Configuration reviews

Configuration reviews are critical when developing new products, hardware and software manufacturers where you must strike a balance between information security and product features. It is not possible for the developers to cover all potential use cases of a product deployment, therefore a common set of functions and settings are typically enabled by default to ensure reasonable compatibility.

• Identify security weaknesses in the configuration of servers, workstations, firewalls, routers and other devices
• Measure gaps against common best practices
• Reduce the hardware and software attack surface
• Improve the resilience of devices to local privilege escalation and remote attacks

However, once software or hardware is deployed within an organisation, there is often a specific requirement for which it is being used. For example, servers could be delivering web, application, file sharing, authentication or database services and therefore may only require a small subset of supporting functions. Furthermore, workstations may be deployed on desktops or laptops, which typically have differing security requirements.

It is therefore important that configuration reviews are critical when developing new products, hardware and software manufacturers where you must strike a balance between information security and product features. It is not possible for the developers to cover all potential use cases of a product deployment, therefore a common set of functions and settings are typically enabled by default to ensure reasonable compatibility. security configuration of hardware and software is defined and relative to the role in which it is being deployed. This process is commonly known as establishing security build standards or defining a ‘gold build’ for a particular hardware or software configuration.

Prism Infosec can audit the current standards of build given its role within the business and against commonly accepted best practices and other governance requirements (e.g. Payment Card Industry or Sarbanes Oxley). We will then produce a report highlighting gaps and providing technical details of where improvements can be made.

If necessary we can then work with the client’s systems and network teams to establish a gold build standard, create template images to deploy to new builds, manage and test changes to existing live configurations and document and report on changes made.

Prism Infosec has extensive experience with defining build standards associated with hardware and software, including:

• Windows Operating Systems (e.g. Windows Server, Windows Workstation builds 7, 8, 8.1, 10)
• Unix Operating Systems (e.g. Oracle Solaris, Linux variants, HP U/X, IBM AIX)
• Web Servers (e.g. Microsoft IIS, Apache, NGINX)
• Application Servers (e.g. Tomcat, JBoss, Websphere)
• Database Servers (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle RDBMS, MySQL, Postgres)
• Routers and Switches (e.g. Cisco, Juniper)
• Firewalls (e.g. Cisco, Juniper, Dell, Palo Alto, Intel)

Email Prism Infosec, complete our Contact Us form or call us on 01242 652100 and ask for Sales to setup an initial discussion.