Security Adviser | Roger A. Grimes » July 2007

July 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Our Windows Vista Security Book is out

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Warning: Blatant Plug For My Book

Windows Vista Security: Securing Vista Against Malicious Attacks (Wiley, 2007) by Roger A. Grimes & Jesper M. Johansson is released.

After two years of researching, demos, real use, and malware testing, our book is out. At 582 pages it still doesn't cover everything about Windows Vista security, but it comes close. In a crowded book field, it is the only one to cover IIS 7, Windows Live Mail, Windows PE Boot Disks, and all the honesty you've come to expect from both authors, warts and all.

Some highlights:
Chapter 1, 42 pages, summarizes all the new Windows Vista security features. It's the most comprehensive list of its kind.

Chapter 2, on How Malicious Hackers Hack, includes the most critical subset of the infamous, "Where Malware Hides" table. The online version contains over a 181 Windows locations that hackers and malware modify.

Chapter 3, 44 pages, Windows Infrastructure, tells you how Windows really works. Logons, SIDs, Services, svchost, impersonation, delegation, and how it all works together. This chapter should be required reading for all Windows admins, not just the security crew.

Chapter 4, UAC, Jesper tells you what UAC does and doesn't do, and where the cracks are.

Chapter 5, Jesper goes behind the scenes on ACLs, permissions, and integrity levels. Most admins have never been this deep.

Chapter 6, Application Security, understand the difference between sessions and windows stations and why it matters with session isolation.

Chapter 8, IE 7 inside and out. Every new setting, what IE permissions should be, and the myths.

Chapter 9, Introducing IIS 7, 57 pages. IIS 7 is a totally different beast than IIS 6. This is not a small delta upgrade. Did IIS 7 build upon the incredible security record of IIS 6 or put weaknesses in it? Chapter 9 also includes a step-by-step guide to locking down any IIS Internet server.

Chapter 10, Protecting E-mail, includes over 100 file extensions you should be blocking on your email gateway.

Chapter 11, Windows Firewall. Did you know that Vista's firewall does perform outbound blocking by default?

Chapter 12, Server and Domain Isolation, it's more than IPSec and Kerberos.

Chapter 13, Wireless Security, what does and doesn't work with wireless security.

Chapter 14, coverage of Vista's most important new Group Policy settings, including everything that is wrong with Microsoft's best practice recommendations.

Chapter 15, Jesper and I argue it out. We disagree on a few points, and in this chapter we present our cases to the reader and let them decide.

Other excerpts:
"A dirty little secret that vendors don't want you to know is that good computer security doesn't cost a thing."

"Any solution you can buy is guaranteed to fail."

"...an effective strategy is two parts technology and one part psychology."

"Use longer passwords. No longer than that."

Posted by Roger Grimes on July 15, 2007 09:03 AM

July 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Sensitive gov't documents found online

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If you've every Googled hacked looking for sensitive and top secret documents this article should be of no surprise.

Click here for article.

Posted by Roger Grimes on July 12, 2007 09:26 AM

July 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Handy State Data Breech Notification Chart

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Handy chart summarizing each state's data breech notification laws.

Click here for the intro or here for the PDF chart.

Posted by Roger Grimes on July 6, 2007 08:36 AM