Account Management v2
“If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked.”
Guide for Engineers, Analysts, and Leadership
Account management is a critical aspect of cybersecurity, serving as the first line of defense against unauthorized access. As Kevin Mitnick, the famous hacker turned security consultant, once said, "The weakest link in the cybersecurity chain is the human element." This guide will help you strengthen that link through effective account management practices.
These steps are a basic steps for remediation for Windows, OSX, Linux, AWS, GCP, and Azure. As tool change, remediation advice changes. This entry maps to the code or ID referenced in the entry. Please check back regularly for updates to this library entry.
Why It Matters
The 2019 data breach at Capital One, which exposed the personal information of over 100 million customers, serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities that can arise from poor account management and misconfigurations. The breach was primarily caused by a misconfigured web application firewall (WAF) that allowed unauthorized access to privileged accounts. This misconfiguration enabled an attacker to exploit the excessive privileges of these accounts, gaining access to sensitive data stored in the cloud. The attacker used these privileges to execute a server-side request forgery (SSRF) attack, which allowed unauthorized commands to be run on the server. The incident highlights how even small missteps in account management and security configurations can have far-reaching consequences, especially when dealing with cloud-based environments where the attack surface can be vast.
Robust account management practices, including the principle of least privilege, regular audits of access controls, and proper configuration management, are essential to prevent such breaches. Ensuring that accounts only have the minimal necessary privileges reduces the potential damage that can be done if an account is compromised. Additionally, continuously monitoring and auditing configurations of critical security tools like WAFs can help detect and remediate issues before they can be exploited by attackers. The Capital One breach serves as a critical case study in the importance of these practices, reinforcing that security is only as strong as its weakest link .
For engineers
Account Creation
As an engineer, your primary responsibility in account creation is to establish a secure and standardized process. Begin by implementing a system that creates unique accounts for each user or system process. This approach enhances accountability and simplifies auditing and troubleshooting processes.
Develop and adhere to a standardized naming convention for all accounts. This convention should be intuitive, scalable, and aligned with your organization's structure. For instance, you might use a format like "[first initial][last name]_[department]" (e.g., "jsmith_marketing"). Consistency in naming not only improves organization but also aids in quickly identifying the purpose and owner of each account.
It's crucial to resist the temptation to create shared accounts, even when faced with requests for convenience. Shared accounts pose significant security risks and complicate accountability. In rare cases where a shared account is deemed absolutely necessary, implement additional security measures such as more frequent password rotations and stricter access monitoring.
Privilege Assignment
When assigning privileges to accounts, always apply the principle of least privilege. This fundamental security concept involves granting users only the minimum levels of access—or permissions—needed to perform their job functions. As an engineer, you should work closely with department heads and HR to understand the specific access requirements for different roles within the organization.
Implement a system for regular review and adjustment of user privileges. This might involve creating scripts or utilizing Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools to generate reports on current user permissions. Schedule quarterly or bi-annual reviews of these reports with relevant stakeholders to ensure that user privileges remain appropriate and up-to-date.
It's imperative to avoid assigning administrative privileges by default. Instead, create a specific process for requesting and approving elevated privileges. This process should include proper documentation, approval chains, and time limits for temporary privilege escalations.
Account Monitoring
Robust account monitoring is essential for maintaining the security of your systems. As an engineer, you should implement comprehensive logging for all account activities. This includes successful and failed login attempts, password changes, privilege modifications, and any other account-related actions.
Leverage automated tools and scripts to analyze these logs and alert on suspicious account behavior. Set up a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system or use cloud-based security services to aggregate and analyze log data from across your infrastructure. Configure alerts for scenarios such as multiple failed login attempts, logins from unusual geographic locations, or sudden changes in user behavior patterns.
Never ignore or disable security alerts without proper investigation. Establish a clear protocol for responding to and documenting all security alerts, even those that turn out to be false positives. This practice helps in continually refining and improving your monitoring systems.
Account Termination
Efficient and secure account termination is crucial for maintaining the integrity of your systems. Develop an automated process that disables accounts immediately upon receiving notification of employee termination from HR or management. This process should revoke all access privileges, terminate active sessions, and archive or transfer any necessary data associated with the account.
Create and maintain detailed documentation for the account termination process. This documentation should outline step-by-step procedures, including which systems need to be updated, who is responsible for each action, and how to handle any exceptions or special cases.
It's critical to never repurpose old accounts for new employees, even if they're assuming a similar role. Instead, always create fresh accounts for new hires. This practice maintains a clear audit trail and prevents potential security issues arising from lingering permissions or access rights.
