Managing and administering software updates remains one of the most challenging and resource-intensive tasks an IT Department undertakes on a daily basis. This white paper examines the important role played by patch management to help organizations keep their PC real estate fully up-to-date with the latest security patches, without unduly compromising reliability, productivity, security and data integrity.
This document discusses the importance of network environments for business success and outlines key terms and concepts. It emphasizes shared understanding between IT and business professionals and having a plan to improve network security, such as investing in antivirus software, patching systems regularly, and using passphrases instead of passwords. The document provides recommendations for securing the network, including limiting administrator privileges, restricting internet access, regularly backing up data, and communicating expectations around occasional outages.
Many small and medium sized businesses are still unaware of the threats that exist. This guide to security threats for SMBs outlines the most common threats and how they can be dealt with.
VIPRE Business Takes a Bite out of BloatwareGFI Software
The remedy to bloatware is a better, more efficient product that is specifically engineered to scan, detect and remove myriad security threats without impacting performance and taking a big bite out of the IT capital expenditure budgets. Learn about the scope of the malware problem and strategies that can help you defend against evolving malware threats.
As the price of storage and bandwidth continues to drop fast, Cloud-based services are becoming more and more attractive to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) which are seeking to reduce licensing costs, avoid recruiting IT staff and focus fully on their core responsibility - growing the business.
When Less is More: Why Small Companies Should Think Outside the(Red/Yellow) B...GFI Software
In their “Sector Insight” research study, Aberdeen Group investigated the considerations small business should take when selecting anti-malware solutions. Read this research paper to learn why Aberdeen recommends small businesses be open to endpoint security solutions from vendors other than McAfee and Symantec.
Infoworld deep dive - Mobile Security2015 updatedKim Jensen
This document provides an overview and comparison of the mobile device management (MDM) capabilities of various mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone. It summarizes the new management features introduced in iOS 9 and Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and describes how Android for Work enhances security and management for Android devices running business apps. Key areas discussed include app permissions, device encryption, password policies, and email/calendar management controls available to IT administrators.
IDC: Top Five Considerations for Cloud-Based Securityarms8586
The document discusses considerations for enterprises moving to cloud-based web security solutions. It addresses key drivers like the dissolution of network perimeters and rise of mobile/BYOD usage. Challenges include enforcing consistent social media policies and securing unmanaged devices. Cloud solutions can provide ubiquitous security without on-device agents. Hybrid models combining on-premise and cloud are also discussed.
Beyond layers and peripheral antivirus securityUltraUploader
This white paper from Trend Micro discusses strategies for effective antivirus security beyond just protecting desktops. It argues that while desktop protection is still important, viruses often spread faster than antivirus updates can be deployed to endpoints. It therefore recommends taking additional measures across the network like stopping viruses at email/file servers, firewalls, and through education. The paper provides an overview of virus impacts and outlines Trend Micro's solutions that can block new threats before pattern updates and help repair damage.
This document discusses the importance of network environments for business success and outlines key terms and concepts. It emphasizes shared understanding between IT and business professionals and having a plan to improve network security, such as investing in antivirus software, patching systems regularly, and using passphrases instead of passwords. The document provides recommendations for securing the network, including limiting administrator privileges, restricting internet access, regularly backing up data, and communicating expectations around occasional outages.
Many small and medium sized businesses are still unaware of the threats that exist. This guide to security threats for SMBs outlines the most common threats and how they can be dealt with.
VIPRE Business Takes a Bite out of BloatwareGFI Software
The remedy to bloatware is a better, more efficient product that is specifically engineered to scan, detect and remove myriad security threats without impacting performance and taking a big bite out of the IT capital expenditure budgets. Learn about the scope of the malware problem and strategies that can help you defend against evolving malware threats.
As the price of storage and bandwidth continues to drop fast, Cloud-based services are becoming more and more attractive to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) which are seeking to reduce licensing costs, avoid recruiting IT staff and focus fully on their core responsibility - growing the business.
When Less is More: Why Small Companies Should Think Outside the(Red/Yellow) B...GFI Software
In their “Sector Insight” research study, Aberdeen Group investigated the considerations small business should take when selecting anti-malware solutions. Read this research paper to learn why Aberdeen recommends small businesses be open to endpoint security solutions from vendors other than McAfee and Symantec.
Infoworld deep dive - Mobile Security2015 updatedKim Jensen
This document provides an overview and comparison of the mobile device management (MDM) capabilities of various mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone. It summarizes the new management features introduced in iOS 9 and Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and describes how Android for Work enhances security and management for Android devices running business apps. Key areas discussed include app permissions, device encryption, password policies, and email/calendar management controls available to IT administrators.
IDC: Top Five Considerations for Cloud-Based Securityarms8586
The document discusses considerations for enterprises moving to cloud-based web security solutions. It addresses key drivers like the dissolution of network perimeters and rise of mobile/BYOD usage. Challenges include enforcing consistent social media policies and securing unmanaged devices. Cloud solutions can provide ubiquitous security without on-device agents. Hybrid models combining on-premise and cloud are also discussed.
Beyond layers and peripheral antivirus securityUltraUploader
This white paper from Trend Micro discusses strategies for effective antivirus security beyond just protecting desktops. It argues that while desktop protection is still important, viruses often spread faster than antivirus updates can be deployed to endpoints. It therefore recommends taking additional measures across the network like stopping viruses at email/file servers, firewalls, and through education. The paper provides an overview of virus impacts and outlines Trend Micro's solutions that can block new threats before pattern updates and help repair damage.
The document summarizes security data from Secunia regarding vulnerabilities in software products. Some key findings include:
- The total number of vulnerabilities detected in 2013 was 13,073, a 45% increase over 5 years.
- 16.3% of vulnerabilities were highly critical and 0.4% were extremely critical.
- The top attack vector was remote network access (73.5% of vulnerabilities).
- Vulnerabilities in third-party software accounted for 75.7% of vulnerabilities in the top 50 most common software products.
