Securosis

Menu

Research

DisruptOps: The 4 Phases to Automating Cloud Management

Rich October 29, 2018 No Comments

A Security Pro’s Cloud Automation Journey Catch me at a conference and the odds are you will overhear my saying “cloud security starts with architecture and ends with automation.” I quickly follow with how important it is to adopt a cloud native mindset, even when you’re bogged down with the realities of an ugly lift and shift before the data center contract ends and you turn the lights off. While that’s a nice quip, it doesn’t really capture anything about how I went from a meat and potatoes (firewall and patch management) kind of security pro to an architecture and automation and automation cloud native. Rather than preaching from the mount, I find it more useful to describe my personal journey and my technical realizations along the way. If you’re a security pro, or someone trying to up-skill a security pro for cloud, odds are you will end up on a very similar path. Read the full post at DisruptOps Share:

Share:
Read Post

DAM Not Moving to the Cloud

Adrian Lane October 29, 2018 2 Comments

I have concluded that nobody is using Database Activity Monitoring (DAM) in public Infrastructure or Platform as a Service. I never see it in any of the cloud migrations we assist with. Clients don’t ask about how to deploy it or if they need to close this gap. I do not hear stories, good or bad, about its usage. Not that DAM cannot be used in the cloud, but it is not. There are certainly some reasons firms invest security time and resources elsewhere. What comes to mind are the following: PaaS and use of Relational: There are a couple trends which I think come into play. First, while user installed and managed relational databases do happen, there is a definite trend towards adopting RDBMS as a Service. If customers do install their own relational platform, it’s MySQL or MariaDB, for which (so far as I know) there are few monitoring options. Second, for most new software projects, a relational database is a much less likely choice to back applications – more often it’s a NoSQL platform like Mongo (self-managed) or something like Dynamo. This has reduced the total relational footprint. CI:CD: Automated build and security test pipelines – we see a lot more application and database security testing in development and quality assurance phases, prior to production deployment. Many potential code vulnerabilities and common SQL injection attacks are being spotted and addressed prior to applications being deployed. And there may not be a lot of reconfiguration in production if your installation is defined in software. Network Security: Between segmentation, firewalls/security groups, and port management you can really lock down the (virtual) network so only the application can talk to the database. Difficult for anyone to end-run around if properly set up. Database Ownership: Some people cling to the misconception that the database is owned and operated by the cloud provider, so they will take care of database security. Yes, the vendor handles lots of configuration security and patching for you. Certainly much of the value of a DAM platform, namely security assessment and detection of old database versions, is handled elsewhere. Permission misuse is harder. Most IaaS clouds offer dynamic policy-driven IAM. You can set very fine-grained access controls on database access, so you can block many types of ad hoc and potentially malicious queries. Maybe none of these reasons? Maybe all the above? I don’t really know. Regardless, DAM has not moved to the cloud. The lack of interest does not provide any real insights as to why, but it is very clear. I do still want some of DAM’s monitoring functions for cloud migrations, specifically looking for SQL injection attacks – which are still your issue to deal with – as well as looking for credential misuse, such as detecting too much data transfer or scraping. Cloud providers log API access to the database installation, and there are cloud-native ways to perform assessment. But on the monitoring side there are few other options for watching SQL queries. Share:

Share:
Read Post
dinosaur-sidebar

Research

view all

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Totally Transparent Research is the embodiment of how we work at Securosis. It’s our core operating philosophy, our research policy, and a specific process. We initially developed it to help maintain objectivity while producing licensed research, but its benefits extend to all aspects of our business.

Going beyond Open Source Research, and a far cry from the traditional syndicated research model, we think it’s the best way to produce independent, objective, quality research.

