Security Archives - Tendenci - The Open Source AMS Blog

2020-07-012020-07-01

Your Data Is As Safe As Ever

With Tendenci, your data is as safe as ever. All of our clients are now running on our latest software version T12.0. To stay on the loop and learn how our version bumps work, please visit Tendenci Lifecycle. For our Tendenci Community, please upgrade to our newest and polished version.

Check our Github changelog for updates and cool new features on your Tendenci site.

Stay in the now with news about Tendenci and about our latest software projects. Get inside information on release dates, software features and other happenings. Security is our top priority which is why your email will be kept confidential, and you’ll only receive a message when we have something cool to say. Much love and appreciation to our Tendenci Community.
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The puppy keeps your data safe.

2019-10-022019-10-02

A study shows connections between 2000 malware samples used by Russian APT groups

In recent years, many Russia hacking groups have emerged as one of the most sophisticated nation-state actors in cyberspace, producing highly specialized hacking techniques and toolkits for cyber espionage.

Hungry for Knowledge – Cybersecurity

Hey New York! Please join LACC and Seth Rao from SecReliant on May 8, 2019 for this breakfast seminar on cybersecurity. Including an overview of the most common forms of cyber threats, the presentation will introduce preventive strategies on how to protect your business and data.

With international companies such as Sony and Facebook being targeted by cyber attacks, customers see the safety of their data compromised on a global scale.

2018-04-252018-04-25

Security in the Tendenci SaaS Cloud at AWS

Cyber Security is based on Prevention, Monitoring, and Incident Response

Associations are part of the fabric of society. We take it seriously. And we also understand there are no “perfect” or “completely secure” systems. Not even air-gapped.

To guard our SaaS AMS clients’s sites we use redundant systems. These include SSL encryption, application isolation, containers, layers of AWS (Amazon Web Services) VPC, Security Groups, ACLs, Route53 DNS, custom AMIs, virus scanners, malware scanners, pentesting, auditing and more. All of these activities generate redundant logs which need to be monitored. To do that we run what is called the “ELK Stack” or now the “Elastic Stack“.

Network Monitoring with OSSEC Logstash ElasticSearch and Kibana

Cyber Security starts with Project Management

A Cyber PM, upon initial completion, never ends. It requires constant vigilance. The process of Cyber Security can be further explained as:

Architecture – Start with Security In Mind
Passive Cyber Defense – Systems that are in place
Active Cyber Defense
Cyber Intelligence Gathering
Response

** Note: There is a longer explanation on our site at https://www.tendenci.com/security/

There are many resources available for cyber security training. We encourage you to look them up and take an active role in keeping your web site, company, family and country secure from cyber attacks!

For the expanded full version of the basics of cyber security in the Tendenci SaaS cloud, view at https://www.tendenci.com/security

2018-04-122018-05-03

Keystroke Loggers are OS Agnostic

Keystroke loggers record every virtual keystroke you make. Have you run your security updates. (And Mac people? Windows people? I’m looking at you.)

From Microsoft:

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Hash: SHA256
********************************************************************
Microsoft Security Update Summary for April 10, 2018
Issued: April 10, 2018
********************************************************************
This summary lists security updates released for April 10, 2018.
Complete information for the April 2018 security update release can
Be found at
<https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance>.
Critical Security Updates
============================
ChakraCore
Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer 9
Internet Explorer 11
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 2
Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems
Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems
Windows RT 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 1511 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 1511 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 Version 1703 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems
Windows 10 version 1709 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 10 version 1709 for x64-based Systems
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)
Windows Server, version 1709 (Server Core Installation)
Important Security Updates
============================
Excel Services
Microsoft Excel Viewer 2007 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Excel 2007 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Excel 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Excel 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Excel 2013 RT Service Pack 1
Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Excel 2016 (32-bit edition)
Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit edition)
Microsoft Excel 2016 Click-to-Run (C2R) for 32-bit editions
Microsoft Excel 2016 Click-to-Run (C2R) for 64-bit editions
Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Office 2013 RT Service Pack 1
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit edition)
Microsoft Office 2016 (64-bit edition)
Microsoft Office 2016 Click-to-Run (C2R) for 32-bit editions
Microsoft Office 2016 Click-to-Run (C2R) for 64-bit editions
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3
Microsoft Office Web Apps 2010 Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office Web Apps Server 2013 Service Pack 1
Microsoft SharePoint Enterprise Server 2013 Service Pack 1
Microsoft SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 2
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Service Pack 1
Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 850
Microsoft Word 2007 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Word 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Word 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Word 2013 RT Service Pack 1
Microsoft Word 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)
Microsoft Word 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)
Microsoft Word 2016 (32-bit edition)
Microsoft Word 2016 (64-bit edition)
Word Automation Services
Moderate Security Updates
============================
Internet Explorer 10
Other Information
=================
Recognize and avoid fraudulent email to Microsoft customers:
=============================================================
If you receive an email message that claims to be distributing
a Microsoft security update, it is a hoax that may contain
malware or pointers to malicious websites. Microsoft does
not distribute security updates via email.
The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) uses PGP to digitally
sign all security notifications. However, PGP is not required for
reading security notifications, reading security information, or
installing security updates. You can obtain the MSRC public PGP key
at
<https://technet.microsoft.com/security/dn753714>.
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DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
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2017-12-192017-12-21