IBM Insight 2015 - Security Sessions RoadmapIBM Security
This document provides an agenda for the Insight2015 security conference, which includes sessions on data security, privacy, encryption, key management, and security trends. Some key sessions include a Forrester study on the ROI of IBM Security Guardium, how Nationwide uses Guardium and QRadar together for data security, new features in Guardium v10, and how IBM solutions like Guardium and QRadar integrate to enhance security intelligence and data protection. The agenda covers topics across multiple days and includes various speakers from IBM and customers like Nationwide discussing challenges and best practices around data security.
IBM MobileFrist Protect - Guerir la Mobilephobie des RSSIAGILLY
La Mobilephobie : Un ensemble de craintes qui touche généralement les RSSI et d'autres professionnels de la sécurité, relativement à l'adoption et au déploiement d'une stratégie de sécurité Mobile qui favorise l'accès à travers l'entreprise, le partage des données de l'entreprise ou des interactions avec les partenaires, clients et autres tiers via des appareils mobiles et les applications.
Symantec Endpoint Protection utilizes both reputation-based analysis and real-time behavioral monitoring technology to detect and block known and unknown malware. It has consistently received the highest AAA rating over four years for successfully stopping threats while allowing legitimate software installation and use. Performance tests also show it has the best protection against online threats while imposing minimal impact on everyday work.
Biggest info security mistakes security innovation inc.uNIX Jim
The document discusses five common information security mistakes organizations make: 1) over-relying on network defenses and not focusing enough on application security, 2) believing technology alone will solve security issues without proper training and processes, 3) making assumptions about people's abilities and behaviors, 4) thinking secure software is too costly, and 5) focusing only on recent threats instead of long-term strategies. It provides examples to illustrate these mistakes and recommends organizations do a self-assessment, create an internal security team, ask tough questions, and educate employees to avoid these issues.
IN THIS E-GUIDE, LEARN HOW TO:
-Bridge the Gap Between C-Suite Executives and In-House IT Teams
-Calculate the True Cost of Downtime
-Zero In On Infrastructure Vulnerability to Data Center Downtime
-Avoid/Recover Accidental Data Deletion and Employee Created Downtime
Growth Uninterrupted with Security, Scalability and SimplicityPeopleWorks IN
Cloud Computing Portals & Enterprises are
providing solutions to several business challenges like Profit maximization with overhead cost-cutting, Data Storage & Computation and even Human Resource Management. Make use of it and forget your data security worries.
The document discusses the security risks posed by using mobile devices to access and share documents. While email sent from mobile devices is routed through a firm's email server, documents accessed and edited on mobile devices can expose metadata when shared externally. The document recommends automated metadata removal applications that support multiple device types and formats, integrate easily, and operate transparently on a firm's network to mitigate mobile security risks.
- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) simplifies desktop management tasks by running virtual desktops on centralized servers
- Users access these virtual desktops through thin clients or PCs, gaining the benefits of centralized administration and security
- VDI supports remote and mobile users well while improving desktop security, patching, and data protection through centralization
This document discusses the challenges of securing a nomadic workforce as employees increasingly access corporate data and resources from outside the traditional office network. It makes the following key points:
1) Nomadic employees now access company data over untrusted networks like public Wi-Fi 60% of the time, yet most do not understand the security risks.
2) Current security solutions like encryption and VPNs may not adequately secure all communications, applications, and protocols used by mobile and remote employees.
3) Traditional VPN solutions can impact network performance by backhauling all traffic through on-premise appliances, frustrating users and causing them to disable security.
4) The rise of cloud computing and mobile devices means employees access
IRJET- Underpinning the Impact of Web Application Security on Businesses ...IRJET Journal
This document discusses web application security and its impact on businesses. It begins by defining web applications and how they have evolved beyond simple web pages. The document then explores common web application functions, security vulnerabilities like SQL injection and session hijacking, and solutions to those vulnerabilities. It emphasizes that web application security is crucial for organizations and discusses additional security measures for hardening web servers and applications.
Virtualize More in 2012 with HyTrust-Boost Data Center Efficiency and Consoli...HyTrust
Virtualize More in 2012 with HyTrust discusses virtualization security best practices and guidance. It recommends planning security into virtual environments by considering compliance requirements, new cloud roles, and security strategy. When virtualizing, organizations should strive for equal or better security than traditional infrastructures using virtualization-aware security solutions, privileged identity management, and vulnerability management. The presentation provides business drivers for increasing virtualization securely in 2012 to proactively protect systems and data.
Safety in the Cloud(s): 'Vaporizing' the Web Application Firewall to Secure C...white paper
The document discusses the need for a distributed web application firewall (dWAF) to securely protect cloud applications. It notes that traditional WAFs are restricted to hardware appliances, which do not allow for the scalability required in cloud environments where infrastructure is shared between multiple customers. The document proposes that an ideal dWAF for clouds would be virtual, scalable across computing resources, and customizable to individual customer security policies in order to fully realize the security benefits of cloud computing. It argues such a dWAF is necessary to secure the growing number of applications deployed in the cloud.
This document presents a methodology for analyzing the security of industrial control systems using a knowledge-based system called IDP. The methodology models an industrial control system in IDP's input language and uses logic rules in IDP to analyze the model and extract vulnerabilities. The methodology was tested on a real-world case study of an industrial hatchery. It allows modeling the system, users, security policies, and known vulnerabilities to check if the security policy is respected given the system design and vulnerabilities.
This document discusses GSS Infotech's automated approach to migrating organizations from older versions of Windows to Windows 7. It begins by outlining the challenges of large-scale Windows migrations. The approach involves 4 steps: 1) Analysis and planning to understand user environments and applications, 2) Engineering including automated compatibility testing to determine if applications will work, 3) Deployment using imaging and automation to minimize downtime, 4) Ensuring steady state like training and support after migration. Automation is key to efficiently handling large migrations with minimal human intervention.
Patch, patch and patch !
This has been the go-to mantra of security professionals and the recent WannaCry ransomware attack has highlighted its importance once again.
Seqrite EPS with Centralized Patch Management -
Proven Security Approach for Ransomware Protection
Moxa Tech White Paper - Choosing An Embedded Operating SystemDigital River
Linux is recommended as the embedded operating system choice over customized or proprietary OSes and Windows CE. Linux has several advantages including strong performance, especially for networking applications. As an open source OS, Linux allows developers to access source code to resolve problems themselves or with online communities. Linux also has lower costs than Windows CE and allows applications to run on any hardware or version of Linux.