For analysts
Security Analysts play a pivotal role in safeguarding an organization's digital assets through effective account management practices. Their responsibilities extend beyond mere monitoring, encompassing risk assessment, anomaly detection, and compliance monitoring. Here's a comprehensive guide for security analysts on implementing the CIS control for Account Management:
Risk Assessment
As a security analyst, one of your primary responsibilities is to regularly assess the risk associated with each account type within your organization. This process involves a deep understanding of the organization's structure, data sensitivity, and potential impact of account compromises.
Begin by developing a comprehensive risk assessment framework. This framework should consider factors such as the level of access each account possesses, the sensitivity of the data it can access, and the potential business impact if the account were to be compromised. Based on these factors, categorize accounts into risk levels such as Low, Medium, or High.
It's crucial to avoid treating all accounts with equal priority. Instead, focus your efforts and resources on the accounts that pose the highest risk to the organization. For instance, administrator accounts or those with access to sensitive financial data should be classified as High risk and subject to more frequent reviews and stricter security measures.
Regularly reassess these risk classifications, ideally on a quarterly basis or whenever significant changes occur in the organization's structure or systems. This dynamic approach ensures that your risk assessment remains current and effective in the face of evolving threats and organizational changes.
Anomaly Detection
Implementing and fine-tuning anomaly detection systems is a critical aspect of a security analyst's role in account management. These systems serve as an early warning mechanism for potential security breaches or insider threats.
Start by establishing baselines for normal account behavior. This involves analyzing historical data to understand typical patterns of account usage, such as usual login times, commonly accessed resources, and normal data transfer volumes. Utilize advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to create these baselines and detect deviations from them.
Implement a multi-layered anomaly detection approach. This could include:
Login analysis: Detecting unusual login times, locations, or failed attempt patterns.
Access pattern analysis: Identifying sudden changes in the resources or data an account accesses.
Data transfer analysis: Monitoring for unusual volumes or destinations of data transfers.
Privilege use analysis: Alerting on unexpected use of elevated privileges.
It's important not to ignore repeated low-level anomalies. While a single instance might not warrant immediate action, patterns of minor anomalies could indicate a slow-moving attack or an insider threat gradually expanding their access. Implement a system to correlate and analyze these low-level anomalies over time.
Continuously refine and tune your anomaly detection systems. Regularly review and adjust thresholds based on false positives and missed detections. Engage with department heads and end-users to understand legitimate changes in work patterns that might trigger alerts, and adjust your systems accordingly.
Compliance Monitoring
Ensuring that account management practices align with relevant compliance requirements is a critical responsibility for security analysts. This involves not just meeting the letter of the law, but embodying its spirit to truly protect sensitive data and systems.
Start by thoroughly understanding the compliance requirements relevant to your organization, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, or industry-specific regulations. Develop a comprehensive compliance framework that maps these requirements to specific account management practices and controls.
Conduct regular audits of account privileges as a key component of compliance monitoring. These audits should verify that:
Access rights align with current job roles and responsibilities.
Segregation of duties is maintained, especially for sensitive operations.
Privileged access is limited and regularly reviewed.
Access to personal or sensitive data is restricted to authorized personnel only.
While automated tools are invaluable for compliance checking, it's crucial not to rely on them exclusively. Complement automated checks with manual reviews and interviews. This human element can uncover nuances that automated tools might miss, such as informal processes or undocumented access needs.
Implement a continuous compliance monitoring process rather than treating it as a periodic exercise. This might involve:
Daily automated checks for critical compliance metrics.
Weekly reviews of compliance dashboards and reports.
Monthly deep-dives into specific compliance areas.
Quarterly comprehensive compliance audits.
Develop and maintain detailed documentation of all compliance monitoring activities. This documentation serves multiple purposes: demonstrating due diligence during audits, providing a basis for continuous improvement, and serving as a knowledge base for the security team.
For Leadership
Leadership and managers play a crucial role in shaping and supporting an organization's account management strategy. Their responsibilities encompass policy development, fostering a security-aware culture, and ensuring adequate resource allocation. Here's a comprehensive guide for leadership on implementing the CIS control for Account Management:
Policy Development
As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to establish clear, written account management policies that align with your organization's security goals and compliance requirements. These policies serve as the foundation for all account-related practices and procedures within the organization.
