scientists. This month, contributor Scott Sidel recommends Helix, a digital forensics tool that can do some important detective work on your system.Continue Reading

• How can header information track down an email spoofer?

  Spammers can use spoofed headers to hide the true origin of unwanted email. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, application security expert Michael Cobb explains how to trust where a message is coming from.Continue Reading

• What is an Nmap Maimon scan?

  Systems are often designed to hide out on a network. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, network security expert Mike Chapple explains how Nmap Maimon scans can get a response out of them.Continue Reading

• How do a DMZ and VPN work together?

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, network security expert Mike Chapple explains the three distinct network zones in a typical firewall scenario and reveals how the DMZ and VPN, in particular, co-exist.Continue Reading

• How to verify 140-2 (FIPS 140-2) compliance

  In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, identity management and access control expert, Joel Dubin, discuses several ways to verify that Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 is being enforced.Continue Reading

• How can attackers exploit RSS software flaws?

  RSS syndication feeds are a convenient way to get your news, blogs or other favorite content, but these popular tools are often left exposed. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, Ed Skoudis explains how malicious hackers can attack RSS software and ...Continue Reading

• How can hackers bypass proxy servers?

  Hackers are bypassing proxy servers all the time and doing so for a variety of reasons. In this SearchSecurity.com expert Q&A, Ed Skoudis points out the holes in your protective filtering tools.Continue Reading

• What's the harm in removing the RFID chip in credit cards?

  If you're concerned that a credit card's RFID chip is putting your personal data at risk, why not just drill the darn thing out? Not so fast, says Joel Dubin. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, the identity management and access control expert ...Continue Reading

• Can a TCP connection be made without an open port?

  A company may claim it has an "application" that allows computers to communicate without opening any ports, but network security expert Mike Chapple reveals whether you should believe the hype or not. Read more in this SearchSecurity.com Q&A.Continue Reading

• Will biometric authentication replace the password?

  Some security observers say user IDs and passwords are obsolete and can be easily cracked, but that doesn't mean you should fire up biometric authentication projects just yet. In this SearchSecurity.com Q&A, identity management and access control ...Continue Reading

• Can single sign-on (SSO) provide authentication for remote logons?

  If you're accessing multiple applications through a remote Citrix server, you have two options. Identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin explains both in this SearchSecurity.com Q&A.Continue Reading

• Will two different operating systems cause administrative problems?

  Using two different operating systems can often boost a company's security, but there are practical limitations to the enterprise practice. In this expert Q&A, Michael Cobb reveals how separate platforms can lead to deployment issues and higher ...Continue Reading

• Steps in the information security program life cycle

  This article from our series on information security governance describes the essential steps to take when developing a security program life cycle.Continue Reading

• How to safely issue passwords to new users

  In this Ask the Expert Q&A, our identity management and access control expert Joel Dubin offers tips on safe password distribution, and reviews the common mistakes that help desks and system administrators make when issuing new passwords.Continue Reading

• Where to place IDS network sensors

  JP Vossen explains where to place IDS sensors.Continue Reading

• How to patch vulnerabilities and keep them sealed

  Learn how to simplify the patch deployment process and employ methods that will reduce vulnerabilities.Continue Reading

• How does 'arbitrary code' exploit a device?

  Continue Reading

• The difference between a two-tier and a three-tier firewall

  Continue Reading