Windows AppLocker basics

Windows AppLocker is an inbuilt component of Windows 10 that allows you to do applications whitelisting. This is really good way to help minimise the chances of ransomware infections.

To use it in stand alone more or or with Group policy you are going to need to use Windows 10 Enterprise. However, you can use a tool like Intune to also manage AppLocker with Windows 10 Professional. For more details see:

Requirements to use AppLocker

The video takes you through the basic setup and operation of Windows AppLocker in a stand alone environment so you can get a feel for how it is configured and works.

In an upcoming post I’ll also details how to configure AppLocker using Intune via Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

CIAOPS Secwerks 1 is now totally virtual

In the face of continued COVID uncertainty locally I have decided to move the whole Secwerks 1 event online. The event will now be conducted fully using Microsoft Teams. Registrations are still open for the event starting on August the 5th, but now spread over 4 half day sessions to lower fatigue levels. You can register now and find a link to more details at:

www.ciaops.com

The event times will be during Thursday and Friday afternoons here in east coast Australia (GMT+10) and may not suit other locations. However, every business that registers will receive a copy of the recordings as well as the training materials. Registration is also now per business not per individual.

The Secwerks event is focused on giving you actionable information around Microsoft 365 as well as best practices, automations and understandings about how to improve the security of these environments. If you manage an Office 365 or Microsoft 365 environment, this, now, virtual event is for you.

I am working hard to add some unique sessions to the agenda and will be confirming those soon. Thanks to those who have already registered for being so accommodating in the face of this unexpected pivot but I look forward to seeing you at the event from the 5th of August 2021.

Security test script walk through video – Update 1

I have made some updates to my free security test script:

https://github.com/directorcia/Office365/blob/master/sec-test.ps1

The main improvement is the inclusion of a menu that allows you to select which test you want to run.

You can use the CTRL and SHIFT key to make multiple selections here.

The video also shows the results when the test script is run on a Windows 10 environment with Trend Micro and a Chrome browser.

Don’t forget to keep checking back for further script updates and improvements.

Windows Print Spooler Remote Code Execution Vulnerability–CVE-2021-34527

Information about this from Microsoft can be found here:

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-34527

At the moment one of the work arounds is:

Option 2 – Disable inbound remote printing through Group Policy

You can also configure the settings via Group Policy as follows:

Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Printers

Disable the “Allow Print Spooler to accept client connections:” policy to block remote attacks.

You must restart the Print Spooler service for the group policy to take effect.

Impact of workaround This policy will block the remote attack vector by preventing inbound remote printing operations. The system will no longer function as a print server, but local printing to a directly attached device will still be possible.

You can also make that settings change via Endpoint Manager and Intune.

You’ll need to ensure you have an Administrative template (ADMX) profile in the Device Configuration profiles. If not, then simply create one.

In that Administrative policy settings do a search for ‘spool’ or the like. You should find the above setting under \printers – Allow Print Spooler to accept client connections, which you should then set to Disable as shown.

if you then save the policy it should be pushed out to all machines. According to the CVE, you’ll also need to restart the spooler service as well. You can do this with the following PowerShell command once the policy has taken effect:

restart-service –name spooler

Perhaps a reboot is easier anyway?

You’ll need to be careful about potential disabling existing printing configurations with shared machines, so it will be best to monitor the impact just in case.

Hopefully, a patch will become available soon for this but even when it does, I think leaving the setting disabled in general is a good idea!

CIAOPS Need to Know Microsoft 365 Webinar – July

laptop-eyes-technology-computer

Last months attempt at using Microsoft Teams Webinars went well and I’ll be continuing to use this going forward. Registration for this month is here:

https://bit.ly/n2k2107

Shortly after this you should receive an automated email from Microsoft Teams confirming your registration, including all the event details as well as a calendar invite!

This month we’ll dive into email security with Microsoft 365, particularly the best practice configurations for Exchange Online. So please join us for this and all the latest news from the Microsoft Cloud.

You can register for the regular monthly webinar here:

July Webinar Registrations

The details are:

CIAOPS Need to Know Webinar – July 2021
Friday 30th of July 2021
11.00am – 12.00am Sydney Time

All sessions are recorded and posted to the CIAOPS Academy.

