RE: local admin account password

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Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 15:10:54 -0500
To: Eli Allen <eallen@bcpl.net>, "Susan Bradley, CPA aka Ebitz - SBS Rocks [MVP]" <sbradcpa@pacbell.net>, dave kleiman <dave@isecureu.com>

The problem I see with a central database is two fold. One it is a
single point of failure and two all you valuables are stored in one
location. The single point of failure can be worked with clustering or
mirroring the database, but all your valuables are still stored in one
location. Granted a hacker will have to understand what they have
(which may not be easy). If I went with a central database, I would
ensure I had a host base intrusion detection system installed. This
would be in addition to all my other detection and alerting systems.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Eli Allen [mailto:eallen@bcpl.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 4:37 PM
To: Susan Bradley, CPA aka Ebitz - SBS Rocks [MVP]; dave kleiman
Cc: focus-ms@securityfocus.com
Subject: Re: local admin account password

There is no physical access so that is already taken care of. In my
plan
the central DB has the infdo to login with so just a matter of querying
it
in your install script.

BTW the machines are a mix of NT4 and up so the NT4 support can limit
things

Eli Allen

----- Original Message -----
> Think Patch management software now... say that all you computers are
> running in User mode and you use a product like Shavlik's HfnetchkPro
to
> remotely patch all machines on that LAN. With this product you can
> easily do this with "admin account logon credentials" in one patch
blast
> across the lan, the zone, whatever.
>
> Now... under your scenerio... how do I manage and remotely patch my
LAN
> quickly and efficiently?
>
> Physical security is always key - see law #3.
>
> I will take the risk of physical access to my machines for the risk
that
> I lessen by being able to remote patch all machines in my Network.
>
> DCs diff admin password
>
> Workstations.. those suckers are zoned and have matching admin
passwords.
>
>
> Susan Bradley
>
>
> The Ten Immutable Laws of Security
>
>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/colum
ns/security/essays/10imlaws.asp
>
> <#b>Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your
> computer, its not your computer anymore.
> Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer,
> its not your computer anymore.
> Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your
computer,
> its not your computer anymore.
> Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your web site,
its
> not your web site any more.
> Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security.
> Law #6: A machine is only as secure as the administrator is
trustworthy.
> Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key.
> Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no
> virus scanner at all.
> Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the
web.
> Law #10: Technology is not a panacea.
>
>
>
> dave kleiman wrote:
>
> >1. Do you think if someone wanted to break the local admin account
they
> >could just boot to Password recovery disk and change the password?
> >
> >If you make them all the same you are thinking if one get compromised
they
> >all get compromised. So you make them all different. How about a
standard
> >password with the last 5 digits of the MAC of that box in between.
Thinking
> >that is still to easy then I would say you are dealing with someone
who
> >would just use the idea I listed in number 1.
> >
> >You could mask the passwords with little tricks, or make the local
admins
> >(unusable) but it sounds like a lot of work.
> >
> >
> >Try checking: http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/88/312263
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________
> >Dave Kleiman, CISSP, MCSE, CIFI
> >dave@isecureu.com
> >www.SecurityBreachResponse.com
> >
> >"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high
expectation."
> >Jack Kinder
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Eli Allen [mailto:eallen@bcpl.net]
> >Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 13:47
> >To: focus-ms@securityfocus.com
> >Subject: local admin account password
> >
> >
> >Say you have more then 1000 systems, how do you handle the local
admin
> >account password on the machines? (assuming it needs to be available
for
> >extreme cases to get into the machine as you'd normally just use a
domain
> >login)
> >
> >A few ways I can think of (in order from what I think is worst to
best):
> >1) use the same password on all boxes. Obviously insecure
> >
> >2) Use a different password on all boxes and a big filling cabinet to
secure
> >it (as its impossible to memorize). Don't think this would work in
the
real
> >world so not worth using.
> >
> >3) Use a password scheme where the password is basically the same on
all
box
> >except its based on something specific about the server. This means
if
> >someone figures out the scheme (cracking a single box and figuring it
out
or
> >just gets told) they basically made this as good as the first idea I
list.
> >
> >4) Only use domain accounts so delete the local ones. But this means
no
> >more recovery console and don't think cached logins will work. With
so
many
> >boxes and hence lots of admins you may not have logged onto the box
and
so
> >not have cached login in the cache even if you increased the logins
that
can
> >be cached.
> >
> >5)My main idea/plan is to store all the passwords on a central SQL
server.
> >This way you can easily have a different random passwords for the
admin
> >accounts on all the boxes.
> >
> >The DB file would be encrypted with EFS so only the limited user SQL
runs
> >under has access to the file and another user just used for doing
backups
of
> >this file. This means an attacker can't use an OS break-in to get to
the
> >data and needs to compromise SQL or one of those two user accounts.
SQL
> >would be set to integrated auth and only allow the domain groups who
are
> >allowed access to the admin password in. (i.e. using the access
rights
> >already existing)
> >
> >For data recovery (this DB is very important not to lose) there are
two
main
> >considerations, one the file is small as the DB has very little info
in
it
> >and two it doesn't get updated very often. The backup user can make
a
zip
> >backup of the DB whenever it gets changed and then encrypt the file
(PGP
or
> >something like it with the private key stored on a/multiple CD-R(s)
> >somewhere safe) Then this file could be copied to lots of employee's
> >desktops. Its encrypted so they can't read it and with lots of
people
> >having the file the likelihood of everyone's copy being damaged from
HDD
> >failure is low. (Yes will use tape backup of the file too including
off
site
> >storage but tape is slow and should only be used if necessary) If
there
is
> >an emergency the managers could easily allow the file to be decrypted
and
> >then attached to any SQL server available relatively quickly.
> >
> >Access to this file can be made by any utility that can make use of
stored
> >procedures. There would be basically two stored procs, one to get a
> >password from the DB and one to set the password in the DB both would
have 3
> >values (machine name, username, and password) passed in and out
(obviously
> >depending on which you use). This way if a person decides to try and
dump
> >the DB and get all the passwords the stored proc can do something
about
it
> >(alert management, stop it from happening, or something like that)
This
way
> >its easy to write whatever interface you want to be able to do access
the
DB
> >and the app itself doesn't really need to be secure as the
authentication
is
> >based on the user that app is run by.
> >
> >Yes I realize it has a central point of attack at the DB but I think
that
> >can be secured well enough and the design is secure that its still
better
> >then the other methods.
> >
> >Any comments? Thanks
> >
> >Eli Allen
> >eallen@bcpl.net
> >
> >
>
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• Previous message: Depp, Dennis M.: "RE: local admin account password"
• Maybe in reply to: Eli Allen: "local admin account password"
• Next in thread: Chris Burton: "RE: local admin account password"
• Reply: Chris Burton: "RE: local admin account password"
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