This document discusses how continuous delivery of software is putting pressure on security teams to keep up with frequent releases. It describes how leading companies are using Fortify's application security solutions to scan more applications faster, better prioritize issues, and integrate security testing throughout development. By shifting security left to earlier phases, these companies find and fix vulnerabilities sooner, reducing remediation time and allowing for faster software delivery cycles to support business needs. The document surveys software security operations at several large financial, energy, and technology companies to evaluate how Fortify helps with scan setup, performance, triaging, remediation, and scalability.
The document summarizes security data from Secunia regarding vulnerabilities in software products. Some key findings include:
- The total number of vulnerabilities detected in 2013 was 13,073, a 45% increase over 5 years.
- 16.3% of vulnerabilities were highly critical and 0.4% were extremely critical.
- The top attack vector was remote network access (73.5% of vulnerabilities).
- Vulnerabilities in third-party software accounted for 75.7% of vulnerabilities in the top 50 most common software products.
IBM Insight 2015 - Security Sessions RoadmapIBM Security
This document provides an agenda for the Insight2015 security conference, which includes sessions on data security, privacy, encryption, key management, and security trends. Some key sessions include a Forrester study on the ROI of IBM Security Guardium, how Nationwide uses Guardium and QRadar together for data security, new features in Guardium v10, and how IBM solutions like Guardium and QRadar integrate to enhance security intelligence and data protection. The agenda covers topics across multiple days and includes various speakers from IBM and customers like Nationwide discussing challenges and best practices around data security.
IBM MobileFrist Protect - Guerir la Mobilephobie des RSSIAGILLY
La Mobilephobie : Un ensemble de craintes qui touche généralement les RSSI et d'autres professionnels de la sécurité, relativement à l'adoption et au déploiement d'une stratégie de sécurité Mobile qui favorise l'accès à travers l'entreprise, le partage des données de l'entreprise ou des interactions avec les partenaires, clients et autres tiers via des appareils mobiles et les applications.
Symantec Endpoint Protection utilizes both reputation-based analysis and real-time behavioral monitoring technology to detect and block known and unknown malware. It has consistently received the highest AAA rating over four years for successfully stopping threats while allowing legitimate software installation and use. Performance tests also show it has the best protection against online threats while imposing minimal impact on everyday work.
Biggest info security mistakes security innovation inc.uNIX Jim
The document discusses five common information security mistakes organizations make: 1) over-relying on network defenses and not focusing enough on application security, 2) believing technology alone will solve security issues without proper training and processes, 3) making assumptions about people's abilities and behaviors, 4) thinking secure software is too costly, and 5) focusing only on recent threats instead of long-term strategies. It provides examples to illustrate these mistakes and recommends organizations do a self-assessment, create an internal security team, ask tough questions, and educate employees to avoid these issues.
IN THIS E-GUIDE, LEARN HOW TO:
-Bridge the Gap Between C-Suite Executives and In-House IT Teams
-Calculate the True Cost of Downtime
-Zero In On Infrastructure Vulnerability to Data Center Downtime
-Avoid/Recover Accidental Data Deletion and Employee Created Downtime
Growth Uninterrupted with Security, Scalability and SimplicityPeopleWorks IN
Cloud Computing Portals & Enterprises are
providing solutions to several business challenges like Profit maximization with overhead cost-cutting, Data Storage & Computation and even Human Resource Management. Make use of it and forget your data security worries.
The document discusses the security risks posed by using mobile devices to access and share documents. While email sent from mobile devices is routed through a firm's email server, documents accessed and edited on mobile devices can expose metadata when shared externally. The document recommends automated metadata removal applications that support multiple device types and formats, integrate easily, and operate transparently on a firm's network to mitigate mobile security risks.
- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) simplifies desktop management tasks by running virtual desktops on centralized servers
- Users access these virtual desktops through thin clients or PCs, gaining the benefits of centralized administration and security
- VDI supports remote and mobile users well while improving desktop security, patching, and data protection through centralization
This document discusses the challenges of securing a nomadic workforce as employees increasingly access corporate data and resources from outside the traditional office network. It makes the following key points:
1) Nomadic employees now access company data over untrusted networks like public Wi-Fi 60% of the time, yet most do not understand the security risks.
2) Current security solutions like encryption and VPNs may not adequately secure all communications, applications, and protocols used by mobile and remote employees.
3) Traditional VPN solutions can impact network performance by backhauling all traffic through on-premise appliances, frustrating users and causing them to disable security.
4) The rise of cloud computing and mobile devices means employees access
IRJET- Underpinning the Impact of Web Application Security on Businesses ...IRJET Journal
This document discusses web application security and its impact on businesses. It begins by defining web applications and how they have evolved beyond simple web pages. The document then explores common web application functions, security vulnerabilities like SQL injection and session hijacking, and solutions to those vulnerabilities. It emphasizes that web application security is crucial for organizations and discusses additional security measures for hardening web servers and applications.
Virtualize More in 2012 with HyTrust-Boost Data Center Efficiency and Consoli...HyTrust
Virtualize More in 2012 with HyTrust discusses virtualization security best practices and guidance. It recommends planning security into virtual environments by considering compliance requirements, new cloud roles, and security strategy. When virtualizing, organizations should strive for equal or better security than traditional infrastructures using virtualization-aware security solutions, privileged identity management, and vulnerability management. The presentation provides business drivers for increasing virtualization securely in 2012 to proactively protect systems and data.
Safety in the Cloud(s): 'Vaporizing' the Web Application Firewall to Secure C...white paper
The document discusses the need for a distributed web application firewall (dWAF) to securely protect cloud applications. It notes that traditional WAFs are restricted to hardware appliances, which do not allow for the scalability required in cloud environments where infrastructure is shared between multiple customers. The document proposes that an ideal dWAF for clouds would be virtual, scalable across computing resources, and customizable to individual customer security policies in order to fully realize the security benefits of cloud computing. It argues such a dWAF is necessary to secure the growing number of applications deployed in the cloud.
