Encryption

What Do DLP and Condoms Have in Common?

By Rich

They both work a heck of a lot better if you use them ahead of time.

I just finished reading the Trustwave Global Security Report, which summarizes their findings from incident response and penetration tests during 2009.

In over 200 breach investigations, they only encountered one case where the bad guy encrypted the data during exfiltration. That's right, only once. 1. The big uno.

This makes it highly likely that a network DLP solution would have detected, if not prevented, the other 199+ breaches.

Since I started covering DLP, one of the biggest criticisms has been that it can't detect sensitive data if the bad guys encrypt it. That's like telling a cop to skip the body armor since the bad guy can just shoot them someplace else.

Yes, we've seen cases where data was encrypted. I've been told that in the recent China hacks the outbound channel was encrypted. But based on the public numbers available, more often than not (in a big way) encryption isn't used. This will probably change over time, but we also have other techniques to try to detect such other exfiltration methods.

Those of you currently using DLP also need to remember that if you are only using it to scan employee emails, it won't really help much either. You need to use promiscuous mode, and scan all outbound TCP/IP to get full value. Also make sure you have it configured in true promiscuous mode, and aren't locking it to specific ports and protocols. This might mean adding boxes, depending on which product you are using. Yes, I know I just used the words 'promiscuous' and 'condom' in a blog post, which will probably get us banned (hopefully our friends at the URL filtering companies will at least give me a warning).

I realize some of you will be thinking, "Oh, great, but now the bad guys know and they'll start encrypting." Probably, but that's not a change they'll make until their exfiltration attempts fail -- no reason to change until then.

–Rich

Tokenization Will Become the Dominant Payment Transaction Architecture

By Rich

I realize I might be dating myself a bit, but to this day I still miss the short-lived video arcade culture of the 1980's. Aside from the excitement of playing on "big hardware" that far exceeded my Atari 2600 or C64 back home (still less powerful than the watch on my wrist today), I enjoyed the culture of lining up my quarters or piling around someone hitting some ridiculous level of Tempest.

One thing I didn't really like was the whole "token" thing. Rather than playing with quarters, some arcades (pioneered by the likes of that other Big Mouse) issued tokens that would only work on their machines. On the upside you would occasionally get 5 tokens for a dollar, but overall it was frustrating as a kid. Years later I realized that tokens were a parental security control -- worthless for anything other than playing games in that exact location, they keep the little ones from buying gobs of candy 2 heartbeats after a pile of quarters hits their hands.

With the increasing focus on payment transaction security due to the quantum-entangled forces of breaches and PCI, we are seeing a revitalization of tokenization as a security control. I believe it will become the dominant credit card transaction processing architecture until we finally dump our current plain-text, PAN-based system.

I first encountered the idea a few years ago while talking with a top-tier retailer about database encryption. Rather than trying to encrypt all credit card data in all their databases, they were exploring the possibility of concentrating the numbers in one master database, and then replacing the card numbers with "tokens" in all the other systems. The master database would be highly hardened and encrypted, and keep track of which token matched which credit card. Other systems would send the tokens to the master system for processing, which would then interface with the external transaction processing systems.

By swapping out all the card numbers, they could focus most of their security efforts on one controlled system that's easier to control. Sure, someone might be able to hack the application logic of some server and kick off an illicit payment, but they'd have to crack the hardened master server to get card numbers for any widespread fraud.

We've written about it a little bit in other posts, and I have often recommended it directly to users, but I probably screwed up by not pushing the concept on a wider basis. Tokenization solves far more problems than trying to encrypt in place, and while complex it is still generally easier to implement than alternatives. Well-designed tokens fit the structure of credit card numbers, which may require fewer application changes in distributed systems. The assessment scope for PCI is reduced, since card numbers are only in one location, which can reduce associated costs. From a security standpoint, it allows you to focus more effort on one hardened location. Tokenization also reduces data spillage, since there are far fewer locations which use card numbers, and fewer business units that need them for legitimate functions, such as processing refunds (one of the main reasons to store card numbers in retail environments).

Today alone we were briefed on two different commercial tokenization offerings -- one from RSA and First Data Corp, the other from Voltage. The RSA/FDC product is a partnership where RSA provides the encryption/tokenization tech FDC uses in their processing service, while Voltage offers tokenization as an option to their Format Preserving Encryption technology. (Voltage is also partnering with Heartland Payment Systems on the processing side, but that deal uses their encryption offering rather than tokenization).

There are some extremely interesting things you can do with tokenization. For example, with the RSA/FDC offering, the card number is encrypted on collection at the point of sale terminal with the public key of the tokenization service, then sent to the tokenization server which returns a token that still "resembles" a card number (it passes the LUHN check and might even include the same last 4 digits -- the rest is random). The real card number is stored in a highly secured database up at the processor (FDC). The token is the stored value on the merchant site, and since it's paired with the real number on the processor side, can still be used for refunds and such. This particular implementation always requires the original card for new purchases, but only the token for anything else.

