DOD Bans the Use of Removable, Flash-Type Drives

The Defense Department has banned the use of removable flash media and storage devices from all government computers, according to a series of notices put out by the services in November 2008.

Real IT Problems In Virtual Environments

Originally, many of the problems plaguing virtual environments were licensing, support, and emerging technologies, but as more players have entered the field and active installations go live, these initial challenges are taking a backseat to emerging challenges.

Gartner Says Organizations That Rush to Adopt Virtualization Can Weaken Security

Virtualization offers organizations the opportunity to reduce costs and increase agility, however, if this is done without implementing best practices for security, virtualization may actually increase costs and reduce agility, according to Gartner, Inc.

Virtualization Security

More security attacks against virtualization software may be coming, according to IT security expert Ed Skoudis. He urges IT managers to make security a higher priority as server and desktop virtualization continue to carpet IT networks.

HHS Takes Privacy and Security Rule Enforcement Action

On July 15, 2008, Providence Health & Services, a Seattle-based not-for-profit hospital and health care system, agreed to pay a $100,000 "resolution amount" - not a civil monetary penalty - as redress for multiple incidents between September 2005 and March 2006, in which portable media containing unencrypted ePHI were taken off-site, left unattended and subsequently stolen. The ePHI of over 368,000 patients was compromised.

Black Hat Spotlights Virtualization, DNS Issues

LAS VEGAS (8/8/08) — The 12th Black Hat conference convened at Caesar's Palace last week, where the 4,500 attendees (a 12.5% increase over last year) heard about the security problems that will plague virtualized environments...

How To Root Out Rootkits

Find out how and where they hide, what they're hiding, and how you can (and can't) stop them.

VMs Can Hurt You

Recently Verizon Business released its 2008 Data Breach Security Report, summarizing the results of four years of forensic research into more than 500 security incidents. While it doesn't focus on server virtualization specifically, it does illustrate a lot about virtualization security as well.

2008 Data Breach Investigations Report

Data breaches. You've gleaned all you can from the headlines; now you have access to information directly from the investigator's casebook. The 2008 Data Breach Investigations Report draws from over 500 forensic engagements handled by the Verizon Business Investigative Response team over a four-year period. Tens of thousands of data points weave together the stories and statistics from compromise victims around the world.

Infrastructure Assessment

This evaluation questionnaire helps to identify key assessment areas within the organization for infrastructure management, enterprise log management, event management and virtualization. By completing the assessment, you and the professionals at TDI will gain a better understanding of your organizations needs and specific requirements.

SANS Technology Institute - Bill Johnson CEO TDI

Bill Johnson, CEO TDI
April 2nd, 2008
By Stephen Nortcutt

Bill Johnson, CEO TDI, was the first person in the industry, that I am aware of, to sound the clarion call that we might be vulnerable to attacks via the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC). That certainly qualifies him as a security thought leader, and we certainly thank him for his time.

SANS Newsletter

Hundreds of millions of devices are being placed on networks with built-in back doors. Printers, routers, computers, control systems, storage systems, medical devices, nearly every automated device has them. The manufacturers of these systems never told you how vulnerable you are.

2007 E-Crime Watch Survey

The Insider Threat Team has also teamed with the U.S. Secret Service and CSO magazine to conduct, analyze, and publish findings from an annual E-Crime Watch survey from research that was conducted to attempt to identify electronic crime fighting trends and techniques, including best practices and emerging trends.

Requirements for Virtualized Systems: Virtualization Management RFP

Listing of key features and values for a virtualized systems, virtual management RFI/RFP.

Requirements for Virtualized Systems: Log Management RFP

Listing of key features and values for a virtualized systems, log management RFI/RFP.