This document presents a methodology for analyzing the security of industrial control systems using a knowledge-based system called IDP. The methodology models an industrial control system in IDP's input language and uses logic rules in IDP to analyze the model and extract vulnerabilities. The methodology was tested on a real-world case study of an industrial hatchery. It allows modeling the system, users, security policies, and known vulnerabilities to check if the security policy is respected given the system design and vulnerabilities.
This document discusses GSS Infotech's automated approach to migrating organizations from older versions of Windows to Windows 7. It begins by outlining the challenges of large-scale Windows migrations. The approach involves 4 steps: 1) Analysis and planning to understand user environments and applications, 2) Engineering including automated compatibility testing to determine if applications will work, 3) Deployment using imaging and automation to minimize downtime, 4) Ensuring steady state like training and support after migration. Automation is key to efficiently handling large migrations with minimal human intervention.
Patch, patch and patch !
This has been the go-to mantra of security professionals and the recent WannaCry ransomware attack has highlighted its importance once again.
Seqrite EPS with Centralized Patch Management -
Proven Security Approach for Ransomware Protection
Moxa Tech White Paper - Choosing An Embedded Operating SystemDigital River
Linux is recommended as the embedded operating system choice over customized or proprietary OSes and Windows CE. Linux has several advantages including strong performance, especially for networking applications. As an open source OS, Linux allows developers to access source code to resolve problems themselves or with online communities. Linux also has lower costs than Windows CE and allows applications to run on any hardware or version of Linux.
This document discusses how continuous delivery of software is putting pressure on security teams to keep up with frequent releases. It describes how leading companies are using Fortify's application security solutions to scan more applications faster, better prioritize issues, and integrate security testing throughout development. By shifting security left to earlier phases, these companies find and fix vulnerabilities sooner, reducing remediation time and allowing for faster software delivery cycles to support business needs. The document surveys software security operations at several large financial, energy, and technology companies to evaluate how Fortify helps with scan setup, performance, triaging, remediation, and scalability.
TECHNICAL BRIEF Protecting & Migrating Legacy Windows OSesSymantec
End of Support is Not the End of Business
Businesses need to be prepared for the end of support of operating systems (OSes), especially if the OS is used enterprise-wide or runs business critical applications, such as Microsoft® Windows XP® and Windows Server® 2003.
As you know, Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on 8 April 2014, and will similarly pull the plugon Windows Server 2003 on 14 July 2015. Without any security patches, Microsoft has cautioned that “PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not be considered to be protected”.
However, many organisations stick with their legacy Windows systems, even after support ends. Changing an OS across the entire organisation opens up the risk of downtime for mission critical applications. Migrating to a new OS is also manpower-intensive, and could easily lead to time and cost overruns.
Not surprisingly, companies see very little incentive to replace an unsupported but still functional OS—until there is an overwhelmingly urgent need to do so. In addition, their business may be dependent on old, proprietary applications that cannot run on newer platforms. Yet, it’s crucial for organisations to understand the risks of running an out-of-support OS against the costs and effort of migrating to a new one.
Recent studies have shown that 90% of security breaches involve a software vulnerability caused by a missing patch – even if the patch is made available to the public.
Many organizations do not realize that a vulnerable system connected to the enterprise network potentially puts the entire organization to risk by being an easy target for cyber-attacks. Many service providers scan the network and provide a comprehensive report of the vulnerabilities existing in endpoint systems. However, they do not take the next step to remove the vulnerabilities.
Read this whitepaper to know how SecPod's Saner ensures enterprise security by remediating vulnerabilities in the endpoints. Saner is a light-weight, enterprise grade, scalable solution that hardens your systems; providing protection from malware & security threats
Unveiling Advanced Persistence Techniques Through Application Shimming and Co...IJCNCJournal
In the arms race between attackers and defenders, the significance of proactive security measures was evident. The implementation of well-considered countermeasures, which may encompass stringent access controls, regular system updates, intrusion detection systems, and behavioral analysis, emerged as vital strategies to thwart the ever-evolving landscape of APTs. Application Shimming is a tool in the Windows Application Compatibility framework that lets programs work on versions of the operating system they weren't originally made for. Due to this architecture, most programs that previously operated on Windows XP can now operate on Windows 10. Shimming takes parts from a Windows Application Compatibility database after parsing it. Shims, which were created for malware investigators, examine any entry that might have been exploited to compromise a Windows system. This research presents a framework that can compromise the target operating system along with the proposed mitigation techniques.
Unveiling Advanced Persistence Techniques Through Application Shimming and Co...IJCNCJournal
In the arms race between attackers and defenders, the significance of proactive security measures was evident. The implementation of well-considered countermeasures, which may encompass stringent access controls, regular system updates, intrusion detection systems, and behavioral analysis, emerged as vital strategies to thwart the ever-evolving landscape of APTs. Application Shimming is a tool in the Windows Application Compatibility framework that lets programs work on versions of the operating system they weren't originally made for. Due to this architecture, most programs that previously operated on Windows XP can now operate on Windows 10. Shimming takes parts from a Windows Application Compatibility database after parsing it. Shims, which were created for malware investigators, examine any entry that might have been exploited to compromise a Windows system. This research presents a framework that can compromise the target operating system along with the proposed mitigation techniques.
Running Head VIRTUALIZATION 1VIRTUALIZATION 1Virt.docxrtodd599
Running Head: VIRTUALIZATION
1
VIRTUALIZATION
1
Virtualization
Janella Lawton
September 7, 2018
Dr. Reddy Urimindi
CIS 512
Virtualization
Information technology systems are growing, and their use is increasing significantly in many technology organizations. An example of an IT technology that is heavily embraced by organizations is virtualization. This technology involves the development of a virtual rather than an actual representation of the version of the product such as a server, operating system, a network resource system and a device for storing data. Virtualization allows the user to operate more servers as well as multiple applications which significantly improves the efficiency of data centers. It becomes easy to deploy workloads in a faster more convenient way which increases opportunities and automating operations. This makes the daily operations smooth and easy to manage. Also, the cost of running operations is reduced as you operate these activities. The key characteristics of virtualization include; Isolation, encapsulation, hardware independence and partitioning. The software can divide the resources and the system between the identified virtual systems (Bull & Matthews, 2016). The performance of organizations can be preserved using more advanced and updated resources controls. Information technology management for business has improved business operations and creates opportunities through server virtualization.