Thus the real card number is never stored in the clear (or even encrypted) on the merchant side. There's really nothing to steal, which eliminates any possibility of a card number breach (according to the Data Breach Triangle). The processor (FDC) is still at risk, so they will need to use a different set of technologies to lock down and encrypt the plain text numbers. The numbers still look like real card numbers, reducing any retrofitting requirements for existing applications and databases, but they're useless for most forms of fraud. This implementation won't work for recurring payments and such, which they'll handle differently.

Over the past year or so I've become a firm believer that tokenization is the future of transaction processing -- at least until the card companies get their stuff together and design a stronger system. Encryption is only a stop-gap in most organizations, and once you hit the point where you have to start making application changes anyway, go with tokenization.

Even payment processors should be able to expand use of tokenization, relying on encryption to cover the (few) tokenization databases which still need the PAN.

Messing with your transaction systems, especially legacy databases and applications, is never easy. But once you have to crack them open, it's hard to find a downside to tokenization.

–Rich

Things To Do In Encryption When You’re Dead

By Rich

Technically the title should be Things to do With Encryption..., but then I wouldn't have a semi-obscure movie reference.

Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing linked to a column of his over at The Guardian entitled If I'm dead how will my loved ones break my password?. As a new father myself, I recently went through the estate planning process with my lawyer, and this is one issue I've long thought needed more attention. A few years ago I even considered building a startup around it.

Much of my important data is encrypted -- especially logins to bank accounts and such. Also, a fair bit of my other data is either encrypted, or protected in ways many of you fair readers could circumvent, but my family members can't. I also have a ton of "personal institutional knowledge" in my head -- everything from how to keep this blog running, to locations of family photos, to all the old email correspondence I kept when my wife and I started dating. If I get hit by a truck (or, more likely, kill myself in some bizarrely stupid way right after saying, "okay, check this out"), all of that would either be lost to the ether, or complex to recover.

Heck, I have content that might be important to my family in applications in virtual machines on encrypted drives.

Part of my estate planning process is ensuring that not only do my family and business partners have access to this information if I'm not around, but that they'll know where the important bits are in the first place.

Unlike Cory I'm not concerned with using split keys in different countries to prevent exposure to the government, but I also don't think I'm as organized as he is in terms of where I keep everything.

Thus, as part of my estate planning, I'm looking at the best way to make this information available on the off chance my sense of self-preservation fails to mature. Here's the plan right now:

1. Compile my passphrases, locations of important information, and other documentation into a single repository. I'm considering using 1Password since it already has the logins to nearly everything, I use it daily, and it can export to an encrypted PDF or a few other formats. 1Password supports secure notes for random instructions and other documentation.
2. On a regular basis, I will export the information to an encrypted file which I'll provide to my lawyer, and store in a secure online repository. I have a lot of options for this, but for the rest of you it might be better to set up a Hotmail/Yahoo/Whatever email account you don't ever use for anything else, and send it there. You can then give your lawyer or executor access to that account (remember, the contents up there are still encrypted). This makes it easy to keep the information up to date, and it's protected from your lawyer's office burning down with your encrypted hard drive. It may be worth it to use two different services, just in case. Remember that if your lawyer doesn't have direct access, it may be difficult for him/her to legally obtain access after death.
3. I'll give my lawyer the locations of the information and the passphrase for my 1Password export in a sealed envelope. Since he's my brother in law, and might be with me when I accidentally blow up that propane tank, I'll make sure his partner also has a copy in a separate physical location.

That should cover it -- my information is still protected (assuming I trust my lawyer), and it includes logins, locations of important electronic documents, and so on. I'm in the middle of setting this up, and haven't even talked to my lawyer about the details yet, but it's as important as any other aspects of my trust.

A separate issue, and the other half of my vaporware startup, is what happens to all my correspondence/photos/movies after I die? Historically, the archives of individuals, handed down through generations, are an important part of the human record. This isn't just an ego thing -- letters and photos of regular folks are as important to historians over the ages. Right now, as a society, this isn't an issue we've really addressed.

–Rich

Database Encryption, Part 3: Transparent Encryption

By Adrian Lane, Rich

In our previous post in this Database Encryption series (Introduction, Part 2) we provided a decision tree for selecting a database encryption strategy. Our goal in this process is to map the encryption selection process to the security threats to protect against. Yes, that sounds simple enough, but it is tough to wade through vendor claims, especially when everyone from network storage to database vendors claims to provide the same value. We need to understand how to deal with the threats conceptually before we jump into the more complex technical and operational issues that can confuse your choices. In this post we are going to dig into the first branch of the tree, Non-credentialed threats -- protecting against attacks from the outside, rather than from authenticated database users. We call this "Transparent/External Encryption", since we don't have to muck with database user accounts, and the encryption can sometimes occur outside the datbase. Transparent Encryption won't protect sensitive content in the database if someone has access to it thought legitimate credentials, but it will protect the information on storage and in archives, and provides a significant advantage as it is deployed independent of your business applications. If you need to protect things like credit card numbers where you need to restrict even an administrator's ability to see them, this option isn't for you. If you are only worried about lost media, stolen files, a compromised host platform, or insecure storage, then Transparent Encryption is a good option. By not having to muck around with the internal database structures and application logic, it often provides huge savings in time and investment over more involved techniques.

