About Us | Contact Us
View Cart

Alarming Recurring Finding

By Dan Hadaway | Tuesday, March 8, 2016 - Leave a Comment

“Mal-Configured Secure E-Mail . . .”


A new risk arises as Secure Messaging Enters the Late-Majority Adoption Phase!
Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . .


ServIcons_ITAudit_01

So we’re auditing a bank and they send us files using their shiny new “Secure E-Mail System” and guess what?  It’s not secure AT ALL.

Then we notice it happening at another couple of banks, and then at another couple of vendors, so now we’re worried: people are rolling out new systems that give them a false sense of security.

So because we’re seeing this rather often now, we need to get the word out:  If recipients are not authenticating to receive documents sent through these systems, you are probably fooling yourself (and your recipients).

As companies adopt secure messaging, they are either selecting the option–or it defaults to the option–that the recipient need not authenticate to retrieve the document.  Configuring the secure messaging system in this manner exacerbates the risk of a man-in-the-middle attack.

We’re seeing this primarily with Citrix Sharefile, but we’ve also seen it with other systems.  Based on our own experience rolling out several secure message packages, we fear this may be a reaction to recipients complaining that they can not remember their password.  While we understand forgotten passwords are an inconvenience, bypassing authentication is NOT an adequate solution.

With our vendors, we can’t really do much about it other than (hopefully) convince them to change their configuration and politely request they do not use it for our information until it is configured properly.  In the case of our Clients we hope that it’s caused by these systems being poorly configured by default, because if they’re intentionally bypassing authentication it means they’re not doing proper risk assessments prior to implementing a change!

 

malconfigured_e-mail_server

The above diagram illustrates what a man-in-the-middle attack looks like in this scenario. First though, here’s what should happen: When a new secure message is sent, the system will send an e-mail notifying the recipient of the message. The recipient then clicks on a link in that e-mail that takes them to a secure web page where they SHOULD have to authenticate to get access to the sensitive information.

What we’re worried about–the man-in-the-middle attack–happens when someone inserts an e-mail server into the path that does nothing but copy e-mail messages.

When you do not configure the system to require authentication, the man-in-the-middle has the same access to the sensitive information as the recipient, via the link that is sent in the notice.  Keep in mind this could be a person twenty years down the road who discovers the e-mail on a retired server.  That’s the problem with unencrypted e-mails: they can be available for years and years.

If the secure message system is configured to require authentication, however, merely having the link offers the man-in-the-middle nothing more than a login page. At this point there’s a good chance any would-be attacker will simply move on to a more attractive target–like an organization which HASN’T configured their secure message system correctly.

But a teachable moment arises here in this age of encrypting everything: data needs to be encrypted both in motion and at rest.  If you are not requiring authentication then you are only providing encryption when the data is in transit, when the link is clicked to download the sensitive information. While it’s good that the data is encrypted in motion ANYBODY IN THE PATH can download the information, which is kind of like not encrypting the data at rest!

This approach creates a false sense of security. Malicious servers in the delivery path will surely be adding those secure messaging companies who offer their product configured this way by default to their key-word search.

So please spread the word!  And, when you are sent a link to sensitive information that does not require you to authenticate, consider sending this article to the person who THINKS they are protecting information.


Original article by Dan Hadaway CRISC CISA CISM. Founder and Managing Partner, infotex

“Dan’s New Leaf” is a “fun blog to inspire thought in the area of IT Governance.”


same_strip_012513


 

Latest News
    Artificial intelligence carries risk, but so does organic ignorance … Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . . At a recent conference, I noticed two camps emerging in the debate over artificial intelligence. Some people embrace AI as a tool, while others support Elon […]
    PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BUSINESS NEWS NEW EMPLOYEE FOR INFOTEX We are pleased to announce the appointment of Nathan Taylor as our new Network Administrator at infotex.  “We are very excited to have Nathan join our team as a Network Administrator and look forward to his contributions to maintaining and improving our infrastructure!” […]
    about artificial intelligence . . . And who will protect us from it . . .  Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . . Just watched some press on the the Senate hearings over regulating AI. The normal senator faces, Sam Altman of OpenAI, […]
    The Evolution of an Inside Term Used in our Vendor Risk Report Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . . Those who audit infotex know that our vendor risk report refers to a couple of our providers as “ransomware companies.” This reference started evolving […]
    Another awareness poster for YOUR customers (and users). Now that we have our own employees aware, maybe it’s time to start posting content for our customers! Check out posters.infotex.com for the whole collection! Download the large versions here: Awareness Poster (Portrait) Awareness Poster (Landscape) You are welcome to print out and distribute this around your […]
    New tools could allow unskilled attackers to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks… An article review. Imagine a world where you receive a call from your boss asking you to assist them with something… only it’s not your boss, but an AI being used by an attacker.  This isn’t science fiction, it’s an actual attack that has […]
    Unavailability Strikes Where it doesn’t matter anyway Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . . So, I’m writing today’s article from a resort in the middle of Wisconsin.  I want to make sure I’m staying on top of my New Leaf, which is to […]
    . . . and the importance of segregated response. The latest edition of Executive Vice President, Michael Hartke’s article series! In 2007 when I first joined infotex, coming from small to medium sized business general IT support into the world of cybersecurity, the one thing that was very hard for me to internally rectify was […]
    How concerts can help us understand APTs . . . Especially if you use your imagination! Another one of those Dan’s New Leaf Posts, meant to inspire thought about IT Governance . . . . My daughter reminded me of a concert Stacey and I attended way back in 2013, in Chicago.  It was one […]
    Mutiny! The Malicious Insider Threat Webinar Registration A Webinar-Video It is often awkward to bring up the one attack vector most of us have not addressed. The malicious insider threat. Even if we can flaunt all statistics and claim that the likelihood of an insider attack is low in our bank, the impact is still […]