RE: question on securing out-of-band management

Thank's for all the replies. See inline.

>
>Golovast,
>
>Great message!
>
>In the future you may want to include your name in the message so that
>those responding can get the salutation correct.
>
>See in line:
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 11:38:45 +0300 (MSK)
>From: "golovast" <golovast_at_yandex.ru>
>To: firewall-wizards_at_honor.icsalabs.com
>Reply-To: golovast_at_yandex.ru
>Subject:
>
> A few words about the network. It is a environment where security
>is of a highest priority, because customer data is handled
>and a variety of regulations apply. Just like everyone else, we want
>to make the network reliable, secure, scalable, etc. We have decided
>to use out-of-band management for the perimeter servers.
>
>[BF] Excellent!
>
>It will be done
>over a dedicated Ethernet interface. Servers are mostly microsoft,
>network gear is mostly cisco.
>
> I have two questions.
>First, did anyone here ever try using USB ethernet adapters for
>OOB in perimiter and high performance servers? A lot of servers
>don't have extra NICs. Sticking in USB adapters would be a lot
>easier, but I am still a bit hesitant. Internal NICs would be
>preferable, but its a lot of manual labor and downtime. Any big
>cons against using usb ethernet?
>
>[BF] If the particular USB NICs that you get work with the server
>hardware you've got, that's great! Silly point but I would suggest
>using wired USB NICs (as opposed to wireless).

Wireless is not even a consideration. Some of the people in our department and some folks who replied had some concerns about them falling out from time to time though. I guess it's a possiblity.

>
>Second question is about security. How do you secure the oob management
>network?
>
>[BF] Don't let anything else attach or pass over the OOB management
>network. While this may sound simple, it's actually quite difficult
>after prolonged use.

We'll try to keep it as restricted as possible. Management and backup systems should be the only ones on the list.

>
>It obviously has it's pros, but even still it's a good way to
>bypass all other security layers. I was thinking about HIDS and locking
>things down with ACLs and hardening servers. Also, no ports on the floor
>assigned to that network and a VPN access with two-factor authentication
>into it. Am I leaving anything out?
>
>[BF] I think you have it right. Make the OOB management network one
>big flat network and only allow management traffic. Specify what
>management traffic is on your network (Syslog, SNMP, Telnet, SSH,
>etc,..). If possible in the data center use a separate switch on a
>different UPS for OOB segment. I would suggest not allowing VPN access
>to the OOB management network (at least to start). If you go with the
>big flat network you can deploy one IDS/IPS sensor set to alarm on
>anything that is not a management protocol on that network or on device
>adds and drops.

Unfortunately it won't be on a completely separate switch. For a variety of reasons, our management network is going to be used to manage both the perimeter and the internal servers, so on the back end it will be connected to the internal core switch. We'll probably run IOS with firewall services there, so the users should be restricted from accessing the network.

Do you have any recommendations for HIDS? We currently have Tripwire. I haven't really dug into it, but at first few glances it didn't seem all that great.

>
> How are you guys doing it? What are
>the other alternatives?
>
>I'll appreciate any replies. Thanks.
>
>Liberty for All,
>
>Brian
>
>Brian Ford (brford <at] cisco [dot> com)
>Consulting Engineer
>Cisco Systems, Inc.
>http://www.cisco.com/go/security
>
>The thoughts and opinions expressed in the message are those of the
>author and not necessarily those of the author's employer.

-- 
Яндекс.Почта: объем почтового ящика не ограничен! http://mail.yandex.ru/monitoring/
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