Top Three Brands of Virtualization Software Available
The main reason most businesses are embracing virtualization is due to consolidations. These are very effective strategies that allow the business managers to stretch the server to its maximum capacity using the installation of different types of software on one unit of hardware. Another remarkable reason that business managers go for virtualization for their IT departments is that a virtual machine enhances technology in an energy efficient way compared to the dedicated servers. Also, too many virtual servers can be chosen rather than having too many dedicated servers which will still save the operational cost by being energy efficient.
The first virtual software available in the market and used by the information technology departments of businesses is VMware which is supported by their vSphere/ESXi.The product comes in different packages of free editions and that of five commercial editions. VMwaredominated the business market when it designed innovative features like the Storage vMotion, vMotion, memory overcommitment and Fault Tolerance (Lee, 2014). VSphere allows its users to virtualize applications that can operate on stronger computers and applications that can operate on any regular computers.
The second virtual software that is available in the market for businesses is Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V. This software always emerges among the top three competing with vSphere and XenServer. This software offers clients a reliable and flex.
Managing a large and growing PC estate is no simple matter, particularly if you are doing it manually. Keeping a close watch on a couple of PCs can be straightforward, and a diligent IT manager will manage to keep such machines fully patched and free of troublesome software. But what happens when your estate grows beyond one or two machines?
This document provides summaries of new and upcoming features in Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2011, including:
- App-V 4.6 SP1 which includes package accelerators for easier application packaging and templates for reusing common settings.
- MED-V 2.0 which is an enterprise-class OS compatibility solution that allows running legacy applications on Windows 7.
- Microsoft Asset Inventory Service which provides software asset inventory and licensing reports.
- Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring which streamlines BitLocker management and key recovery.
- Microsoft Diagnostics & Recovery Toolset (DART) 7.0 which provides tools to accelerate desktop repair on-site or remotely.
Primary Applications of Integration Testing.pdfRohitBhandari66
Integration testing stands out as an essential element in the ever-evolving field of software development, where complex structures are built from a number of dependent components. As an essential phase in the process of creating software, testing ensures that multiple components work together effectively to deliver a software product that is dependable and logical.
Configuration Management: a Critical Component to Vulnerability ManagementChris Furton
Managing software vulnerabilities is increasingly important for operating an information technology environment with an acceptable level of security. Configuration Management, an often overlooked Information Technology process, directly impacts an organization’s ability to manage vulnerabilities. This paper explores a Department of Defense organization that currently struggles with vulnerability management. An analysis of current vulnerability and configuration management programs reveals a gap between two. Further examination of the assets, vulnerabilities, and threats as well as a risk assessment results in recommendation of a new configuration management program. This new program leverages configuration management databases to track the assets of the organization ultimately increasing the effectiveness of the vulnerability management program.
Running head UNPATCHED CLIENT SOFTWAREUNPATCHED CLIENT SOFTWARE.docxtodd521
Running head: UNPATCHED CLIENT SOFTWARE
UNPATCHED CLIENT SOFTWARE
Unpatched Client Software
Abstract
The best laid plans never make it through actual contact with the enemy; the same goes for defending networks. This paper examines how unpatched client software can significantly affect organizations. How many times have people ignored the update notification on their systems? How would an everyday user know that the update they are ignoring is critical to the security of their system? There are factors that come with patching a system that for some reason organizations are not understanding. As a result, their systems are being exploited by out of date exploits that should not be an issue. In addition, the paper also offers solutions to reduce vulnerabilities. The intent is to reduce attack vectors for adversaries and to deter them by making entering the network so agonizing that they decide to find a new target.
Information Technology (IT) managers are faced with an ever changing battleground; a battleground that is both logical and physical. This field is inundated by threats and vulnerabilities that must be mitigated or prevented by IT managers; there is also a fundamental difference between threats and vulnerabilities, which will be discussed later. Though several threats and vulnerabilities will be discussed, the single most important cybersecurity vulnerability facing IT managers today is unpatched client software. Methods for prevention of exploitation of vulnerabilities, and potential financial losses will be examined as well.
First, defining a threat: threats to systems involve deliberate malicious intent, sabotage, or human error (Vacca, 2013, p.380). In other words, a threat is an outside source propagating itself to vulnerable systems. Threats give rise to security risks by exploiting weaknesses. For example, a famous cyber attack conducted by Russia on Georgia in 2008. Russian zombie computers conducted distributed denial of service attacks (DDOS) on Georgia’s servers (Dinicu, 2014, p.111). The threat in this case is Russia having deliberate malicious intent to degrade or deny Georgia’s networks. In addition, the DDOS attack exploited the vulnerable server’s in Georgia that could not mitigate the unprecedented amount of fake requests being sent.
Another instance of a well-known cyber threat is Stuxnet, which was a worm that was used in 2010. This malware was believed to be backed by a nation state because of its sophistication. The worm targeted Iran’s industrial facilities that were connected to its nuclear program (Fildes, 2015). The worm targeted the specific programmable logic control software that controlled uranium enrichment centrifuges.
The image above explains how Stuxnet operates (Kushner, 2013).
Stuxnet was one of the largest threats to systems, and there are still variants of it out on the internet. The takeaway here is that Stuxnet was a threat because of it’s deliberate .
Rewriting the rules of patch managementArun Gopinath
The document discusses how IBM's Tivoli Endpoint Manager shifts the patching paradigm by providing a comprehensive solution that streamlines the patch management process. It combines the separate steps of patch management (research, assess, remediate, confirm, enforce, report) into a unified, closed-loop process. This allows organizations to see, change, enforce and report on patch compliance status in real time across all endpoints. Key benefits include reducing patch research time, rapidly deploying patches, confirming installation within minutes, and enforcing continuous compliance through centralized reporting and management.
As Windows XP comes to the end of its natural life on 8 April 2014, thousands of applications that run under the old operating system will need to be upgraded for a move to Windows 7 or 8.
The majority of commercial applications are available in newer versions of the Windows operating system, and users simply need to stay current. However, some businesses may find that they are unable to do so for various reasons, perhaps because they have been developed in-house, or are one of the few commercial applications that don’t have an upgrade path to Windows 7 or 8.
