You've been blacklisted (Week 6)

 

It’s interesting to know that security comes in multiple forms. Who knew there was a plethora of ways that you can use security in the digital world. While not all security is adequate in terms of offering you the ‘best’, or there could be times when it’s not even effective. Before you come at me… it’s possible that some methods are now insufficient and no longer effective in the realm of modern threats.

A good example of this is blacklisting. Of course, the goal is to block out and deny the bad, so what’s the problem?  Here’s the thing, in order to block out the bad, you have to know what the ‘bad’ is. That’s the thing with blacklisting, you’re letting anything and everything inside on the premise that it could be ‘good’, until it’s not.

Let me explain, in today’s world, threats are evolving. Threat actors are coming up with more and more ways to combat increased security. If you are relying on blacklisting to keep out the bad, in my opinion, you are working with old information. Attacks change, and you can’t keep them out if you don’t know about them..... until it's to late.

Sure, this was a useful when threats and attack were slower moving, but this method is just not as effective anymore. Whitelisting on the other hand, can help make up for the unknown and uncertainty of evolving threats. It works by allowing only trusted apps or programs to run on your system. While there are some caveats to whitelisting, that’s for another day. 

This is a good example of how certain security measures that once worked, may not be effective in today’s world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Allow me to introduce myself....(week 1)

Hello from the void, A new college term is upon us, and the calendar year is almost over! Before I go any further, allow me to introduce myself: you can call me K, and as you can guess, I am a college student that is working on a bachelor’s in information technology. After 3.5 long years I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I got my love for technology when I used my first computer around the age of 5, alongside watching my dad rebuilding them as a hobby. Ever since I’ve been dabbling in the tech side, and self-taught myself HTML coding at the age of 12. While I haven’t done much with it after the myspace era ended, it can’t be that hard to pick it back up.   With that out of the way, I look forward to updating my blog and sharing the things I’ll be learning throughout the term -K
Read more

Hidden in the middle.... (Week 3)

Going to your local coffee shop can be a great place to not only enjoy a cup of coffee, but you can also get access to free public Wi-Fi. While that seems appealing and cost effective, it might be worth thinking about the security risks beforehand. When using public Wi-Fi, and not taking proper precautions, it’s possible for someone to intercept the information you are sending or receiving. This is referred to as eavesdropping or a Man in the Middle attack. This is a great way for threat actors to gain access to private information, whether passwords, emails, or even banking info. Essentially a person trying to gain access will digitally put themselves on the same path as you in order to get access, or this can happen by connecting to a ‘fake’ public Wi-Fi connection. While using this analogy is a great way to explain the how and the implications, it's worthy to note that this isn't just a 'free public wi-fi' type of attack, it can also happen on other unsecure connecti...
Read more

Staying ahead of the game (Week 2)

  As a person that uses technology and the internet on a daily basis, it’s mind blowing how vulnerable you and your data are. On a personal level or even as a business or organization, the vulnerabilities can have a big impact. With businesses, specifically those that handle secure data or private information, ensuring that you have some sort of protocol in place can help aid in better security. Vulnerabilities scanners can be useful when trying to help catch those pesky weaknesses within your system. In other words, they help you to stay ahead of the game. A plus is that some of them have the ability to check for a variety of things, such as missed patches, weak passwords, misconfigurations, and even outdated software. Not only that, it can help in the realm of maintaining overall compliance; especially if you’re working with sensitive information. This may be something people ‘may’ think they can skip over. In best practice it can actually be beneficial by prioritizing risks,...
Read more