We have chosen the term Transparent Encryption, as many of the database vendors have, to describe the capability to encrypt data stored in the database without modification to the applications using that database. We've also added "External" to distinguish from external encryption at the file or media level. If you have a database then you already have access controls that protect that data from unwanted viewing through database communications. The database itself screens queries or applications to make sure that only appropriate users or groups are permitted to examine and use data. The threat we want to address here is protecting data from physical loss or theft (including some forms of virtual theft) through means that are outside the scope of access controls. Keep in mind that even though the data is "in" a database, that database maintains permanent records on disk drives, with data being archived to many different types of low cost, long term storage. There are many ways for data to be accessed without credentials being supplied at all. These are cases where the database engine is by-passed altogether -- for example, examination of data on backup tapes, disks, offline redo log files, transaction logs, or any other place data resides on storage media.

Transparent/External Encryption for protecting database data uses the following techniques & technologies:

• Native Database Object (Transparent) Encryption: Database management systems, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2, include capabilities to encrypt either internal database objects (tables and other structures) or the data stores (files). These encryption operations are managed from within the database, using native encryption functions built into the database, with keys being stored internally by default. This is good overall option in many scenarios as long as performance meets requirements. Depending on the platform, you may be able to offload key management to an external key management solution. The disadvantage is that it is specific to each database platform, and isn't always available.
• External File/Folder Encryption: The database files are encrypted using an external (third party) file/folder encryption tool. Assuming the encryption is configured properly, this protects the database files from unauthorized access on the server and those files are typically still protected as they are backed up, copied, or moved. Keys should be stored off the server and no access provided to local accounts, which protect against the server becoming compromised by an external attacker. Some file encryption tools, such as Vormetric and BitArmor, can also restrict access to the protected files based on application. Thus only the database processes can access the file, and even if an attacker compromises the database's user account, they will only be able to access the decrypted data through the database itself. File/folder encryption of the database files is a good option as long as performance is acceptable and keys can be managed externally. Any file/folder encryption tool supports this option (including Microsoft EFS), but performance needs to be tested since there is wide variation among the different tools. Remember that any replication or distribution of data handled from within the database won't be protected unless you also encrypt those destinations.
• Media encryption: This includes full drive encryption or SAN encryption; the entire storage media is encrypted, and thus the database files are protected. Depending on the method used and the specifics of your environment, this may or may not provide protection for the data as it moves to other data stores, including archival (tape) storage. For example, depending on your backup agent, you may be backing up the unencrypted files or the encrypted storage blocks. This is best suited for high performance databases where the primary concern is physical loss of the media (e.g., a database on a managed SAN where the service provider handles failed drives potentially containing sensitive data). Any media encryption product supports this option.

Which option to choose depends on your performance requirements, threat model, exiting architecture, and security requirements. Unless you have a high-performance system that exceeds the capabilities of file/folder encryption, we recommend you look there first. If you are managing heterogeneous databases, you will likely look at a third party product over native encryption. In both cases, it's very important to use external key management and not allow access by any local accounts. We will outline selection criteria and use cases to support the decision process in a future post.

You will notice that, depending upon which technique you choose, the initiation of the encryption, the engine that performs the encryption, and the key management server may all reside in different places. In fact, the latter two techniques encrypt the database but are not in the database at all; the engine that performs the encryption, as well as the processes responsible for managing the encryption operations, are outside of the database. In all three cases encryption remains transparent to business processing functions. Using the three technology variables (eEngine location, key management location, and who orchestrates) we introduced in Part Two of this series will help guide you in differentiating vendor offerings, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each variation.

Next up we will discuss the techniques for securing data against credentialed users and some implementation considerations for user encryption.

–Adrian Lane, Rich

Application vs. Database Encryption

By Rich

There's a bit of debate brewing in the comments on the latest post in our database encryption series. That series is meant to focus only on database encryption, so we weren't planning about talking much about other options, but it's an important issue.

Here's an old diagram I use a lot in presentations to describe potential encryption layers. What we find is that the higher up the stack you encrypt, the greater the overall protection (since it stays encrypted through the rest of the layers), but this comes with the cost of increased complexity. It's far easier to encrypt an entire hard drive than a single field in an application; at least in real world implementations. By giving up granularity, you gain simplicity. For example, to encrypt the drive you don't have to worry about access controls, tying in database or application users, and so on.