In these instances, what are the options when it comes to applications that can’t be upgraded? How can businesses overcome issues associated with legacy apps when upgrading the rest of their applications to Windows 8?
This document discusses the importance of software modernization for companies still relying on legacy systems. It defines legacy software as older systems that are difficult to modify and maintain. While costly, software modernization is necessary to keep up with changing technology, ensure system stability, and reduce maintenance costs. The document recommends companies first assess their legacy systems to understand the risks of maintaining the status quo versus upgrading. Based on this assessment, companies can then develop a plan and deadline to modernize their systems incrementally in a controlled manner.
Software includes computer programs, data structures, and documentation. It is engineered rather than manufactured. While hardware wears out over time, software deteriorates due to factors like compatibility issues, bugs, security vulnerabilities, and changing user requirements. Software is used in domains like system software, applications, engineering/science, embedded systems, product lines, web applications, and artificial intelligence. Legacy software from decades ago is still used but requires updates to work with new technologies and business needs. Software engineering is a broader discipline than programming that involves designing, building, and maintaining software systems using engineering principles. Reliable software is increasingly critical as it is embedded in more aspects of modern life and relied on for strategic decisions.
The document discusses the evolution of an investment portfolio management company's application infrastructure. It describes how the company (FMC) transitioned from a mainframe-based system to a client-server architecture and later to an Internet-based, three-tiered architecture hosted in the cloud. It outlines several key service processes, including change management, problem management, release management, security management, and capacity management, that were important for FMC to implement as its application and infrastructure became more distributed and complex.
Spotlight on GFI EndPoint Security 2013GFI Software
GFI EndPointSecurity is a solution that provides comprehensive control over the use of portable devices like USB drives and iPods to prevent data loss and theft. It actively manages devices and file transfers by user, machine, access level and file type. Key features include volume encryption, access control policies for devices and users, data awareness to detect sensitive file types, and reporting on device usage and files copied. The solution monitors connected devices, controls data transfers, assesses risk, and logs user activity to safeguard corporate data and intellectual property without overly restricting productivity.
The Threats Posed by Portable Storage DevicesGFI Software
In a society where the use of portable storage devices is commonplace, there is a real risk to business. The threat that these devices pose to corporations and organizations is often ignored. This white paper examines the nature of the threat that devices such as iPods, USB sticks, flash drives and PDAs present and the counter-measures that organizations can adopt to eliminate them.
Email is a critical communications tool. Email downtime means a loss of productivity, possible compliance and regulatory issues related to data loss, or even lost revenues. Minimizing email downtime is an increasingly important part of an organization’s messaging infrastructure and of its disaster prevention and recovery strategy.
Data is the lifeblood of every organization yet many either fail to backup their data or they are not doing so properly. Losing data can be catastrophic for a business. This white paper explains why backups are important and the challenges they face.
Data is the lifeblood of every organization and business. Data theft and data loss through negligence or hardware failure can cause irreparable damage if the data is not easily retrievable. That is why making regular backups of an organization’s data are so important.
Virtualization enables companies to build fully functional infrastructures that are easily recovered and maintained with minimal effort and reduced hardware costs. Through cloning and replication, IT industries can replicate and test clients' environments without breaking clients' business continuity.
It is never possible to guarantee that a company is totally secure or that a breach will not occur, however implementing the latest tools and providing ongoing, end-user education will minimize those risks and allow companies to focus more on growing their business rather than repairing it.
This technical white paper gives an overview of how GFI EventsManager works and discusses installation and deployment issues while enabling you to calculate the number of GFI EventsManager instances required on your network.
How to Perform Network-wide Security Event Log ManagementGFI Software
This white paper explains the need to monitor security event logs network-wide and how you can achieve this using GFI LanGuard S.E.L.M. (now GFI EventsManager). It is written by Randy Franklin Smith, author of the in-depth series on the Windows security log in Windows 2000 & .NET Magazine.
How to configure IBM iSeries event collection with Audit and GFI EventsManagerGFI Software
This document explains how to configure and use GFI EventsManager to collect IBM iSeries (formerly AS/400) audit events through Audit, a software tool developed by Raz-Lee.
Through the recent acquisition of Katharion™, GFI Software is able to offer a hosted email filtering solution in conjunction with GFI MailEssentials™ and GFI MailSecurity™.
In an Osterman Research survey conducted during January 2011, decision makers and influencers demonstrated that they are decidedly pessimistic about the future of spam and malware problems for 2011.
This white paper provides a technical explanation of NDR Spam and recommend solutions that can prevent or limit exposure to this kind of unsolicited email.
How to tell if that pop-up window is offering you a rogue anti-malware productGFI Software
Rogue anti-malware products are a bane for every Internet user, especially those who have little or no technical knowhow. These are hundreds of scare ware ‘products’ on the Internet. This white paper examines this type of scam, explains how they work, what to look out for and how to prevent your computer from being infected.
Email is a critical communications tool. Email downtime means a loss of productivity, possible compliance and regulatory issues related to data loss or even lost revenues. Minimizing email downtime is an increasingly important part of an organization’s messaging infrastructure and its disaster prevention and recovery strategy.
The goal of GFI MailEssentials Complete Online is to improve business productivity by reducing the volume of junk mail. While MailEssentials Complete Online detects a vast majority of today’s junk email, we are continually working on new approaches to combat the increasing sophistication of spammers. Greylisting is one of the ways MailEssentials Complete Online reduces junk mail and saves you time.
CPU emulation has been used over the years for a multitude of objectives. It allows an application compiled for a specific target platform to be run on a host platform with a completely different or overlapping architecture set.
This whitepaper examines the challenges in integrating malware protection into broader product offerings, provides an in-depth review of the VIPRE® SDK, and covers the benefits of partnering with the GFI Advanced Technology Group to deliver the most efficient and effective protection solutions available.
zkStudyClub - Reef: Fast Succinct Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge Regex ProofsAlex Pruden
This paper presents Reef, a system for generating publicly verifiable succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs that a committed document matches or does not match a regular expression. We describe applications such as proving the strength of passwords, the provenance of email despite redactions, the validity of oblivious DNS queries, and the existence of mutations in DNA. Reef supports the Perl Compatible Regular Expression syntax, including wildcards, alternation, ranges, capture groups, Kleene star, negations, and lookarounds. Reef introduces a new type of automata, Skipping Alternating Finite Automata (SAFA), that skips irrelevant parts of a document when producing proofs without undermining soundness, and instantiates SAFA with a lookup argument. Our experimental evaluation confirms that Reef can generate proofs for documents with 32M characters; the proofs are small and cheap to verify (under a second).
