Context Security

Received an email this morning notifying me that SANS OnDemand is running a special for the month of March.  20% off of any SANS OnDemand class.  As an added bonus, you could have me as your OnDemand Virtual Mentor (ODVM)

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at seth combined with this domain name.

Seth Misenar

Here is the text of the email, which includes the discount code of  STS_OD

To help you with your training needs, SANS is offering a Spring Training
Special on ALL courses in our extensive SANS OnDemand online course
library. Register and pay now through Thursday March 26th, 2009 and
receive a 20% discount on ANY SANS OnDemand course! Register at
http://www.sans.org/info/40138 and use the discount code "STS_OD".

For group or multi-course training needs, save an additional 10% on our
already discounted SANS OnDemand Flex Passes through March 26, 2009.
Check it out at http://www.sans.org/info/40133.

Not sure online training is for you?  Try any of our OnDemand course
demos at http://www.sans.org/info/40123.

With SANS OnDemand, students receive:
 * 4-months access to our 24/7 online training and assessment system
 * Full set of course books and hands-on CDs
 * Synchronized online courseware and lectures
 * Integrated assessment quizzes throughout the course
 * Access to OnDemand Virtual Mentors
 * Labs & hands-on exercises
 * Progress Reports

In today's economy, travel budgets are very tight and even justifying
money for critical training can be difficult.  Many students have found
SANS OnDemand online training and assessment as a great alternative.  It
allows you to receive the same high quality SANS training while saving
100% of your travel costs.  Furthermore, it allows you to learn without
leaving home or the office. You can train anytime, anywhere!

Check out what a few of our students say about SANS OnDemand...

 "I got more out of this course than I had with any of the other SANS
 classes that I participated in. The quizzes at the end of each
 presentation helped reinforce the information presented.  I couldn't
 fake it.  I had to know it and retain it." - Richard Gancze, OCI

 "It was like having the teacher right there. Having each piece of the
 lecture broken up into little pieces helped me retain the information.
 You guys did an outstanding job creating this program." - Robert
 Urbanowicz, Parkway Insurance Company

 "I have several GIAC certs. My highest exam scores are from when I use
 OnDemand training." - Brad Fulton, SMS Data Products

If you have any questions about SANS OnDemand, write to
ondemand@sans.org or call us at (301)654-7267.

And remember that every SANS OnDemand purchase earns you points towards
future OnDemand training! http://www.sans.org/info/40128

Be sure to tell your friends and colleagues about this great opportunity!

Kind Regards,

Kimie Cabreira
Director
SANS OnDemand

Full disclosure: I serve as a Technical Director and Virtual Mentor for SANS OnDemand (as well as Community SANS Instructor in general).

SANS OnDemand online training has extended the 25% off discount promotion that was being run at the end of 2008.  This is one of the steepest discounts I’ve seen for SANS training of any kind.  In the current economy, training without travel can certainly be amenable to those signing the checks for ongoing education.

This is, of course, a limited time deal.  You must register before 01/22/2009.

Use discount code: ODEY_08E

Please let me know if you have any questions about SANS training in general or SANS OnDemand in particular.

http://www.sans.org/ondemand/

In my role as Technical Director for SANS OnDemand, I will now be providing a monthly “article” (or at least some security oriented content) to the new SANS OnDemand Newsletters…  The first Newsletter is below:

************************************************************************
SECURITY TIMES SPECIAL

As a thank you for receiving our SANS OnDemand Security Times
Newsletter, you may take an additional 5% off our listed current
specials through December 26.

For single courses, see http://www.sans.org/info/35939 for our current
offer. Use discount code “T1_add5″ for a total of 30% off any OnDemand
course.

For groups or multiple courses, take an additional 5% off our lowest
listed pricing at http://www.sans.org/info/35944.

Check out our Free OnDemand Demos at http://www.sans.org/info/35949
************************************************************************
WHAT’S UPCOMING?