In an ideal world, encrypting sensitive data at the application layer is likely your best choice. Practically speaking, it's not always possible, or may be implemented entirely wrong. It's really freaking hard to design appropriate application level encryption, even when you're using crypto libraries and other adjuncts like external key management. Go read this post over at Matasano, or anything by Nate Lawson, if you want to start digging into the complexity of application encryption.

Database encryption is also really hard to get right, but is sometimes slightly more practical than application encryption. When you have a complex, multi-tiered application with batch jobs, OLTP connections, and other components, it may be easier to encrypt at the DB level and manage access based on user accounts (including service accounts). That's why we call this "user encryption" in our model.

Keep in mind that if someone compromises user accounts with access, any encryption is worthless. Additional controls like application-level logic or database activity monitoring might be able to mitigate a portion of that risk, but once you lose the account you're at least partially hosed.

For retail/PCI kinds of transactions I prefer application encryption (done properly). For many users I work with that's not an immediate option, and they at least need to start with some sort of database encryption (usually transparent/external) to deal with compliance and risk requirements.

Application encryption isn't a panacea -- it can work well, but brings additional complexities and is really easy to screw up. Use with caution.

–Rich

iPhone Security Updates

By Adrian Lane

Like many potential iPhone buyers, I have been checking the news releases from the Apple WWDC every hour or so. Faster speed, better camera, better OS, new apps. What's not to like? From a security standpoint, the two features that were intriguing for me and (probably) many IT organizations are the data encryption and automatic remote data wipe options. From MacWorld:

For IT, Apple has added on-device encryption for data (backups are encrypted as well), plus a remote wipe-and-kill feature for Exchange 2007 users. Non-Exchange users can get remote wpe-and-kill if they subcribe to Apple's consumer-oriented MobileMe service. In either case, the wiped information and settings can be restored if you find the missing iPhone.

Much in line with what I was thinking in the Friday Post, it appears that Apple developers are way ahead of me. This clears a couple major security hurdles for corporate adoption of the iPhone, and helps the iPhone to continue its viral penetration of corporate IT environments. Very smart moves on their part to fill these gaps. The "Find my iPhone" feature is a neat bit of gimmickry, and helpful for distinguishing whether your iPhone went missing or was stolen. I have trouble believing it would be very effective for recovery, but it is enough information to decide whether or not to remotely wipe the device. And with the ability to recover wiped data through MobileMe, there is little penalty for being safe.

Then, leave it to AT&T to kill my happy iPhone buzz. Tethering? Nope. Any product vendor will tell you that that if a customer asks you when they get some cool new feature, you talk about what a wonderful advancement it will be and then set realistic expectations about when it will be available. Your response is not "Well, that will cost you more". No wonder AT&T was booed on stage. It looks like by the time tethering is available, AT&T will no longer have its US exclusive arrangement with Apple, and no one will care that they don't seem to care about customers. Or timely feature enhancements. Or that they are denying loyal Apple/AT&T customers a discount to buy a new phone and give the old phone to someone else who will need to use AT&T. You see the logic in that, right?

–Adrian Lane

Boaz Nails It- The Encryption Dilemma

By Rich

Boaz Gelbord wrote a thoughtful response (as did Mike Andrews) to my post earlier this week on the state of web application and data security. In it was one key tidbit on encryption:

The truth is that you just don't mitigate that much risk by encrypting files at rest in a reasonably secure environment. Of course if a random account or service is compromised on a server, having those database files encrypted would sure come in handy. But for your database or file folder encryption to actually save you from anything, some other control needs to fail.

I wouldn't say this is always true, but it's generally true. In fact, this situation was the inspiration behind the Three Laws of Data Encryption I wrote a few years ago. The thing is, access controls work really freaking well, and the only reason to use encryption instead of them is if the data is moving, or you need to somehow restrict the data with greater granularity than is possible with access controls. For most systems, this is to protect data from administrators, since you can manage everyone else with access controls.

Also keep in mind that many current data encryption systems tie directly to the user's authentication, and thus are just as prone to compromised user accounts as are access controls.

Again, not true in all cases, but true in many. The first step in encryption is to know what threat you are protecting against, and if other controls would be just as effective. Seriously, we toss encryption around as the answer all the time, without knowing what the question is.

(My favorite question/answer? Me: Why are you encrypting. Them: To protect against hackers. Me: Um. Cool. You have a bathroom anywhere?)

–Rich

The State of Web Application and Data Security—Mid 2009

By Rich

One of the more difficult aspects of the analyst gig is sorting through all the information you get, and isolating out any inherent biases. The kinds of inquiries we get from clients can all too easily skew our perceptions of the industry, since people tend to come to us for specific reasons, and those reasons don't necessarily represent the mean of the industry. Aside from all the vendor updates (and customer references), our end user conversations usually involve helping someone with a specific problem -- ranging from vendor selection, to basic technology education, to strategy development/problem solving. People call us when they need help, not when things are running well, so it's all too easy to assume a particular technology is being used more widely than it really is, or a problem is bigger or smaller than it really is, because everyone calling us is asking about it. Countering this takes a lot of outreach to find out what people are really doing even when they aren't calling us.

