Security misconfigurations are security settings inappropriately configured or left insecure that put your systems and data at risk. Basically, any poorly documented configuration changes, default settings, or a technical issue across any component in your endpoints could lead to a misconfiguration.
Misconfigurations can occur due to a myriad of reasons. Modern network infrastructures are highly complex; organizations often overlook crucial security settings, including new network equipment that might retain default configurations. A developer might write flexible firewall rules, and create network shares for his convenience while building software and leave them unchanged. Sometimes, administrators allow configuration changes for testing or troubleshooting purposes, and forget to revert to the original state resulting in a misconfiguration. Some common security misconfiguration vulnerabilities are logon security, user account management, password policy, browser hardening, and legacy protocols.
Are there users in your network who don't change their password? Do your users have administrative privileges by default? Have you enforced secure authentication protocols across your network systems yet? Are you aware of these and other security misconfiguration vulnerabilities?
If you're not able to answer these questions, you should be reevaluating your cyber hygiene practices. A simple flaw like a default password or an open share can be leveraged by an attacker to thwart an organization's security efforts. Attackers could use malware and ransomware to exploit legacy protocols and open shares, as occurred in the worldwide 2017 WannaCry attack. It's better to be secure than have to fight a cyberattack.
Security misconfiguration vulnerabilities make your applications susceptible to misconfiguration attacks. These security misconfiguration attacks could be due to
The first step to preventing misconfigurations is to create an awareness and educate your employees in this regard. Some of the recommendations to preventing security misconfigurations will be to
It would be so much easier if a single software could accomplish all of our misconfiguration concerns. With Vulnerability Manager Plus' Security Configuration Management feature, you can detect misconfigurations, categorize and profile them and finally resolve them with the built-in remediation workflow.
Following are the components in which misconfigurations can be resolved with Vulnerability Manager Plus: