icastenetworks.com Blog

Single Points of Failure

Administrator — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:11:38 +0000

Do you have a single PC that handles critical business functions or data?

Is you data backed up?

What’s your plan to recover if your critical PC fails?

Consider a backup & recovery plan to help get your Business back up and running as quickly as possible after a systems failure.

Better yet, consider a proactive maintenance plan to try and get in front of problems before they impact your Business.

Don’t give away your secrets!

Administrator — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:14:07 +0000

Before you dispose of, re-purpose or sell any Computer or Network device, you must erase all sensitive data. Computer drives and network device configurations should be electronically scrubbed, to prevent compromise of your critical data and the security of you network.

See this CBS report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7-BcyFwQ7k for an excellent example.

Protect Your Data

Administrator — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 03:45:58 +0000

Hard drives fail, laptops get stolen, and files get accidentally deleted.

And when they do, businesses go under.

Consider an online-backup solution to protect your most critical business assets.

Icaste Networks provides data backup solutions that are safe in the cloud and protected by military grade security.

Desk-Discomfort

Administrator — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:11:22 +0000

A poorly configured desk/work-space can contribute to discomfort that extends well beyond the office location and work hours.
Perform a “workstation” assessment to ensure you have you workspace configured to optimally reduce physical stress.
A quick “Google” of “workstation assessment” will have you heading in the right direction.

WiFi – Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

Administrator — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:44:51 +0000

Business WiFi should always have 2 security zones:

1. Secured Business Zone (Private business use only)

2. Secured Guest Access (Internet access only)

Poorly installed & configured WiFi can expose your critical business data & resources to loss or theft.

Beware of any WiFi solution based purely on common "off the shelf" home office routers.

Home office routers typically don’t have the full features required to provide a robust & secure 2 zone environment.

‘Tis the season for Scam E-Cards!

Administrator — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:52:58 +0000

Beware of Scam E-Cards that will trick you into visiting a malicious websites and/or installing malicious software.

Keep an eye out for the following signs…..

· Unknown or generic source in the email "from" field, EG From a "Neighbor", "Secret Admirer", "classmate", randomuser@some-email or even yourself.

· Poor spelling or grammar in the subject fields or email content.

· Any attachments.

If the E-Card looks at all suspicious, just delete it.

Be vigilant, keep your anti-virus/malware and web-threat protection software current.

Home Office Routers: Don’t Default!

Administrator — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:36:28 +0000

Home office routers are just that, designed for home and “light” business use. As a consequence, the router default configuration usually errs on the side of flexibility rather than security. Usually this results in a “low” security setting that leaves the user at risk. Always review the config of a new router and try to lock down the security settings as much as possible.

Configuring the Cisco SA520 – Part 3: Initial Configuration

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:21:09 +0000

First things first, we have clear out any old config. This will give us a clean box on which to load the latest OS and start our config.

Step 1: Reset SA520 to Factory Defaults.

Per the SA520 Admin guide-

Press and hold the Reset button on the front panel about the security
appliance for about 10 seconds, until the test LED lights and then blinks.
Release the button and wait for the security appliance to reboot. If the
security appliance does not restart automatically; manually restart it to make
the default settings effective.

Step 2: Test Access and Login

The factory defaults will enable DHCP on the LAN. Set your laptop interface to DHCP, connect to one of the SA520 LAN ports with a regular straight through patch cord, and you should pull an IP.

Point your browser to 192.168.75.1, ignore the certificate warning and login with:

user= cisco

password= cisco

All things being well, you should see the config page below.

Configuring the Cisco SA520 – Part 4: Upgrading the Firmware

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:20:20 +0000

Purpose

Its always a good idea to upgrade your network device software to the latest stable release. This ensures you have the latest bug fixes and will provide you the best foundation for simple deployment and reliable performance.

Step 1: Download The Latest Software

The SA520 firmware is available from Cisco.com, but there’s a catch. Just because you purchased an SA520 does not necessarily entitle you to the latest OS release, so you will need a Cisco website account and you may need that account linked to a support contract for the SA520.

In the search results click on your version of the SA520, then click on “Appliance Software” in the next page.

This should present you with a download page, select the latest firmware version (2.1.18 at the time of this post), add it to your download cart, and proceed to download to a location of your choice. In this case the downloaded file was about 24MB, “sa500-k9-2.1.18.img”.

Step 2: Connect to the SA520 and upgrade the firmware.

Login to the SA520. The home page should have a “Firmware Upgrade” section on the right, click the “Install Updated Firmware” link, which will take you to the “Firmware & Config” page.

From the “Firmware & Config” page, scroll down to “Firmware Upgrade”, select “Browse” and navigate to the firmware file you downloaded in Step 1. Click the “Upload” button and follow the prompts.

The Firmware update can take over 5 minutes to complete, and the SA520 will reboot during the process.

When you login to the SA520 note the initial login screen may show the old firmware version, this may be due to web cache. Navigate back to the “Firmware & Config” page and check the Primary Firmware Version is set to the new value.

IOS Setup for AAA TACACS+

Administrator — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:41:37 +0000

Overview

IOS AAA config to force all login authentication, enable authentication, command authorization and log all level 15 commands via TACACS. A back door account is added to allow access only if the TACACS server is unreachable.

Only tested in LAB environment, use at your own risk.
Using Cisco ACS 5.1 TACAS+ Server
Authenticate using TACACS Server or local if TACACS server is unreachable.
Authorize Commands using TACACS server or none if TACACS server is unreachable.
Log all privilege level 15 commands to TACACS server

IOS Config

Setup Backup Accounts

! CONFIG AN ENABLE PASSWORD LOCALLY FOR BACKUP
enable secret 5 $1$TvWE$xzTLJBX/FVKeRrAgkgW7E/

! ADD BACKUP ACCOUNT, USED WHEN TACACS SERVER IS UNREACHABLE
username BackDoorAcc privilgae 15 secret MyPass

Setup AAA Options

! ENABLE AAA
aaa new-model

! LOGIN AUTHENTICATE TO TACACS SERVER, THEN LOCAL
aaa authentication login default group tacacs+ local
aaa authentication enable default group tacacs+ enable

! AUTHORIZE ALL COMMANDS LEVEL 0,1 ,15 BY TACACS SERVER
aaa authorization config-commands
aaa authorization commands 0 default group tacacs+ none
aaa authorization commands 1 default group tacacs+ none
aaa authorization commands 15 default group tacacs+ none

! LOG ALL LEVEL 15 COMMANDS TO TACACS SERVER
aaa accounting exec default start-stop group tacacs+
aaa accounting commands 15 default start-stop group tacacs+

Setup TACACS Server Details

! ADD TACACS SERVER
tacacs-server host 172.16.4.50 key ciscokey