1 1 00:00:00,058 --> 00:00:02,700 Configuration Baselines. 2 2 00:00:02,700 --> 00:00:05,100 In this lesson, we're going to talk about the concept 3 3 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:07,020 of a configuration baseline. 4 4 00:00:07,020 --> 00:00:09,600 Now, a configuration baseline is all of the settings 5 5 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,610 for services and policy configurations 6 6 00:00:11,610 --> 00:00:13,380 that you use for a server that's operating 7 7 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:15,810 within a particular application role. 8 8 00:00:15,810 --> 00:00:17,850 So when you look at a particular server 9 9 00:00:17,850 --> 00:00:19,830 in an application role, like a web server, 10 10 00:00:19,830 --> 00:00:23,190 or a file server, or a print server, or a mail server, 11 11 00:00:23,190 --> 00:00:25,650 each of those is going to have its own configurations. 12 12 00:00:25,650 --> 00:00:27,570 There's different programs you have installed. 13 13 00:00:27,570 --> 00:00:29,430 There's different policies you've incorporated. 14 14 00:00:29,430 --> 00:00:33,060 All of that stuff is based on that particular baseline. 15 15 00:00:33,060 --> 00:00:35,190 Now, this baseline is important because to create it, 16 16 00:00:35,190 --> 00:00:36,900 you're going to set up everything the way you want 17 17 00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:39,600 and then you're going to do a vulnerability scan. 18 18 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,580 As you go forward and you do this scan, 19 19 00:00:41,580 --> 00:00:43,650 you're going to figure out exactly what vulnerabilities 20 20 00:00:43,650 --> 00:00:45,030 exist in that baseline. 21 21 00:00:45,030 --> 00:00:47,040 You're going to mitigate them down and remediate them 22 22 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,570 down to an acceptable level. 23 23 00:00:48,570 --> 00:00:49,680 And then you're going to scan 'em again, 24 24 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,570 and that becomes your baseline. 25 25 00:00:51,570 --> 00:00:53,520 Now, everything that goes on beyond that 26 26 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,170 would be considered a deviation. 27 27 00:00:55,170 --> 00:00:57,090 Anytime you make a change from that baseline, 28 28 00:00:57,090 --> 00:00:58,320 this is a deviation. 29 29 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,110 And this must be remediated or that risk, 30 30 00:01:01,110 --> 00:01:02,760 that baseline exception that you're doing, 31 31 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:03,960 has to be accepted. 32 32 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,570 And again, this goes back to your risk appetite. 33 33 00:01:06,570 --> 00:01:09,480 Now, to do this, we use things like security templates 34 34 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:10,313 and baselines. 35 35 00:01:10,313 --> 00:01:12,630 And these exist from a lot of different sources. 36 36 00:01:12,630 --> 00:01:13,860 You might get it from a vendor, 37 37 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:17,130 such as Microsoft has one for Windows operating systems. 38 38 00:01:17,130 --> 00:01:18,510 You might get it from a third party 39 39 00:01:18,510 --> 00:01:20,700 or even your regulatory organization. 40 40 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:23,100 If you're going to do something that involves credit card data, 41 41 00:01:23,100 --> 00:01:25,020 you're actually going to have a baseline that you get 42 42 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:28,590 from the regulatory organization for that, which is PCIDSS. 43 43 00:01:28,590 --> 00:01:30,300 And they would say, here's our security template, 44 44 00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:32,040 this is all the things you need to do 45 45 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,080 for this particular operating system. 46 46 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:35,940 This is the idea of using these baselines. 47 47 00:01:35,940 --> 00:01:37,710 And the idea behind a baseline 48 48 00:01:37,710 --> 00:01:39,540 is you have something that is known. 49 49 00:01:39,540 --> 00:01:42,270 If I've configured my servers to be within this baseline, 50 50 00:01:42,270 --> 00:01:44,340 then I know what security risk exist 51 51 00:01:44,340 --> 00:01:46,200 and I know what my level of appetite is 52 52 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:47,520 for this particular system. 53 53 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,110 And anything that changes from that 54 54 00:01:49,110 --> 00:01:51,450 goes beyond and becomes a deviation. 55 55 00:01:51,450 --> 00:01:53,100 Now, one of the places you can get 56 56 00:01:53,100 --> 00:01:55,020 these type of security templates and baselines 57 57 00:01:55,020 --> 00:01:58,620 is known as the Center for Internet Security, or CIS. 58 58 00:01:58,620 --> 00:02:00,930 Now, CIS is a non-profit that publishes 59 59 00:02:00,930 --> 00:02:03,990 well-known, top 20 critical security controls. 60 60 00:02:03,990 --> 00:02:05,940 And essentially, these are best practices. 61 61 00:02:05,940 --> 00:02:08,160 They tell you how you should configure things. 