Over the past few weeks I've had a series of opportunities to work with end users outside the context of normal inbound inquiries, and it's been fairly enlightening. These included direct client calls, executive roundtables such as one I participated in recently with IANS (with a mix from Fortune 50 to mid-size enterprises), and some outreach on our part. They reinforced some of what we've been thinking, while breaking other assumptions. I thought it would be good to compile these together into a "state of the industry" summary. Since I spend most of my time focused on web application and data security, I'll only cover those areas:

When it comes to web application and data security, if there isn't a compliance requirement, there isn't budget -- Nearly all of the security professionals we've spoken with recognize the importance of web application and data security, but they consistently tell us that unless there is a compliance requirement it's very difficult for them to get budget. That's not to say it's impossible, but non-compliance projects (however important) are way down the priority list in most organizations. In a room of a dozen high-level security managers of (mostly) large enterprises, they all reinforced that compliance drove nearly all of their new projects, and there was little support for non-compliance-related web application or data security initiatives. I doubt this surprises any of you.

"Compliance" may mean more than compliance -- Activities that are positioned as helping with compliance, even if they aren't a direct requirement, are more likely to gain funding. This is especially true for projects that could reduce compliance costs. They will have a longer approval cycle, often 9 months or so, compared to the 3-6 months for directly-required compliance activities. Initiatives directly tied to limiting potential data breach notifications are the most cited driver. Two technology examples are full disk encryption and portable device control.

PCI is the single biggest compliance driver for web application and data security -- I may not be thrilled with PCI, but it's driving more web application and data security improvements than anything else.

The term Data Loss Prevention has lost meaning -- I discussed this in a post last week. Even those who have gone through a DLP tool selection process often use the term to encompass more than the narrow definition we prefer.

It's easier to get resources to do some things manually than to buy a tool -- Although tools would be much more efficient and effective for some projects, in terms of costs and results, manual projects using existing resources are easier to get approval for. As one manager put it, "I already have the bodies, and I won't get any more money for new tools." The most common example cited was content discovery (we'll talk more about this a few points down).

Most people use DLP for network (primarily email) monitoring, not content discovery or endpoint protection -- Even though we tend to think discovery offers equal or greater value, most organizations with DLP use it for network monitoring.

Interest in content discovery, especially DLP-based, is high, but resources are hard to get for discovery projects -- Most security managers I talk with are very interested in content discovery, but they are less educated on the options and don't have the resources. They tell me that finding the data is the easy part -- getting resources to do anything about it is the limiting factor.

The Web Application Firewall (WAF) market and Security Source Code Tools markets are nearly equal in size, with more clients on WAFs, and more money spent on source code tools per client -- While it's hard to fully quantify, we think the source code tools cost more per implementation, but WAFs are in slightly wider use.

WAFs are a quicker hit for PCI compliance -- Most organizations deploying WAFs do so for PCI compliance, and they're seen as a quicker fix than secure source code projects.

Most WAF deployments are out of band, and false positives are a major problem for default deployments -- Customers are installing WAFs for compliance, but are generally unable to deploy them inline (initially) due to the tuning requirements.

Full drive encryption is mature, and well deployed in the early mainstream -- Full drive encryption, while not perfect, is deployable in even large enterprises. It's now considered a level-setting best practice in financial services, and usage is growing in healthcare and insurance. Other asset recovery options, such as remote data destruction and phone home applications, are now seen as little more than snake oil. As one CISO told us, "I don't care about the laptop, we just encrypt it and don't worry about it when it goes missing".

File and folder encryption is not in wide use -- Very few organizations are performing any wide scale file/folder encryption, outside of some targeted encryption of PII for compliance requirements.

Database encryption is hard, and not widely used -- Most organizations are dissatisfied with database encryption options, and do not deploy it widely. Within a large organization there is likely some DB encryption, with preference given to file/folder/media protection over column level encryption, but most organizations prefer to avoid it. Performance and key management are cited as the primary obstacles, even when using native tools. Current versions of database encryption (primarily native encryption) do perform better than older versions, but key management is still unsatisfactory. Large encryption projects, when initiated, take an average of 12-18 months.

Large enterprises prefer application-level encryption of credit card numbers, and tokenization -- When it comes to credit card numbers, security managers prefer to encrypt it at the application level, or consolidate numbers into a central source, using representative "tokens" throughout the rest of the application stack. These projects take a minimum of 12-18 months, similar to database encryption projects (the two are often tied together, with encryption used in the source database).

