A few months back RSA announced that they were breached. It was a serious issue (and still is), but nothing seemed to happen after that…or so we thought. Last week it was revealed that Lockheed Martin, a major US government defense contractor, was compromised using information gained from the earlier RSA attack. This marks the first and only confirmed incident to take advantage of the information leaked from RSA. Sure, we can stand on our soapbox and preach that nothing is safe – hide your kids, hide your wife, etc. But that doesn’t help anyone right now, you need to know what you should do at this very moment to stay a little bit safer. Well we’re here to help:
Pin Power
There’s a reason it’s called “two-factor authentication”, you need two parts to gain entry: something you have and something you know. The algorithm for keyfob generation may be compromised, but only you know your individual PIN. Buff up your policies to keep in check.
Educate Your Users
A good majority of compromised information comes from targeted social engineering. As odd as it seems, some people will just willingly give you the information you’re looking for without knowing any better. Take this opportunity to discuss the impact a simple question and answer survey could have on your corporation. And however tiredly cliche the phrase may be, it always resounds true, “Knowing is half the battle.”
Token Replacements?
After the Lockheed and Martin breach, RSA has begun to issue new SecurID tokens to customers. Well, certain customers. If you have “concentrated user bases typically focused on protecting intellectual property and corporate networks” then you may qualify for new keyfobs. Sound confusing? We don’t quite get it either. It seems like they might not be ready for a full recall of tokens and want to limit it for the moment. And beyond contacting your local RSA representative or calling the Remediation Program (1-800-782-4362), they don’t really offer an explanation of where to go from there.
Make New Friends
RSA isn’t the only security vendor. There are plenty more out there, but we’re rather fond of WiKID. Not only is it affordable and open source, but we’ll even help you implement the system! Besides, Nick Owen is secretly Alan Bradley. You might know him as creator of the greatest security program ever: Tron.
A New Horizon
In just the past few months there have been a number of high profile cyber attacks, with targets ranging from electronic entertainment to major computer security industries. This is both an exciting and scary time for the industry, long held security practices are now being put to the test and consistently failing. The online landscape is always changing and adapting, which is why you need to try your best to keep up.