Paper: https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/1886
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Goodbye Windows 11: Make Way for Nitrux Linux 3.5.0!SOFTTECHHUB
As the digital landscape continually evolves, operating systems play a critical role in shaping user experiences and productivity. The launch of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 marks a significant milestone, offering a robust alternative to traditional systems such as Windows 11. This article delves into the essence of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, exploring its unique features, advantages, and how it stands as a compelling choice for both casual users and tech enthusiasts.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
GraphSummit Singapore | The Future of Agility: Supercharging Digital Transfor...Neo4j
Leonard Jayamohan, Partner & Generative AI Lead, Deloitte
This keynote will reveal how Deloitte leverages Neo4j’s graph power for groundbreaking digital twin solutions, achieving a staggering 100x performance boost. Discover the essential role knowledge graphs play in successful generative AI implementations. Plus, get an exclusive look at an innovative Neo4j + Generative AI solution Deloitte is developing in-house.
Alt. GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using ...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
GraphSummit Singapore | The Art of the Possible with Graph - Q2 2024Neo4j
Neha Bajwa, Vice President of Product Marketing, Neo4j
Join us as we explore breakthrough innovations enabled by interconnected data and AI. Discover firsthand how organizations use relationships in data to uncover contextual insights and solve our most pressing challenges – from optimizing supply chains, detecting fraud, and improving customer experiences to accelerating drug discoveries.
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 5DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 5. In this session, we will cover CI/CD with devops.
Topics covered:
CI/CD with in UiPath
End-to-end overview of CI/CD pipeline with Azure devops
Speaker:
Lyndsey Byblow, Test Suite Sales Engineer @ UiPath, Inc.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 5
Patch management
1. GFI White Paper
Patch management:
Fixing vulnerabilities before
they are exploited
Managing and administering software updates remains
one of the most challenging and resource-intensive tasks an
IT Department undertakes on a daily basis. This white paper
examines the important role played by patch management to help
organizations keep their PC real estate fully up-to-date with the
latest security patches, without unduly compromising reliablity,
productivity, security and data integrity.
2. Contents
Introduction 3
Importance of patch management 3
Balancing security with reliability 4
Solutions for effective patch management 5
Summary 5
About GFI® 6
Patch management - Fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited 2
3. Introduction
Managing and administering software updates remains one of the most challenging and resource-intensive
tasks an IT Department undertakes on a daily basis.
While software updates serve many important roles, be it delivering feature improvements or fixing bugs and
security vulnerabilities, they bring with them a number of potential challenges for the IT Department in terms
of ensuring systems are up-to-date, new problems are not introduced by patches designed to fix things,
and updates do not create compatibility or instability issues. All this needs to be done while ensuring that
updates are pushed to PCs as quickly as possible to prevent vulnerabilities being exploited. The constantly
evolving software landscape makes patch management an important consideration for all IT decision makers,
regardless of organization size.
Software that is not kept up-to-date with the latest patches and version updates runs the risk of creating weak
points in your organization’s security strategy, placing servers and client devices at risk from exploitation by
malware, hacking attacks, as well as increasing the risk of reliability-based failure and data loss. The number of
vulnerabilities in software commonly found on client PCs grew by 71 percent between 2009 and 2010 . This
jump is due in large part to problems occurring within third-party applications, rather than with issues directly
related to the underlying Windows operating system (OS) or Microsoft-produced application software.
Effective patch management improves reliability and IT efficiency, automating many of the administrative
tasks associated with deploying software updates while minimizing the amount of downtime associated with
patch deployment, patch auditing and patch roll-back.
Importance of patch management
The process of keeping a PC or a server fully patched is easier today than ever, thanks in part to the moves
of several key software vendors to build automated updates checking into their applications, as well as the
highly-developed Microsoft update service, which can download and, in many cases, install updates in the
background without requiring user input or a system reboot. Nonetheless, the installation of patches, if left
solely to the user, can be overlooked, leading to known vulnerabilities being left unaddressed and ripe for
exploitation.
By virtue of being an application and OS vendor, Microsoft attracts the most attention when it comes to
issuing and installing software updates. However, the majority of known application vulnerabilities continue
to come from third parties, while the smallest percentage of threats resides in the OS itself. The implications
of third-party software on PC security and reliability is further challenged by the role of browser plug-ins,
media player codecs and other bolt-on codes that works in conjunction with an existing application or system
service.
The vulnerability challenges posed by third-party applications can best be illustrated by looking at the most
targeted applications. Using 2010 data from the US National Vulnerability Database, we can see that of the top
10 applications targeted for vulnerabilities, ranked by total number of targeted vulnerabilities, nine were third-
party applications:
»» Google Chrome – 152 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Apple Safari – 122 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Mozilla Firefox – 103 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Apple Webkit – 94 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Mozilla Seamonkey – 77 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Adobe Reader – 60 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Mozilla Thunderbird - 60 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Adobe Flash Player – 59 targeted vulnerabilities
Patch management - Fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited 3
4. »» Microsoft Internet Explorer - 59 targeted vulnerabilities
»» Adobe Acrobat – 57 targeted vulnerabilities.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, the highest ranked Microsoft application, was also the highest ranked OS-installed
application on the list sharing sixth place with Adobe Reader. Microsoft Office, the company’s highest-
placed add-on software product, placed 11th. Oracle’s Java Runtime Environment, often targeted when
vulnerabilities are revealed by the release of a patch, placed 12th.
The data also illustrates how web browsers continue to be the weakest point when it comes to software-
based vulnerabilities.
In terms of operating systems, various versions of Microsoft Windows dominate the field by virtue of the
sheer market penetration of the OS, while Linux and both the server and desktop versions of Mac OS X follow
very close behind. In fact, in 2010 the desktop versions of Mac OS X experienced 96 targeted vulnerabilities
compared to 88 for Windows Vista and 66 for Windows 7, the latest incarnation of the OS.