What a DDoS attack to an Association Looks Like

The following graphs show what a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on an association looks like. The names, rates and volume of the association have been blurred for security reasons. We are thankful to AWS for their own defenses in front of ours, which help us mitigate these issues.

responding to ddos attacks as best we can — active response to mitigate attacks

Note: The graphic above, is filtered for a 24 hour span for one client. The infrastructure is in place, and highly redundant, so we can monitor and keep our clients safe. For clients in the US or hosted in other countries (we have multiple Tendenci clouds as needed.)

Note 2: Make no mistake – If a bad-actor has the budget – they can and will purchase enough bots to take a site down. This is well documented. Even our resources at AWS are limited in what they can handle. Budget (yes BUDGET) accordingly.

2017-11-06

SSL Encrypting all Tendenci Hosted Sites

NOTE: This is a cross post. The original post is at: https://www.tendenci.com/news/ssl-encrypting-all-tendenci-hosted-sites/

To our clients. The above graph is a filtered subset of what is a *typical* day of network alerts. As the media has stated, the issue is quite real.

We greatly appreciate you and it is important to us that you remain safe. To further advance that objective in the current geopolitical environment, all hosted Tendenci sites will be encrypted going forward per our CEO.

Why? Because security. The Internet has changed and we must adapt.

Adapt? Remember when that Steve Jobs guy invented the iPhone and suddenly sites that were awesome the week before… well… they weren’t as awesome the next day? The. Next. Day. Technology is like that.

FAQs

Continue Reading: https://www.tendenci.com/news/ssl-encrypting-all-tendenci-hosted-sites/

2017-09-14

Equifax Breach via Apache Struts Framework

(This is a cross post from our CEOs personal blog. Note that Tendenci sites do NOT use Apache and the vulnerabilities in Equifax’s implementation of Apache Struts do NOT impact your Tendenci site. Still be aware that nothing is is 100% secure so stay vigilant and be prepared friends!)

As reported last Friday, the 2017 Equifax personal credit reporting agency had a data breach of 143 Million people’s identities. It started in May 2017 and is just now (August 2017) being disclosed. It is going to impact all of us. Sources:

From the second article on the Equifax breach linked above, this portion really galls me:

… not only are none of the last names tied to your Social Security number, but there’s no way to tell if you were really impacted.

It’s clear Equifax’s goal isn’t to protect the consumer or bring them vital information. It’s to get you to sign up for its revenue-generating product TrustID.

Earlier it was revealed executives had sold stock in the company before going public with the leak. We also found TrustID’s Terms of Service to be disturbing. The wording is such that anyone signing up for the product is barred from suing the company after.

The following phrase alone, if true, combined with Equifax literally trying to monetize their security errors, is what gives capitalism a bad name:

The wording is such that anyone signing up for the product is barred from suing the company after.

I have to believe the Equifax PR team is working for PharmaBro or Putin trying to make them look good in comparison.