Begin by assembling a cross-functional team to develop these policies. Include representatives from IT, security, HR, legal, and key business units. This diverse input ensures that the policies are comprehensive, practical, and aligned with business needs. It's crucial to avoid implementing policies without this stakeholder input, as doing so can lead to policies that are impractical, overly restrictive, or easily circumvented.
Your account management policies should cover all aspects of the account lifecycle, including:
Account creation and provisioning
Access rights and privilege management
Password and authentication requirements
Account monitoring and auditing
Account termination and deprovisioning
Ensure that these policies are written in clear, unambiguous language and are easily accessible to all employees. Consider creating different versions tailored to specific audiences, such as a technical version for IT staff and a simplified version for general employees.
Establish a regular review cycle for these policies, ideally annually or whenever significant changes occur in your organization or the broader threat landscape. During these reviews, assess the effectiveness of existing policies, identify any gaps or areas for improvement, and update the policies accordingly.
Training and Awareness
Developing robust account management policies is only the first step; ensuring that all employees understand and adhere to these policies is equally crucial. As a leader, you must champion a comprehensive training and awareness program focused on account management best practices.
Design your training program to be engaging and relevant. Use real-world examples and recent security incidents to illustrate the importance of good account management practices. Consider incorporating interactive elements such as simulations, quizzes, or gamification to increase engagement and retention.
Tailor your training to different roles within the organization. For instance:
General employees might focus on password hygiene and recognizing phishing attempts.
IT staff might receive more in-depth training on account provisioning and monitoring.
Managers might be trained on approving access requests and conducting access reviews.
Implement a regular training schedule, such as mandatory annual security awareness training for all employees, supplemented by quarterly updates or refresher courses. However, don't rely solely on scheduled training. Implement ongoing awareness initiatives, such as:
Regular security newsletters or bulletins
Posters or digital displays in common areas
Security tips in company-wide communications
Conduct regular assessments to gauge the effectiveness of your training program. This could include phishing simulations, knowledge quizzes, or monitoring for reductions in security incidents related to account management.
Remember, never assume that employees inherently understand security best practices. Cultivate a culture where asking questions about security is encouraged and where employees feel comfortable reporting potential security issues without fear of reprisal.
Resource Allocation
Effective account management requires adequate resources, both in terms of technology and personnel. As a leader, it's your responsibility to ensure that these resources are available and properly allocated.
Start by conducting a thorough assessment of your current account management capabilities and needs. This assessment should consider:
The number and types of accounts in your organization
The complexity of your IT environment
Compliance requirements specific to your industry
Current and projected growth of your organization
Based on this assessment, develop a comprehensive resource plan. This plan should cover:
Technology investments: Consider tools such as Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems, privileged access management solutions, and advanced monitoring and analytics platforms.
Personnel: Ensure you have adequate staff for account administration, monitoring, and incident response. This might include dedicated identity management specialists or security analysts focused on account-related threats.
Training and skill development: Allocate resources for ongoing training and certification for your IT and security staff to keep their skills current.
Regularly reassess your resource needs, ideally on an annual basis or whenever significant changes occur in your organization. Be prepared to adjust your resource allocation as your organization grows or as the threat landscape evolves.
It's critical to resist the temptation to sacrifice security for cost savings in account management. While it may be tempting to cut corners or delay investments in this area, the potential costs of a security breach far outweigh the short-term savings. Instead, focus on demonstrating the return on investment of your account management initiatives, such as improved efficiency, reduced risk, and enhanced compliance posture.
