Skip to main content

Key Management Nightmare

I have worked in a few places where PKI has been deployed and managed manually. We have had major issues in managing the keys issued and the nightmare we had as we updated our key management systems. (excel sheets)

At one of the organizations I worked for, the system used a internally generated PKI for managing a large set of devices. These devices were issued certificates and are needed to connect to the server. This being an important and critical system involving devices all across the United States and Canada was such a pain to maintain as the certificates expire at different times and it was difficult to keep of track of expiring certificates, equipment that are pulled off the network and those that needs to expired for some reason. The main certificate server based on OpenSSL had the root certificate and the copies of the client certificates were maintained in a USB FoB key and locked away. The process is so contorted and involved two FTEs to handle this job on a regular basis (Even though the actual work load was low, it needed the two FTEs to be involved as and when required). If you thought the process end here, you are wrong, the CRL needs to be published on a weekly basis on to a F5 load balancers to take the load of the servers, but this is a regular weekly job and this data is to be updated on a regular basis.

The problem is mainly as a consequence of the CA being internal and not not being trusted on to the OSes that the devices run. To add to all these issues, every time a new build for the devices are issued, the certificates have to be reissued. This is because of the fact that the security policy of the organization mandates that all certificates should not be exportable!!!! Now don't we have a management nightmare here.

Would like to hear if some one has a similar system that needs to be managed and how they do it. Do drop in an email at blog at sridharkrish.com

For some one interested this is one great product to manage keys

http://www.venafi.com/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where are we headed ... A crystal ball into Cybersecurity in the next five years .. Are we ready?

  The future of Cyber Security: Trends and Predictions for the Next 5 years The field of cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and the threats are only getting more sophisticated. In the next five years, we can expect to see a number of trends emerge in the field of cybersecurity, including: The rise of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already being used by cybercriminals to develop more sophisticated and targeted attacks. As AI continues to develop, it is likely that cybercriminals will be able to use it to even greater effect. The increasing use of cloud computing. Cloud computing has many benefits, but it also introduces new security challenges. Cloud-based data is often more vulnerable to attack than data that is stored on-premises. The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is connecting billions of devices to the internet, which creates a vast new attack surface for cybercriminals. IoT devices are often poorly secured, making them easy targets for attack. The shor...
Post a Comment
Read more

Red Team Blue Team Exercises - A Roadmap to follow to test the efficacy of controls

  Scenario 1: Phishing Attack Red Team Playbook Day 1: Send out phishing emails to the blue team. Monitor the blue team's response. Day 2: Analyze the blue team's response and identify any vulnerabilities. Report the findings to the blue team. Blue Team Playbook Day 1: Train employees on how to identify and avoid phishing emails. Monitor for phishing emails. Day 2: Analyze the phishing emails sent by the red team. Identify any vulnerabilities in the organization's phishing detection and response processes. Develop a plan to improve the organization's phishing detection and response processes. Analysis The red team's phishing attack was successful in getting several employees to click on the phishing links. This shows that the organization needs to improve its employee training on phishing awareness. The blue team was able to identify and contain the phishing attack, but it took them several hours to do so. This shows that the organization needs to improve its phishi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shifting Landscape of Knowledge and the Nobel Prize

Our recent conversation sparked some interesting thoughts about the prestigious Nobel Prize and the distribution of its recipients across the globe. Inspired by a user's search history, we delved into the fascinating patterns and potential implications of who gets recognized for groundbreaking achievements. The initial point of discussion centered on the user's search activity, which revealed an interest in various scientific and technological topics, as well as a specific search for "Nobel Prize winners by country." This led us to explore the geographical distribution of Nobel laureates, and a question arose: why does it seem that certain schools and countries, particularly in the West, have a higher representation? We considered several factors that might contribute to this observation: Historical Dominance in Science: Historically, Western nations have often been at the forefront of scientific research due to earlier investments and established infrastructure. V...
Post a Comment
Read more