Email encryption and DRM tend to be workgroup-specific deployments -- Email encryption and DRM use is scattered throughout the industry, but is still generally limited to workgroup-level projects due to the complexity of management, or lack of demand/compliance from users.

Database Activity Monitoring usage continues to grow slowly, mostly for compliance, but not quickly enough to save lagging vendors -- Many DAM deployments are still tied to SOX auditing, and it's not as widely used for other data security initiatives. Performance is reasonable when you can use endpoint agents, which some DBAs still resist. Network monitoring is not seen as effective, but may still be used when local monitoring isn't an option. Network requirements, depending on the tool, may also inhibit deployments.

My main takeaway is that security managers know what they need to do to protect information assets, but they lack the time, resources, and management support for many initiatives. There is also broad dissatisfaction with security tools and vendors in general, in large part due to poor expectation setting during the sales process, and deliberately confusing marketing. It's not that the tools don't work, but that they're never quite as easy as promised.

It's an interesting dilemma, since there is clear and broad recognition that data security (and by extension, web application security) is likely our most pressing overall issue in terms of security, but due to a variety of factors (many of which we covered in our Business Justification for Data Security paper), the resources just aren't there to really tackle it head-on.

–Rich

The Pragmatic Data (Information-Centric) Security Cycle

By Rich

Way back when I started Securosis, I came up with something called the Data Security Lifecycle, which I later renamed the Information-Centric Security Cycle. While I think it does a good job of capturing all the components of data security, it's also somewhat dense. That lifecycle was designed to be a comprehensive outline of protective controls and information management, but I've since realized that if you have a specific data security problem, it isn't the best place to start.

In a couple weeks I'll be speaking at the TechTarget Financial Information Security Decisions conference in New York, where I'm presenting Pragmatic Data Security. By "pragmatic" I mean something you can implement as soon as you get home. Where the lifecycle answers the question, "How can I secure all my data throughout its entire lifecycle?" pragmatic data security answers, "How can I protect this specific data at this point in time, in my existing environment?"

It starts with a slimmed down cycle:

1. Define what information you want to protect (specifically, not general data classification)
2. Discover where it's located (various tools/techniques, preferably automated, like DLP, rather than manual)
3. Secure the data where it's stored, and/or eliminate data where it shouldn't be (access controls, encryption)
4. Monitor data usage (various tools, including DLP, DAM, logs, SIEM)
5. Protect the data from exfiltration (DLP, USB control, email security, web gateways, etc.)

For example, if you want to protect credit card numbers you'd define them in step 1, use DLP content discovery in step 2 to locate where they are stored, remove it or lock the repositories down in step 3, use DAM and DLP to monitor where they're going in step 4, and use blocking technologies to keep them from leaving the organization in step 5.

All too often I'm seeing people get totally wrapped up in complex "boil the ocean" projects that never go anywhere, vs. defining and solving a specific problem. You don't need to start your entire data security program with some massive data classification program. Pick one defined type of data/information, and just go protect it. Find it, lock it down, watch how it's being used, and stop it from going where you don't want.

Yeah, parts are hard, but hard != impossible. If you keep your focus, any hard problem is just a series of smaller, defined steps.

–Rich

Securing Cloud Data with Virtual Private Storage

By Rich

For a couple of weeks I've had a tickler on my to do list to write up the concept of virtual private storage, since everyone seems all fascinated with virtualization and clouds these days. Luck for me, Hoff unintentionally gave me a kick in the ass with his post today on EMC's ATMOS. Not that he mentioned me personally, but I've had "baby brain" for a couple of months now and sometimes need a little external motivation to write something up. (I've learned that "baby brain" isn't some sort of lovely obsession with your child, but a deep seated combination of sleep deprivation and continuous distraction).

Virtual Private Storage is a term/concept I started using about six years ago to describe the application of encryption to protect private data in shared storage. It's a really friggin' simple concept many of you either already know, or will instantly understand. I didn't invent the architecture or application, but, as foolish analysts are prone to, coined the term to help describe how it worked. (Not that since then I've seen the term used in other contexts, so I'll be specific in my meaning).

Since then, shared storage is now called "the cloud", and internal shared storage an "internal private cloud", while outsourced storage is some variant of "external cloud", which may be public or private. See how much simpler things get over time?

The concept of Virtual Private Storage is pretty simple, and I like the name since it ties in well with Virtual Private Networks, which are well understood and part of our common lexicon. With a VPN we secure private communications over a public network by encrypting and encapsulating packets. The keys aren't ever stored in the packets, but on the end nodes.

With Virtual Private Storage we follow the same concept, but with stored data. We encrypt the data before it's placed into the shared repository, and only those who are authorized for access have the keys. The original idea was that if you had a shared SAN, you could buy a SAN encryption appliance and install it on your side of the connection, protecting all your data before it hits storage. You manage the keys and access, and not even the SAN administrator can peek inside your files. In some cases you can set it up so remote admins can still see and interact with the files, but not see the content (encrypt the file contents, but not the metadata).