62 62 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,740 For instance, if you look at the top 5 out of these top 20, 63 63 00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:12,300 we have the Inventory of Authorized 64 64 00:02:12,300 --> 00:02:13,590 and Unauthorized Devices. 65 65 00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:15,000 We have the Inventory of Authorized 66 66 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:16,440 and Unauthorized Software. 67 67 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,810 We have Secure Configurations for Hardware and Software 68 68 00:02:18,810 --> 00:02:21,960 on Mobile Devices, Laptops, Workstations, and Servers. 69 69 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,660 We have Continuous Vulnerability Assessment and Remediation. 70 70 00:02:24,660 --> 00:02:27,660 And we have the Controlled Use of Administrative Privileges. 71 71 00:02:27,660 --> 00:02:29,430 All of these things have benchmarks 72 72 00:02:29,430 --> 00:02:31,740 and security templates associated with them. 73 73 00:02:31,740 --> 00:02:33,720 Now, for each of these top 5 that I listed 74 74 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,430 and the top 20 at large, 75 75 00:02:35,430 --> 00:02:37,440 the CIS is going to provide benchmarks 76 76 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,260 as a series of best practices and design recommendations. 77 77 00:02:40,260 --> 00:02:41,160 And if you follow them, 78 78 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,040 your systems are going to be more secure and more safe. 79 79 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,630 To find these, you can go to the website 80 80 00:02:45,630 --> 00:02:47,580 for the Center for Internet Security. 81 81 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:48,900 And in here, a lot of these 82 82 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:50,130 are going to be free for you to use, 83 83 00:02:50,130 --> 00:02:52,740 but there are some that require a paid membership 84 84 00:02:52,740 --> 00:02:54,210 or subscription fee. 85 85 00:02:54,210 --> 00:02:56,610 Again, this is something that you don't have to memorize 86 86 00:02:56,610 --> 00:02:58,290 for the exam or read all of them. 87 87 00:02:58,290 --> 00:03:00,930 But in the real world, these are really helpful 88 88 00:03:00,930 --> 00:03:02,430 when you're trying to create the baselines 89 89 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:05,190 for your particular servers and services. 90 90 00:03:05,190 --> 00:03:06,930 Now, this brings us to the last concept 91 91 00:03:06,930 --> 00:03:08,220 that we want to talk about in this lesson, 92 92 00:03:08,220 --> 00:03:10,800 which is the idea of a compensating control. 93 93 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,020 Now, I have a baseline and I have risk, 94 94 00:03:13,020 --> 00:03:14,460 and there's additional risks and changes 95 95 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:15,540 that are being done. 96 96 00:03:15,540 --> 00:03:16,950 And sometimes I can't put 97 97 00:03:16,950 --> 00:03:18,420 the right security control in place 98 98 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:19,650 according to that baseline. 99 99 00:03:19,650 --> 00:03:20,940 So what do I do? 100 100 00:03:20,940 --> 00:03:23,130 Well, I use a compensating control. 101 101 00:03:23,130 --> 00:03:25,590 A compensating control is a type of security control 102 102 00:03:25,590 --> 00:03:28,620 that acts as a substitute for a principal control. 103 103 00:03:28,620 --> 00:03:31,320 Essentially, when I take a compensating control and use it, 104 104 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,420 I need to make sure that compensating control 105 105 00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:35,550 gives me the same levels of security assurances 106 106 00:03:35,550 --> 00:03:37,500 as the control that it's replacing. 107 107 00:03:37,500 --> 00:03:40,470 So if I have something that is an unpatched system, 108 108 00:03:40,470 --> 00:03:42,570 for instance an ICS or SCADA system, 109 109 00:03:42,570 --> 00:03:45,300 and I can't patch it, what can I do? 110 110 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,250 Well, if I can't patch it, I need to do something 111 111 00:03:47,250 --> 00:03:49,230 that gives me just as much protection. 112 112 00:03:49,230 --> 00:03:51,840 One of the things I could do is I could create a VLAN 113 113 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,460 and I can add isolation, 114 114 00:03:53,460 --> 00:03:55,800 and that isolation could be more robust 115 115 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:57,330 than actually patching the service. 116 116 00:03:57,330 --> 00:03:59,850 So I can use this unpatched server 117 117 00:03:59,850 --> 00:04:01,320 inside this isolated environment 118 118 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,900 that has no network connectivity to the outside. 119 119 00:04:03,900 --> 00:04:06,630 And that would be just as secure as patching it up fully. 120 120 00:04:06,630 --> 00:04:08,700 And so, based on that, that would be considered 121 121 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:11,310 a compensating control by performing that isolation 122 122 00:04:11,310 --> 00:04:14,163 instead of using the directed things, which was a patch.