For courses currently being developed in OnDemand, take advantage of our
30% Development Discount.  For a full list of upcoming courses, go to
http://www.sans.org/info/35954
************************************************************************
EARN REWARDS POINTS

Receive one OnDemand Reward Point for every dollar that you spend for
SANS OnDemand training, including the OnDemand Bundle.  To begin
receiving reward points, visit http://www.sans.org/info/35959
************************************************************************
SECURITY TIP

Whether you are a small Mom & Pop shop or a multinational corporation,
your employees are almost certainly leveraging sites with user generated
content.  User generated content sites (e.g. Myspace, Youtube, Facebook,
Craigslist, Blogger, and Flickr) are routinely in the top 20 most
visited websites.

From a numbers perspective, it goes without saying that your
employees/colleagues/superiors, and likely you, are users of these
popular sites.  Although the most obvious risk posed by employee usage
of these sites is productivity loss [1], perhaps the more serious risk
is posed by the break-neck speed with which these sites are allowing
active user generated content and applications to flourish [2][3].
Therein lies part of the appeal, but so too, some of the risks. In order
for these sites to be useful, users configure their browsers to allow
this content to run virtually unfettered.  However, the risk posed by
active content isn’t the point of this article either [4]…

A somewhat less discussed “feature” of sites containing user generated
content is the significant information disclosure posed by users from
your organization.  Imagine, if you will, that you were being targeted
by an attacker.  Of course, _you_ aren’t being targeted, but just bear
with me… Perhaps you have really done a bang up job hardening your
perimeter, patching systems, etc., such that you feel relatively secure
in your overall security program and architecture.  If an attacker could
find a trusted insider that was willing to disclose details regarding
the products, programming languages, patch levels, etc., in use at your
organization, could it subvert some of those feelings of security?  In
effect, social networking sites are a veritable treasure trove for
attackers wishing to gain this type of intelligence.  What’s more,
sometimes they are able to gain this information without engaging in
even the most rudimentary of social engineering attacks.  For instance,
users with profiles on LinkedIn frequently list their resume, including
both specialties and employers, for the world to see.  This and other
information is like gold to an attacker. This type of information,
coupled with attackers armed with information mining tools like Maltego
(i.e., Rapleaf and Spock transforms) can really lower the bar for a
successful targeted attack [5].

Now that the little thought experiment is over, let’s think about the
primary assumption – you are being targeted by an attacker.  Some of you
fully accept this as a given, but most of you likely dismiss this
without much thought (we are too small, no one has heard of us, why
would anyone come after us).  Well, consider that restaurants in West
Monroe, LA (pop. 12,951)[6] were part of a group of restaurants in
Mississippi and Louisiana targeted by a ring of thieves harvesting
credit card numbers [7].  If something as innocuous as a family owned
diner can be targeted for an attack, then certainly any organization can
become a likely target.

The risks associated with websites, in general, and social networking
sites, in particular, are discussed in several SANS courses available
via OnDemand (AUD507, MGT512, SEC401 and SEC502).  The social
engineering and reconnaissance exposure made possible by these sites is
explored in SEC560.

For more info on these courses, visit:
AUD507: Auditing Networks, Perimeters & Systems
(http://www.sans.org/link.php?id=1032&mid=6)
MGT512: SANS Security Leadership Essentials For Managers
(http://www.sans.org/link.php?id=1032&mid=62)
SEC401: SANS Security Essentials
(http://www.sans.org/link.php?id=1032&mid=61)
SEC502: Perimeter Protection In-Depth
(http://www.sans.org/link.php?id=1032&mid=17)
SEC560: Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
(http://www.sans.org/link.php?id=1032&mid=937)

Seth Misenar
SANS OnDemand Virtual Mentor

1: “Facebook ‘costs businesses dear’ ” -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6989100.stm
2:  More than 33,000 Facebook applications -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/23/BU7C11TAES.DTL
3:  More than 400,000 registered Facebook developers -
http://www.facebook.com/press/releases.php?p=48242
4: “Elaborate Facebook Worm Spreading” -
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/07/elaborate–facebook-worm-virus-spreading/
5: “Maltego Part I – Intro and Personal Recon” -
http://www.ethicalhacker.net/content/view/202/24/
6: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Population Estimates -
http://factfinder.census.gov
7: “Attacks Continue on Retail Stores, Restaurants” -
http://www.darkreading.com/security/perimeter/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211201193