My current research is mainframe security as it applies to web applications. This is where the high hanging fruit (the golden apples) lie. If you can
a) fake or bypass authentication
b) fake or bypass authorization
c) spoof logging or otherwise destroy accountability
d) interact directly or indirectly with a deeply nested service of value
e) manipulate data to violate integrity (creation, update or delete)
f) view data (read)
you are most likely to pwn the high hanging fruit. It’s actually amazing to me how LITTLE information is available on securing this stuff, and how often products which are marketed as “enterprise ready” and “secure” are actually not worth running a faulty bidet let alone left in charge of multi-trillion dollar a day roles.
Then there’s the dumb architectures which often use clear text protocols, unauthenticated transfers (often using ftp or worse), batches with no integrity and no accountability controls, and so on. This field is amazing that no one has taken the time to really learn how to do it properly. It is not 1969 any more. The days when the data center was guarded and that’s how the punch cards arrived and the tapes left no longer apply.
However, there’s a few protocols and common transports which need some help first. I’m going to blog on those in the near term future.
Leave a Reply