Here’s how it works:

  • Content is developed ‘live’ on the blog. Primary research is generally released in pieces, as a series of posts, so we can digest and integrate feedback, making the end results much stronger than traditional “ivory tower” research.
  • Comments are enabled for posts. All comments are kept except for spam, personal insults of a clearly inflammatory nature, and completely off-topic content that distracts from the discussion. We welcome comments critical of the work, even if somewhat insulting to the authors. Really.
  • Anyone can comment, and no registration is required. Vendors or consultants with a relevant product or offering must properly identify themselves. While their comments won’t be deleted, the writer/moderator will “call out”, identify, and possibly ridicule vendors who fail to do so.
  • Vendors considering licensing the content are welcome to provide feedback, but it must be posted in the comments - just like everyone else. There is no back channel influence on the research findings or posts.
    Analysts must reply to comments and defend the research position, or agree to modify the content.
  • At the end of the post series, the analyst compiles the posts into a paper, presentation, or other delivery vehicle. Public comments/input factors into the research, where appropriate.
  • If the research is distributed as a paper, significant commenters/contributors are acknowledged in the opening of the report. If they did not post their real names, handles used for comments are listed. Commenters do not retain any rights to the report, but their contributions will be recognized.
  • All primary research will be released under a Creative Commons license. The current license is Non-Commercial, Attribution. The analyst, at their discretion, may add a Derivative Works or Share Alike condition.
  • Securosis primary research does not discuss specific vendors or specific products/offerings, unless used to provide context, contrast or to make a point (which is very very rare).
    Although quotes from published primary research (and published primary research only) may be used in press releases, said quotes may never mention a specific vendor, even if the vendor is mentioned in the source report. Securosis must approve any quote to appear in any vendor marketing collateral.
  • Final primary research will be posted on the blog with open comments.
  • Research will be updated periodically to reflect market realities, based on the discretion of the primary analyst. Updated research will be dated and given a version number.
    For research that cannot be developed using this model, such as complex principles or models that are unsuited for a series of blog posts, the content will be chunked up and posted at or before release of the paper to solicit public feedback, and provide an open venue for comments and criticisms.
  • In rare cases Securosis may write papers outside of the primary research agenda, but only if the end result can be non-biased and valuable to the user community to supplement industry-wide efforts or advances. A “Radically Transparent Research” process will be followed in developing these papers, where absolutely all materials are public at all stages of development, including communications (email, call notes).
    Only the free primary research released on our site can be licensed. We will not accept licensing fees on research we charge users to access.
  • All licensed research will be clearly labeled with the licensees. No licensed research will be released without indicating the sources of licensing fees. Again, there will be no back channel influence. We’re open and transparent about our revenue sources.

In essence, we develop all of our research out in the open, and not only seek public comments, but keep those comments indefinitely as a record of the research creation process. If you believe we are biased or not doing our homework, you can call us out on it and it will be there in the record. Our philosophy involves cracking open the research process, and using our readers to eliminate bias and enhance the quality of the work.

On the back end, here’s how we handle this approach with licensees:

  • Licensees may propose paper topics. The topic may be accepted if it is consistent with the Securosis research agenda and goals, but only if it can be covered without bias and will be valuable to the end user community.
  • Analysts produce research according to their own research agendas, and may offer licensing under the same objectivity requirements.
  • The potential licensee will be provided an outline of our research positions and the potential research product so they can determine if it is likely to meet their objectives.
  • Once the licensee agrees, development of the primary research content begins, following the Totally Transparent Research process as outlined above. At this point, there is no money exchanged.
  • Upon completion of the paper, the licensee will receive a release candidate to determine whether the final result still meets their needs.
  • If the content does not meet their needs, the licensee is not required to pay, and the research will be released without licensing or with alternate licensees.
  • Licensees may host and reuse the content for the length of the license (typically one year). This includes placing the content behind a registration process, posting on white paper networks, or translation into other languages. The research will always be hosted at Securosis for free without registration.

Here is the language we currently place in our research project agreements:

“Content will be created independently of LICENSEE with no obligations for payment. Once content is complete, LICENSEE will have a 3 day review period to determine if the content meets corporate objectives. If the content is unsuitable, LICENSEE will not be obligated for any payment and Securosis is free to distribute the whitepaper without branding or with alternate licensees, and will not complete any associated webcasts for the declining LICENSEE. Content licensing, webcasts and payment are contingent on the content being acceptable to LICENSEE. This maintains objectivity while limiting the risk to LICENSEE. Securosis maintains all rights to the content and to include Securosis branding in addition to any licensee branding.”

Even this process itself is open to criticism. If you have questions or comments, you can email us or comment on the blog.