Note: Equifax has changed the indemnification, but only under duress imho. Furthermore 30 days free credit monitoring by the company that released your data and then you will have to pay monthly still seems wrong. But to be fair, here is their update:

Questions continue to be raised about the arbitration clause and class action waiver language that was originally in the terms of use for the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products that we are offering called TrustedID Premier.
(Editor: well ya, duh!?)

We have removed that language from the TrustedID Premier Terms of Use and it will not apply to the free products offered in response to the cybersecurity incident or for claims related to the cybersecurity incident itself. The arbitration language will not apply to any consumer who signed up before the language was removed.
(Editor: but did you fire the person who did it in the first place?)

I get it. Nothing is secure. If the NSAs hacking tools get stolen and OPM loses all of the data on security clearance checks on our own people, then truly nothing is safe. I get it.

What I do not understand is a company as large as Equifax not being prepared for something like this. That Equifax did not announce it promptly. That Equifax executives sold stock before announcing it. That Equifax then attempted to indemnify themselves. That Equifax is using the crisis to sell a monitoring service that you have to pay for after 30 days. A service to monitor YOUR data that THEY lost control of!

This boggles the mind of a PR Professional.

The Internet was not built for e-commerce – it was built for knowledge sharing in a “walled garden”. Therefore keeping sites secure is not possible. Any security professional will tell you best practice is to white-list good guys (selective inclusion) as opposed to trying to find every attack and block it. Therefore the difficulty at a high level is primarily in identifying and blocking bad actors.

I hate to say it folks, but we are playing whack-a-mole with your identity and money. It will always be an uphill battle to maintain security on the Internet and you will never ever be 100% safe.

As reported by Black Duck (awesome people btw), the specifics of the attack on Equifax are currently easily exploitable on similar sites. This is like Hurricane Harvey – it’s not even close to over.

2016-09-23

Security Diligence Required to Prevent ePub or Mobi Javascript Hacks

Why Tendenci doesn’t support epub uploadS through the standard ui.

We love knowledge and knowledge sharing. And all of us read a lot – more and more on mobile readers. And yet the Tendenci software doesn’t support uploading epub files. First understand you have TONS of options to achieve your business goal and keep your site secure.

Free ebooks? We recommend you upload the epub to a resource like an Amazon S3 bucket or Dropbox and link to it from your site. That immediately solves the problem – you have a link to the resource on your site, just not “in” your site for safety and security.

Selling ebooks? Look at Amazon or Shopify or google it for tons of options. Even if the books are free, “selling them” on shopify will give you analytics and insight into consumers who are interested in your topic because they are being delivered to people next to other books!

As for the upload restrictions in Tendenci, here is why we are cautious:

While knowledge is great, security is more important. YES – TECHNICALLY YOU CAN PUT EPUB FILES ON YOUR TENDENCI SITE. But to do so your network administrator will need to do it for you for security reasons. The reason is that epub and mobi files can contain viruses or malware just like many other file formats (*cough* “Adobe flash” *cough*).

A book can have a code example. Depending on how your browser or e-reader “reads” that code example it may or may not execute the code. And that may or may not be malware. Typically the code itself would not be infected and would pass a virus scanner. Rather it would call another site and download a virus from that alternate location.

For more on the wonderful functionality that makes epubs more accessible, but also a security threat if not carefully vetted, visit http://epubzone.org/news/epub-3-and-interactivity

Two screen shots from the epubzone.org site are pasted below.

And examples:

To be sure I love learning sites that have code that I can use to learn with in my web browser. MOOCs are awesome. But Tendenci is not a MOOC. So our current system is not set up to allow uploads of epubs or mobi given the millions of people who log into hundreds of open source tendenci sites hosted or in the wild. We are just cautious.

And again – there are alternatives.

Upload it to a different location and link to it <– RECOMMENDED!
Sell it with a company like Amazon who takes care of all of it for you <– RECOMMENDED!
Have your Network Administrator upload it if you must. But if this is the case, why not just make it a PDF? <– NOT RECOMMENDED

PS – One part of being a hacker is you are frequently accused of being an “Eeyore.” This is tiring. And incorrect. Caution online is really – well – the teamwork of Q and Bond. Aware of current reality. Curious. The ability to think perhaps a bit deviously. To know what is possible – both good and bad – to protect you.