A SaaS provider that assigns you an encryption key for your data, then manages that key, is not providing Virtual Private Storage. In VPS, only the external end-nodes which access the data hold the keys. To be more specific, as with a VPN, it's only private if only you hold your own keys. It isn't something that's applicable in all cloud manifestations, but conceptually works well for shared storage (including cloud applications where you've separated the data storage from the application layer).

In terms of implementation there are a number of options, depending on exactly what you're storing. We've seen practical examples at the block level (e.g., a bunch of online backup solutions), inline appliances (a weak market now, but they do work well), software (file/folder), and application level.

Again, this is a pretty obvious application, but I like the term because it gets us thinking about properly encrypting our data in shared environments, and ties well with another core technology we all use and love.

And since it's Monday and I can't help myself, here's the obligatory double-entendre analogy. If you decide to... "share your keys" at some sort of... "key party", with a... "partner", the... "sanctity" of your relationship can't be guaranteed and your data is "open".

–Rich

Webcast on Endpoint Encryption Today

By Rich

I've been out at the Phoenix SANS event so I almost forgot to post this...

I'll be presenting on endpoint encryption from 2-3 ET today. The event is sponsored by WinMagic, and you can register here.

I'll be covering the basics of endpoint encryption- a little bit on why you should do it (I think most of you have heard me say "just encrypt your freaking laptops" by now), an overview of the technology, and enterprise concerns and best practices. I'll also spend some time talking about how to mix file/folder and full drive encryption.

This one is targeting people without much of a background in endpoint encryption and is mostly introductory material.

–Rich

Your Simple Guide To Endpoint Encryption Options

By Rich

On the surface endpoint encryption is pretty straightforward these days (WAY better than when I first covered it 8 years ago), but when you start matching all the options to your requirements it can be a tad confusing.

I like to break things out into some simple categories/use cases when I'm helping people figure out the best approach. While this could end up as one of those huge blog posts that ends up as a whitepaper, for today I'll stick with the basics. Here are the major endpoint encryption options and the most common use cases for them:

• Full Drive Encryption (FDE): To protect data when you lose a laptop/desktop (but usually laptop). Your system boots up to a mini-operating system where you authenticate, then the rest of the drive is decrypted/encrypted on the fly as you use it. There are a ton of options, including McAfee, CheckPoint, WinMagic, Utimaco, GuardianEdge, PGP, BitArmor, BitLocker, TrueCrypt, and SafeNet.
• Partial Drive Encryption: To protect data when you lose a laptop/desktop. Similar to whole drive, with some differences for dealing with system updates and such. There's only one vendor doing this today (Credent), and the effect is equivalent to FDE except in limited circumstances.
• Volume/Home Directory Encryption: For protecting all of a user's or group's data on a shared system. Either the users home directory or a specific volume is encrypted. Offers some of the protection of FDE, but there is a greater chance data may end up in shared spaces and be potentially recovered. FileVault and TrueCrypt are examples.
• Media Encryption: For encrypting an entire CD, memory stick, etc. Most of the FDE vendors support this.
• File/Folder Encryption: To protect data on a shared system- including protecting sensitive data from administrators. FDE and file folder encryption are not mutually exclusive- FDE protects against physical loss, while file/folder protects against other individuals with access to a system. Imagine the CEO with an encrypted laptop that still wants to protect the financials from a system administrator. Also useful for encrypting a folder on a shared drive. Again, a ton of options, including PGP (and the free GPG), WinMagic, Utimaco, PKWare, SafeNet, McAfee, WinZip, and many of the other FDE vendors (I just listed the ones I know for sure).
• Distributed Encryption: This is a special form of file/folder encryption where keys are centrally managed with the encryption engine distributed. It's used to encrypt files/folders for groups or individuals that move around different systems. There are a bunch of different technical approaches, but basically as long as the product is on the system you are using, and has access to the central server, you don't need to manually manage keys. Ideally, to encrypt you can right-click the file and select the group/key you'd like to use (or this is handled transparently). Options include Vormetric, BitArmor, PGP, Utimaco, and WinMagic (I think some others are adding it).
• Email Encryption: To encrypt email messages and attachments. A ton of vendors that are fodder for another post.
• Hardware Encrypted Drives: Keys are managed by software, and the drive is encrypted using special hardware built-in. The equivalent of FDE with slightly better performance (unless you are using it in a high-activity environment) and better security. Downside is cost, and I only recommend it for high security situations until prices (including the software) drop to what you'd pay for software. Seagate is first out of the gate, with laptop, portable, and full size options.