The CIAOPS Need to Know Webinars are free to attend but if you want to receive the recording of the session you need to sign up as a CIAOPS patron which you can do here:

http://www.ciaopspatron.com

or purchase them individually at:

http://www.ciaopsacademy.com/

Also feel free at any stage to email me directly via director@ciaops.com with your webinar topic suggestions.

I’d also appreciate you sharing information about this webinar with anyone you feel may benefit from the session and I look forward to seeing you there.

Security test script walk through video

I’ve create this video to give you a basic walk through of the free security testing PowerShell script I’ve created. You’ll find the script here:

https://github.com/directorcia/Office365/blob/master/sec-test.ps1

In the video you’ll see how to quickly get and run the script as well the results it generates on a stand alone Windows 10 device.

Apart from Windows 10, PowerShell and Word there are no special requirements and it can be used on stand alone, domain or Azure Ad joined, etc. It doesn’t matter. It is designed to help you better evaluate your security posture.

Is security working? PowerShell script

I was inspired by this article:

How to make sure your antivirus is working without any malware

to create an simple automated process to test security settings and alerts for the Microsoft Cloud environment. I have thus created this script:

https://github.com/directorcia/Office365/blob/master/sec-test.ps1

which you can download for free from my Github repo.

You can run the script by launching PowerShell and running

.\sec-test.ps1

You don’t need to run the script as an administrator or with elevate privileges.

The first thing the script will attempt to do is download the EICAR testing file and save it locally as a file called eicar.com.txt.

Your security should prevent this and that file should not appear on your machine, which the script will verify, as shown above.

Your environment should also generate some sort of alert. In my case, one such alert appeared in Azure Sentinel.

Next, the script will attempt to create a new file in current directory called eicar1.com.txt with a signature that should be detected by your environment.

The script will then check the local Windows Defender logs for mention of the file eicar1.com.txt. If you are using a third party AV solution you’ll need to manually dig around in the logs to confirm this action has been detected. However, if you use Windows Defender, I have done that for you as you see above. The results are returned in order with Item 1 being the latest.

The script will then check to see whether the file eicar1.com.txt has been created. In most cases, the file will exist but it should be of zero length ensuring the creation process was terminated. If the eicar1.com.txt file exists and does not have a length of zero, then you’ll need to take action.

Next, the script will attempt to do a process dump for LSASS.EXE. To achieve this you’ll need to have SysInternals Procdump in the currently directory. If procdump.exe is not located in the current directory, you’ll be prompted to download it into the current directory.

The script will then try a process dump of LSASS.EXE using the command:

.\procdump.exe -ma lsass.exe lsass.dmp

The dump process should fail as shown above.

The final check is to prompt you for an email address and then attempt to login to Microsoft 365 using this.

Doing so should generate a log or alert as shown above that you can view and verify.

The aim of the scripts is largely to check that your security configuration is correctly enabled and configured. Generally, all the tests here should fail and all should report some where that can review to ensure your configuration is correct. Remember, good security is not to ‘assume’ and never test, it is to regularly test and understand where to look for specific types of alerts.

As I come up with more things to test, I’ll add them to the script, so make sure you check to see whether I have updated it in the future.

Need to Know podcast–Episode 269

I’m joined by Matt Soseman from Microsoft to discuss all things security. However, before that, we take a look at the fantastic Youtube channel Matt has created to help share all his great Microsoft Security information. It is a source I regularly consult so I urge you to subscribe.

There is of course also Microsoft Cloud news to get through, including my thoughts on the newly announced Windows 11, so tune in and let me know what you think.

This episode was recorded using Microsoft Teams and produced with Camtasia 2020.

Brought to you by www.ciaopspatron.com

Take a listen and let us know what you think – feedback@needtoknow.cloud

You can listen directly to this episode at:

https://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-269-matt-soseman/

Subscribe via iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2

The podcast is also available on Stitcher at:

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ciaops/need-to-know-podcast?refid=stpr

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send us any feedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

Resources

Matt Soseman – Twitter, Linkedin, Blog