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Heartbleed Not Only Reason For Health Systems Breach
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Some Guy
Some Guy,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/29/2014 | 3:45:02 PM
Re: Like NSA & Snowden, data needs to be encrypted at rest
And if the CC data had been encrypted in the POS terminal the attack would have yielded ... nothing. We all agree it's inevitable. What we need to be doing is 1) defending against the obvious and known, and 2) deploying defense in depth, so that it doesn't matter if they get through. Encrypting data at rest and in motion is part of #1.

Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I do that."

Doctor: "Don't do that!"

 
AnonymousMan
AnonymousMan,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/29/2014 | 11:30:01 AM
Re: Like NSA & Snowden, data needs to be encrypted at rest
I disagree with your assessment of the Target breach.  Ram scraping malware wasn't created for Target, it has existed and been used in many POS breaches. that wasn't the point anyway. Ultimately, preventing breaches is damn near impossible.  No one said "do nothing". What I'm suggesting is that even if you do everything right (which is actually impossible in any sufficiently large organization), you still might get breached. Anyone who thinks their environment is perfectly secure either has a non-functioning business or is wrong. these  are going to keep happening and in fact it will get far worse IMHO.
Some Guy
Some Guy,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/25/2014 | 12:50:22 PM
Re: Like NSA & Snowden, data needs to be encrypted at rest
Target did NOT lose encrypted data; they lost clear text because of a specification error that didn't immediately encrypt it and because they didn't use whitelisting. Eventual vulnerabilities are no excuse to do nothing. Agreed that encryption is not a magic bullet. Yet encryption of data in flight and at rest needs to be the bare minimum starting point and we aren't even there yet.
eamonwalsh80
eamonwalsh80,
 User Rank: Apprentice
8/25/2014 | 11:10:26 AM
No excuses
While nobody is immune to these attacks indeed - there is really no excuse for not being able to update your security barriers once you know the nature and breadth of the breach on table. Heartbleed has certainly told you some serious markers on how not to handle data. Ultimately though, no amount of data security can account for the security habits and practices that a security manager of a big enterprise can put in process. Enterprise security (as outlined here goo.gl/a67V8i) may never be foolproof, but a lot of it is a matter of internal discipline and keeping an eye out. You must care about sensitive data your customer trust you with, for your own sake!
AnonymousMan
AnonymousMan,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/22/2014 | 4:09:00 PM
Re: Like NSA & Snowden, data needs to be encrypted at rest
it's symptomatic of every single large IT environment in existence.  NO ONE is immune. Not the banks. Not the Gov't, or their contactors. Not security companies.  And, not your organization. Encryption isn't a magic cure for breaches.  Target encrypted the data that was stolen at resta and in transit.  But at some point the data has to be in clear text to be useful, and whatever processes involved can be subverted. 
Some Guy
Some Guy,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/22/2014 | 9:24:31 AM
Like NSA & Snowden, data needs to be encrypted at rest
This is just symptomatic of no defense in depth. Data needs to be protected in flight AND at rest. And hiding behind a single Curtain Wall didn't even work in castles 600 years ago. Just like the NSA Snowden fiasco, CHS owes it to their patients, stakeholders and regulators to take irrevocable corrective action.
RyanSepe
RyanSepe,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/22/2014 | 9:02:21 AM
Re: Communication Gap
I agree with your last statement. But the risk can be lowered substantially through a strong security posture. However, as attacks evolve so must the protections and unfortunately the attacks are evolving faster than the patrol.
AnonymousMan
AnonymousMan,
 User Rank: Moderator
8/21/2014 | 6:54:01 PM
Re: Communication Gap
Neither would have netflow, unless their network traffic patterns are very predictible and/or the attackers were very stupid.  Often neither is the case. Let's assume each record was average 200 bytes and 10:1 compression.  Even a single file with all 4.5 million records would not be very big in the grand scheme of what often flows across a network. And that assumes the file wasn't split into smaller parts.

Sadly, the reality is that breaches are now just a part of life on the Internet.  Even organizations with relatively strong security can become victims if there is sufficient motivation. 
Marilyn Cohodas
Marilyn Cohodas,
 User Rank: Strategist
8/21/2014 | 9:17:45 AM
Re: What we do not know yet.
@aws0513 writes that "the only question that remains is in how transparent the organization leadership is in notifying share holders, law or regulatory entities, and the general public when a breach is identified."

Sadly I think that unless organizations are required by law to be transparent, the status quo will continue for a long time for all but the most security-focused businesses. It's a tragedy-in-the- making for healthcare not to be counted among them. 
Robert McDougal
Robert McDougal,
 User Rank: Ninja
8/21/2014 | 8:47:54 AM
Re: Communication Gap
Great points Ryan!

I would also like to point out that simply standing up a IDS would not have prevented or even alerted this type of attack.  Based on what I have read, the only way to have caught this would be to monitor netflow data and look for spikes.  

Most organizations, not just healthcare, do not have someone assigned to monitor the netflow data 24x7 so I think this would have gone unnoticed in many organizations.
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