Preventing Good People From Doing Bad Things: Implementing Least Privilege

In today’s turbulent technological environment, it’s becoming increasingly crucial for companies to know about the principle of least privilege. These organizations often have the best security software money can buy, with equally developed policies with which to execute them, but they fail to take into account the weakest link in their implementation: human nature. Despite all other efforts, people can sway from what they should be doing.

Preventing Good People from doing Bad Things drives that concept home to business executives, auditors, and IT professionals alike. Instead of going through the step-by-step process of implementation, the book points out the implications of allowing users to run with unlimited administrator rights, discusses the technology and supplementation of Microsoft’s Group Policy, and dives into the different environments least privilege affects, such as Unix and Linux servers, and databases.

Readers will learn ways to protect virtual environments, how to secure multi-tenancy for the cloud, information about least privilege for applications, and how compliance enters the picture. The book also discusses the cost advantages of preventing good people from doing bad things. Each of the chapters emphasizes the need auditors, business executives, and IT professionals all have for least privilege, and discuss in detail the tensions and solutions it takes to implement this principle. Each chapter includes data from technology analysts including Forrester, Gartner, IDC, and Burton, along with analyst and industry expert quotations.

What you’ll learn

• Why unlimited administration rights are a bad thing
• Why least privileges is a good solution
• Effective implementation of least privileges
• Least privileges on Unix and Linux servers
• Issues with Microsoft’s Group Policy

Who this book is for

The audience is segmented into three separate categories, all of which are clearly addressed and weighed-in on in each chapter: the auditor, the businessman, and the IT professional.

Auditor

The first segment are the information technology security auditors. They are the ones responsible for the analysis of technical, physical, and administrative controls in the organization(s) whose security is in question. Their work includes the auditing of data center personnel, computer equipment, all policies and procedures, physical and environmental controls, and back-up procedures. Because their jobs so heavily rely on established protocols for the protection of sensitive information, this segment of the market will find this book a must-read. Their main concern is making sure the companies they are inspecting are in compliance with regulations and are taking the appropriate measures to secure their information and the users accessing them. They will learn how least privilege is the only way to fully satisfy government security regulations, and it will give them necessary and cutting-edge information on how to correctly perform their jobs.

Businessperson

The second segment are the businesspeople. They are the ones who run the companies requiring least privilege. These individuals are driven by the bottom line, and are ultimately concerned with spending and returns on investment. While they may be interested in security and realize its importance, the motivation behind any decisions is saving the company money. They need this book because it will clearly outline the financial benefits of implementing least privilege. It will explain that, from a business point of view, least privilege is the only way to eliminate the misuse of privilege and avoid the extensive costs of security breaches, expensive audits, help desk costs, and costly hours of IT troubleshooting. They will read it and use it as a reference as they prepare financially for a more secure IT environment.

IT Professional

The third and final segment are the IT professionals. They are the ones who appreciate security for security’s sake. They understand the implications of a noncompliant environment. They are on the forefront of the company’s information environment. They manage users and those users’ privileges. They download applications, grant privileges to users, process information, store information, program, install software, perform data management, network machines, and manage the networks they create. They need and will read this book because it will expand their understanding of the concept of least privilege and apply it to the environment in which they work. They will learn how to supplement Group Policy to attain least privilege, how to protect their environments, and how to carry security throughout their enterprise. This book will teach them new ways to look at the principle of least privilege, and it will educate them with the information necessary to receive executive and financial backing to the projects that will secure their network.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Only IT Constant is Change
Chapter 2. Misuse of Privilege is the New Corporate Landmine
Chapter 3. Business Executives, Technologisst and Auditors Need Least Privilege
Chapter 4. Supplementing Group Policy on Windows Desktops
Chapter 5. Servers Are the Primary Target for Insiders and Hackers Alike
Chapter 6. Protecting Virtual Environments from Hypervisor Sabotage
Chapter 7. Secure Multi-Tenancy for Private, Public and Hybrid Clouds
Chapter 8. Applications, Databases, and Desktop Data Need Least Privilege, Too
Chapter 9. Security Does Not Equal Compliance
Chapter 10. The Hard and Soft Cost of Apathy
Chapter 11. Final Thoughts for Least Privilege Best Practices