Remediation: On-Prem
windows
Remediation and Control:
Utilize Active Directory (AD) for centralized account management:
Implement Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to enforce password policies and account restrictions
Use AD Security Groups for role-based access control
Enable and configure Windows Advanced Audit Policy:
Audit account logon events, account management, and privilege use
Implement Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to manage local admin accounts
Use Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM) for advanced identity lifecycle management
Implement Just-In-Time (JIT) and Just-Enough-Administration (JEA) for privileged access management
Abuse/Attack Detection:
Configure and monitor Windows Event Logs:
Look for Event IDs related to account creation (4720), deletion (4726), and modification (4738)
Monitor for multiple failed login attempts (Event ID 4625)
Utilize Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) or Azure Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) for anomaly detection
Implement Windows Defender Credential Guard to prevent credential theft
Use Microsoft Defender for Identity to detect suspicious activities and advanced threats
macOS
Remediation and Control:
Utilize Directory Services (Open Directory or Active Directory integration) for centralized management
Implement and configure macOS Server's Profile Manager for policy enforcement
Use configuration profiles to enforce security settings, including password policies
Leverage Apple's MDM (Mobile Device Management) protocol for remote management and configuration
Implement smart card or Touch ID authentication for enhanced security
Abuse/Attack Detection:
Configure and monitor system logs:
Use
log showcommand or Console app to review login and authentication eventsMonitor
/var/log/system.logand/var/log/auth.logfor suspicious activities
Utilize endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions compatible with macOS
Implement and configure OpenBSM auditing system:
Monitor user authentication and authorization events
Use tools like Santa or osquery for continuous monitoring and anomaly detection
linux
Remediation and Control:
Implement centralized authentication using LDAP or Active Directory integration
Utilize PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) for flexible authentication mechanisms
Implement sudo for granular privilege management
Use SELinux or AppArmor for mandatory access control
Implement SSH key management and disable password authentication for SSH where possible
Abuse/Attack Detection:
Configure and monitor system logs:
Monitor
/var/log/auth.logor/var/log/securefor authentication eventsUse
ausearchcommand to query the audit logs for specific events
Implement and configure auditd for comprehensive system auditing
Use intrusion detection systems like OSSEC or Wazuh
Implement file integrity monitoring using tools like AIDE or Tripwire
Utilize SELinux or AppArmor audit logs to detect policy violations
Remediation: Cloud
Amazon aWS
In the AWS environment, account management is primarily handled through AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). To remediate and control access, start by implementing a robust IAM policy structure that adheres to the principle of least privilege. Create fine-grained policies that grant only the necessary permissions for each role or user group. Utilize AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts and implement Service Control Policies (SCPs) to enforce guardrails across your entire AWS organization.
For enhanced security, enable and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all IAM users, especially for those with elevated privileges. Implement AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) for centralized access management across multiple AWS accounts and business applications. Regularly review and rotate access keys, and use AWS Secrets Manager to handle sensitive credentials securely.
To detect potential abuse or attacks, leverage AWS CloudTrail to log all API activities across your AWS infrastructure. Set up CloudWatch alarms to alert on suspicious activities, such as multiple failed login attempts or unusual API calls. Implement AWS GuardDuty for intelligent threat detection, which can identify compromised credentials or unusual account behavior. Additionally, use AWS Config to continuously monitor and assess your resource configurations against your security policies.
Google GCP
In GCP, account management centers around Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM). To remediate and control access effectively, implement a hierarchical resource management structure using GCP Organizations, Folders, and Projects. This allows for inheritance of IAM policies, simplifying management while ensuring consistent access controls.
Utilize custom IAM roles to fine-tune permissions based on the principle of least privilege. Implement Cloud Identity for centralized user management and enable security features like 2-Step Verification and context-aware access. For privileged access management, use Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) to provide granular, temporary access to resources without the need for a VPN.
For detecting potential abuse or attacks, configure Cloud Audit Logs to capture all administrative activities and data access. Set up log-based alerts in Cloud Monitoring to notify security teams of suspicious activities. Implement Cloud Security Command Center for centralized visibility into security risks and leverage its Event Threat Detection feature to identify potential compromises or misuse of accounts. Additionally, use Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API to discover, classify, and protect sensitive data across your GCP resources.
Azure
In Azure, account management is primarily handled through Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). For effective remediation and control, implement Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to provide just-in-time privileged access, reducing the risk associated with standing privileges. Utilize Azure AD Conditional Access policies to enforce MFA and control access based on user, device, location, and real-time risk detection.
Implement Azure AD Identity Protection to detect and automatically remediate identity-based risks. Use Azure Policy to enforce organizational standards and to assess compliance at scale across your Azure resources. For more granular control, implement Azure AD Entitlement Management to automate access request workflows, access reviews, and manage the lifecycle of access packages.
To detect potential abuse or attacks, leverage Azure Security Center, which provides unified security management and advanced threat protection. Configure Azure Sentinel, a cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution, to collect data across your entire hybrid organization and detect advanced threats. Use Azure AD reporting and monitoring capabilities to gain insights into user sign-in activities and audit logs. Set up alerts for suspicious activities such as impossible travel scenarios, anonymous IP address usage, or unfamiliar sign-in properties.
Across all these cloud platforms, it's crucial to implement a comprehensive strategy that includes regular access reviews, continuous monitoring, and automated response to potential threats. Utilize the native security tools provided by each platform, but also consider third-party solutions for additional layers of security and cross-platform consistency. Remember that cloud security is a shared responsibility model – while the cloud providers secure the infrastructure, it's up to you to secure your data, identities, and access management.
