9 Small to Medium Sized Network Security Solution part 9

Project Deliverables

Other points of interest. Vulnerability assessments that include careful diagnostic reviews of all servers and network devices will definitely identify more issues faster than a "black box" penetration test.

Distinction between penetration testing and network security assessments:

A network security or vulnerability assessment may be useful to a degree, but do not always reflect the extent to which hackers will go to exploit a vulnerability. Penetration tests attempt to emulate a 'real world' attack to a certain degree.

Determine HW requirements for the proposed security solution:

I have the basic outline of what I used in terms of hardware.

1. Raspberry Pi B+ as compared to Pi 1 Model A+

A. Dual step-down (buck) power supply for 3.3V and 1.8V

B. 5V supply has polarity protection, 2A fuse and hot-swap protection (so you can plug/unplug USB without resetting the board)

C. New USB/Ethernet controller chip

D. 4 USB ports instead of 2 ports

E. 40 GPIO pins instead of 26. The top/first 26 pins match the original layout, 9 additional GPIO and 2 EEPROM Plate identification pins

F. Composite (NTSC/PAL) video now integrated into 4-pole 3.5mm 'headphone' jack

G. Micro SD card socket instead of full size SD

H. Four mounting holes in rectangular layout

I. Many connectors moved around

J. Same basic size, 85mm x 56mm

K. Same Processor, Broadcom So C running at 700MHz (can be overclocked)

L. Chipset Broadcom BCM2835 ARMv6

M. Processor Speed Single Core @700 MHz

N. Same RAM, 512MB @400 MHz soldered on top of the Broadcom chip

O. GPU Video core IV

P. Same power connector, micro USB

Q. Arch Linux

R. First 26-pins of GPIO are the same

S. Same HDMI port

T. Audio part of the A/V jack is the same

U. Same Camera and DSI Display connector

2. Wireless USB Network Adapter

3. Micro SD card with configured software installed

Determine SW requirements for the proposed security solution:

As shown in the specifications we are tied to the Linux OS. This works in harmony with our requirements for a low cost solution that is able to effectively address the security issues we are addressing. Arch Linux running dnsmasq and Snort became the acceptable security build for the Raspberry Pi unit.

Determine Configuration of the proposed security solution:

I successfully determined the configuration settings for any hardware software solutions that are deemed appropriate to the security solution.

Determine Administration of the proposed security solution:

I determined the basic administration requirements for the hardware software solutions that were deemed appropriate to the security solution, including future patching and maintenance, as well as reporting requirements to document its effectiveness.

Build the prototype of the proposed security solution:

I built the prototype as and place it into the test environment.

The Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi in a customized open case

The Raspberry Pi customized closed case

Outline steps to harden network security:

Document any further steps taken to harden the security of the implemented solution.

Vulnerability test new network security and report the result:

Reported on the solution’s effectiveness in mitigating risk.

Educate the public via blogroll: http://netaficionado.blogspot.com/ :

Report on the vulnerabilities and the proposed solution via website. Educate on existing threats and consequences. Provide details regarding best practices for any small to medium sized network. Follow new threats as they arise: New vulnerabilities: http://www.securityfocus.com/