Managing software updates and critical patch deployment manually will quickly increase the maintenance
overhead associated with applications and the operating systems they run on, to the point of overwhelming
the IT team. For example, the volume of software updates and critical vulnerability patches issued by the
average vendor varies, but in the case of market leader Microsoft, the size of its monthly ‘Patch Tuesday’
software update payload can be significant.
In April 2011 alone, Microsoft delivered 64 critical fixes across 17 software updates, while the previous month
it fixed just four known flaws with three updates. In February 2011, Adobe patched 42 known bugs and
vulnerabilities in its Adobe Reader and Flash products, while Oracle patched 73 known security vulnerabilities
across its entire product line in April 2011. The latter is an example of how complex patch management can
be if not automated, as Oracle’s patching applied to both organically-developed products as well as a number
of high-profile acquired products that still sit outside the core Oracle code set such as JD Edwards, PeopleSoft,
Siebel and OpenOffice.
These are just a few examples of a much larger software patching landscape that affects all software vendors.
These are also examples of how little predictability there is in the volume of severity of the patches being
issued; and with it the resources that will be needed to ensure they are installed.
Balancing security with reliability
Various steps have been taken by operating system and application vendors to simplify the process and
to minimize the window during which a machine is exposed to a known application or underlying OS
vulnerability, such as integrating automated update download mechanisms and pop-up windows to alert
users on the availability of a new update, as well as offering educational notes on why the user needs to
deploy the update.
Such services have a weakness in that they rely on users who actively connect to the Internet and allow
updates to be downloaded and installed. The ease with which end-users can update their own machines,
coupled with the benefits of encouraging them to do so, also means that the IT department needs to
maintain visibility of what patches have been installed in the event that a problem arises.
Even a fully-patched machine can present problems for both the user and the business. For example, in
February 2010 Microsoft issued a patch for Windows XP, called MS10-015. The patch, intended to fix long-
standing security vulnerabilities in the OS, was found to create significant system instability in certain
configurations of PCs, leading to the unrecoverable ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Windows error.
The error led to the temporary suspension of the patch from Microsoft’s Windows Update patch download
service while the instability issues were investigated and fixed. For users that had already installed the patch,
the most prudent cause of action was to uninstall the patch and roll the system back to the previous good state.
Patch management - Fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited 4
5. The ability to roll back a patch is essential to ensure a swift remediation of software problems caused by the
installation of a software update. There are numerous reasons why an organization might need or choose to
revoke a software update that has been pushed out by a vendor and installed:
»» Instability – As with the example above, the wide range of potential configurations and software
combinations on a PC can mean that even a well-tested software patch can cause a machine or
application to malfunction after installation.
»» Compatibility – Upgrades can create problems including implementing changes to file formats, database
structures, storage formats and communication protocols that have not been carried through the IT
estate, or which have not been adopted by a customer or supplier, thus breaking workflow.
»» Driver clashes – In instances where the software update makes extensive changes to the way the software
interfaces with hardware, it may be necessary to uninstall a patch and hold off deploying until hardware
drivers have been updated to restore compatibility with the operating system or application.
While other solutions exist for patch management, such as Microsoft’s own Windows Server Update Services
(WSUS), these solutions are usually limited in both their scope and ability to automate the patch management
process. In the case of WSUS, patch management is limited to only Microsoft applications and system patches
issued through the Microsoft Update framework. Third party solutions are not catered for, while the ability
to revoke and remove a patch that has already been installed is reliant on the operating system, successfully
creating a Microsoft Restore Point at the time the patch was added, meaning that rolling back a system can
result in other perfectly working third party applications being uninstalled in the process.
Solutions for effective patch management
The integrated mechanisms for delivering patches and other software updates to applications and operating
systems form just one part of the process. For any organization, the key is to deploy an all-encompassing
patch management solution that can automate the process of managing patch deployment and provide
quick and easy visibility of the current state of patching on all machines.
A solution such as GFI LanGuard™ delivers complete suite of patch management tools in one application.
With it, IT administrators can monitor the IT estate to provide a single view of what has been installed on
each connected client or server, and trigger automated detection, downloading and deployment of missing
patches to ensure a machine is fully patched before it becomes a problem. This approach ensures that known
vulnerabilities are addressed before they are exploited; and therefore drastically reduces the maintenance
burden placed on IT personnel.
In addition, the patch management solution should provide administrators with an effective means to
roll-back problematic patches, returning the machine to its pre-patch state in the event of compatibility or
instability issues arising after the installation of an update. This feature is independent of Microsoft’s Restore
Point technology and applies to both system and third party patches.
Summary
The process of patch management has, over time, been complicated by the growth in operating system and
application patches, along with driver updates, many of which are delivered to servers and clients via vendor-
operated automated update services but without the safety net of pre-testing to ensure broad compatibility
and stability with a wide range of custom configurations of server or desktop PC.
Patch management plays a critical role in ensuring that companies can keep their PC real estate fully up-
to-date with the latest security patches and software updates, without unduly compromising reliability,
productivity, security and data integrity.
A robust patch management solution that combines swift roll-back of problem patches with a single view
of what patches are installed on machines across the organization, is a critical component of both software
management and IT security strategies. As part of a wider IT security policy, such a solution will ensure that
applications are not placed at unnecessary risk, while ensuring that a policy of encouraging end-users to
accept and install critical updates at the first possible opportunity can be maintained.
Patch management - Fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited 5
6. About GFI
GFI Software provides web and mail security, archiving, backup and fax, networking and security software
and hosted IT solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via an extensive global partner
community. GFI products are available either as on-premise solutions, in the cloud or as a hybrid of both
delivery models. With award-winning technology, a competitive pricing strategy and a strong focus on the
unique requirements of SMEs, GFI satisfies the IT needs of organizations on a global scale. The company has
offices in the United States (North Carolina, California and Florida), UK (London and Dundee), Austria, Australia,
Malta, Hong Kong, Philippines and Romania, which together support hundreds of thousands of installations
worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world and is also a
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
More information about GFI can be found at http://www.gfi.com.
Patch management - Fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited 6