Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives

Re: Two-Factor Authentication: Quick Poll


From: Bret Ingerman <ingerman () VASSAR EDU>
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:52:24 -0500

Actually, I meant a token that needs to be in the USB port.  We use something called SecureID which is a hardware town 
that must be in the USB port in order to log in as admin.  Of course this means that admins must be a the machine...so 
it may not be worth the trade off.

  --Bret

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 27, 2012, at 7:50 PM, Joel Rosenblatt <joel () columbia edu> wrote:

The problem is that if the bad guys can get network access to your server, all they need is a valid ID and Password 
and they can access your server without every having to enter in the pin from the token

Once we verified that this was the case, we stopped using our RSA tokens for the windows administrators ... it didn't 
make any sense to force them to type in the pin when what we were really trying to stop was network breakins.

They are effective for protecting Macs

Joel

--On Monday, February 27, 2012 7:30 PM -0500 Bret Ingerman <ingerman () vassar edu> wrote:

What about using a hardware token for windows servers?  We use them for local admin access on our Widows and Mac 
computers.

 --Bret

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 27, 2012, at 7:22 PM, Joel Rosenblatt <joel () COLUMBIA EDU> wrote:

We do, but only for Unix admins - it turns out that it is provides no extra security for Windows ... you can log 
into a windows system from the network
without the second factor, so unless your worried about the bad guys coming onto campus and sitting in front of 
your servers to log in, you are using
"Security Theater" to protect your windows systems.

It (second factor) is effective if you have another choke point (like a database login) that uses the second 
factor, and it is effective to prevent
unauthorized logins to Unix/Linux systems.

My 2 cents,
Joel

--On Monday, February 27, 2012 8:14 AM -0500 "Sarazen, Daniel" <dsarazen () UMASSP EDU> wrote:

Hi All,

Quick Poll Please:


1         Is your campus using, or does it plan to use, Two-Factor authentication for its most privileged users 
(e.g., system administrators logging in
remotely)?

2         Do you think you should?

Thanks!

[cid:image001.gif@01CCF527.C41F7F70]

:: Daniel Sarazen, CISSP, CISA
:: Senior Information Technology Auditor
:: University Internal Audit
:: University of Massachusetts President's Office

:: 774-455-7558
:: 781-724-3377 Cell
:: 774-455-7550 Fax
:: Dsarazen () umassp edu<mailto:Dsarazen () umassp edu>

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Joel Rosenblatt, Director, Network & Computer Security
Columbia Information Security Office (CISO)
Columbia University, 612 W 115th Street, NY, NY 10025 / 212 854 3033
http://www.columbia.edu/~joel
Public PGP key
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x90BD740BCC7326C3




Joel Rosenblatt, Director, Network & Computer Security
Columbia Information Security Office (CISO)
Columbia University, 612 W 115th Street, NY, NY 10025 / 212 854 3033
http://www.columbia.edu/~joel
Public PGP key
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x90BD740BCC7326C3




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