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Segmenting Administrative Activities: 4 Options to Meet CIS Control 12.8

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As organizations work to strengthen their cybersecurity posture, the CIS Critical Security Controls provide an excellent framework to build upon. In the latest Version 8 of the Controls, Control 12 focuses on establishing, implementing, and actively managing network devices to prevent attackers from exploiting vulnerable access points.

Within Control 12, Safeguard 12.8 specifically calls for enterprises to “segment administrative activities to dedicated machines, accounts, and networks.” This is critical for reducing the risk of credential compromise and lateral movement if an admin account is breached. But how exactly can organizations go about meeting this Control? Let’s look at four potential approaches.

 1. Dedicated Admin Workstations

One straightforward option is to provision separate physical workstations that are used exclusively for administrative tasks. These admin workstations should be hardened with strict security configurations and have limited network access. Ideally, they would have no direct internet connectivity and be logically separated from the primary corporate network.

Activities like managing network devices, administering user accounts, and accessing sensitive databases should only be performed from these dedicated and secured admin workstations. This greatly reduces the attack surface and opportunity for threats to compromise admin credentials.[1][2][3][8]

 2. Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs)

A similar but more formalized approach is to implement Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs). These are specially-configured systems that admins must log into to perform their privileged duties.

PAWs enforce strong authentication requirements, have limited internet access, and are tightly restricted in what applications and activities are allowed. They are typically used for the most sensitive admin functions like domain administration, server management, and access to confidential data. Microsoft provides extensive guidance on designing and deploying PAWs.[2][8]

 3. Jump Servers / Bastion Hosts

Another architectural option to segment administrative activities is to deploy hardened “jump servers” or “bastion hosts.” These are intermediary servers that admins must first connect to before accessing infrastructure systems and devices.

All administrative connections and activities are proxied through these closely monitored jump servers. Admins authenticate to the jump host first, then connect to target devices from there. This allows strict control and audit of administrative access without directly exposing infrastructure to potential threats.[3]

 4. Virtual Admin Environments

Virtualization and cloud technologies provide additional opportunities to segment admin activities. Organizations can provision logically isolated virtual networks, VPCs, virtual desktops, and other environments dedicated to administrative functions.

These virtual admin environments allow strict control over configurations, access, and permissions. They can be dynamically provisioned and decommissioned as needed. Admin activities like server management, network device configuration, and database administration can be performed within these controlled virtual environments, separated from general user access and systems.[8]

 Choosing the Right Approach

The optimal approach to meeting CIS Control 12.8 will depend on each organization’s unique network architecture, admin use cases, and risk considerations. Larger enterprises may utilize a combination of PAWs, jump servers, and virtual admin networks, while a smaller organization may find that a simple deployment of dedicated admin workstations meets their needs.

The key is to analyze administrative activities, determine appropriate segmentation, and enforce strict controls around privileged access. By doing so, organizations can significantly mitigate the risk and potential impact of compromised admin credentials.

Proper administrative segmentation is just one of many important security considerations covered in the CIS Critical Security Controls. But it’s an area where many organizations have room for improvement. Assessing current admin practices and determining how to further isolate and protect those privileged functions is well worth the effort to strengthen your overall security posture.

Citations:
[1] https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/13705336/b11ecb11-ff34-4836-80b0-0b302497c10d/advice.pdf
[2] https://www.swarthmore.edu/writing/how-do-i-write-a-compelling-conclusion
[3] https://paper.bobylive.com/Security/CIS/CIS_Controls_v8_Guide.pdf
[4] https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-conclusion
[5] https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/v8
[6] https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/cis-controls-navigator
[7] https://www.armis.com/blog/see-whats-new-in-cis-critical-security-control-12-version-8/
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaQTv8bItLk&t=78
[9] https://sprinto.com/blog/cis-controls/
[10] https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/introductions/
[11] https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
[12] https://www.mytutor.co.uk/blog/students/craft-excellent-conclusion/
[13] https://www.semrush.com/goodcontent/content-marketing-blog/how-to-write-an-introduction/
[14] https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/write-stronger-introductions
[15] https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/what-best-practices-writing-introduction-engages
[16] https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/09/08/how-to-write-an-introduction
[17] https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/1rjdyj/tips_on_writing_a_great_essay_conclusion/
[18] https://controls-assessment-specification.readthedocs.io/en/stable/control-12/index.html
[19] https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/conclusions
[20] https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/argument_papers/conclusions.html

 

* AI tools were used as a research assistant for this content.

Segmenting With MSI MachineTruth

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Many organizations struggle to implement network segmentation and secure network enclaves for servers, industrial controls, SCADA or regulated data. MicroSolved, Inc. (“MSI”) has been helping clients solve information security challenges for nearly twenty-five years on a global scale. In helping our clients segment their networks and protect their traffic flows, we identified a better approach to solving this often untenable problem.

That approach, called MachineTruth™, leverages our proprietary machine learning and data analytics platform to support our industry leading team of experts throughout the process. Our team leverages offline analysis of configuration files, net flow and traffic patterns to simplify the challenge. Instead of manual review by teams of network and systems administrators, MachineTruth takes automated deep dives into the data to provide real insights into how to segment, where to segment, what filtering rules need to be established and how those rules are functioning as they come online.

Our experts then work with your network and security teams, or one of our select MachineTruth Implementation Partners, to guide them through the process of installing and configuring filtering devices, detection tools and applications needed to support the segmentation changes. As the enclaves start to take shape, ongoing oversight is performed by the MSI team, via continual analytics and modeling throughout the segmentation effort. As the data analysis and implementation processes proceed, the controls and rules are optimized and transitioned to steady state maintenance.

Lastly, the MSI team works with the segmentation stakeholders to document, socialize and transfer knowledge to those who will manage and support the newly segmented network and its various enclaves for the long term. This last step is critical to ensuring that the network changes and segmentation initiatives remain in place in the future.

This data-focused, machine learning-based approach enables segmentation for even the most complex of environments. It has been used to successfully save hundreds of man-years of labor and millions of dollars in overhead costs. It has reduced the time to segment international networks from years to months, while significantly raising the quality and security of the new environments. It has accomplished these feats, all while reducing network downtime, outages and potentially dangerous misconfiguration issues.

If your organization is considering or in the process of performing network segmentation for your critical data, you should take a look at the MachineTruth approach from MSI. It could mean the difference between success and struggle for this critical initiative.