Here's how I break out my advice:

• If you have a laptop, use FDE.
• If you want to protect files locally from admins or other users, add file/folder. Ideally you want to use the same vendor for both, although there are free/open source options depending on your platform (for those of you on a budget).
• If you exchange stuff using portable media, encrypt it, preferably using the same tool as the two above.
• If you are in an enterprise and exchange a lot of sensitive data, especially on things like group projects, use distributed encryption over regular file/folder. It will save a ton of headaches. There aren't free options, so this is really an enterprise-only thing.
• Email encryption is a separate beast- odds are you won't link it to your other encryption efforts (yet) but this will likely change in the next couple years. Enterprise options are linked up on the email server vs. handling it all on the client, thus why you may manage it separately.

I generally recommend keeping it simple- FDE is pretty much mandatory, but many of you don't quite need file/folder yet. Email is really nice to have, but for a single user you are often better off with a free option since the commercial advantages mostly come into play on the server.

Personally I used to use FileVault on my Mac for home directory encryption, and GPG for email. I then temporarily switched to a beta of PGP for whole drive encryption (and everything else; but as a single user the mail.app plugin worked better than the service option). My license expired and my drive decrypted, so I'm starting to look at other options (PGP worked very well, but I prefer a perpetual license; odds are I will end up back on it since there aren't many Mac options for FDE- just them, CheckPoint, and WinMagic if you have a Seagate encrypting drive). FileVault worked well for a while, but I did encounter some problems during a system migration and we still get problem reports on our earlier blog entry about it.

Oh- and don't forget about the Three Laws. And if there were products I missed, please drop them in the comments.

–Rich

Upcoming: Database Encryption Whitepaper

By Adrian Lane

We are going to be working on another paper with SANS- this time on database encryption. This is a technology that offers consumers considerable advantages in meeting security and compliance challenges, and we have been getting customer inquiries on what the available options are. As encryption products have continued to mature over the last few years, we think it is a good time to delve into this subject. If you're on the vendor side and interested in sponsorship, drop us a line. You don't get to influence the content, but we get really good exposure with these SANS papers.

–Adrian Lane

Webcast On Tuesday: Encryption And Key Management

By Rich

This Tuesday I'll be giving a webcast for RSA on encryption and key management. It's heavy on the data center side; focusing on SAN/NAS/Tape, Databases, and Applications. Not much discussion of mobile or email, but a bit of file and folder (server based).

Here's the official description, and you can register here:

Encryption Considerations for the Enterprise

Business Trends, Impact, and Solutions

Government regulations and internal policies drive your need to secure information wherever it lives and travels. Get the facts on Encryption and Key Management technologies during this seminar series and Q&A featuring Rich Mogull, founder of Securosis.com, who will discuss:

• Why encrypt data? Where to encrypt data? What are the pros and cons of different solutions?
• What role should enterprise key management play as part of an overall encryption strategy?
• What is the value of centralizing encryption key management?

–Rich

When To Layer Encryption

By Rich

Sorry for the general lack of updates the past few days, but I managed to get sick while down in Mexico for a friend's wedding. No, not that kind of sick, just some flu I picked up from one of the many children running around. Aside from setting me back at work, it makes me a bit sad since my copy of Wii Fit showed up while we were gone and I've been too out of it to start my Nintendo-inspired workout regimen. Yeah, I'm just that geeky.

Enough of my personal life, let's talk encryption.

I used to joke about the client who once told me their management mandated "double encryption" on all financial information after a breach. In their case, they were encrypting their database and backup tapes. Not that there isn't a valid reason to encrypt databases and backup tapes, but the way they were implementing provided no additional security. Once those card numbers were encrypted in the DB, re-encrypting at the tape level added no value (this wasn't a case where they were encrypting the tapes to protect information not already encrypted).

But if we go back to the Three Laws of Encryption, there are circumstances where you might consider multiple layers. The most common case is encrypting for media protection, and simultaneously for separation of duties.

Full disk encryption is your best bet to protect yourself from information loss due to a lost or stolen laptop, but there are situations where FDE is not enough. It doesn't protect content from multiple users on a system- say the sensitive financials on the CFO's laptop from the lowly system administrator; nor does it protect content as it moves- say to a USB drive. File level encryption allows more granular control and protection in a wider range of circumstances. But since users are unreliable, and there are places (like virtual memory) where sensitive data can hide, file encryption doesn't obviate the need for FDE (or an FDE equivalent).

Thus file encryption is complementary to full drive encryption; each solves a different part of the data protection puzzle. With file encryption you can protect content as you move it off the laptop, protect it from other users (especially administrative users) on the same system, and encrypt data that's shared across a team using group keys.

Long term, file encryption will become more interesting as it combines with DLP. We are starting to see products that encrypt files based on their content, managed by central policies. Have something with a credit card number in it? It's automatically encrypted using a corporate key. While FDE doesn't need to pick and choose what to protect, over the long term file encryption (and DRM) will need to use content and context awareness to reduce the burden on users, comply with corporate policies, and improve the practicality of encryption.

–Rich