From: Packet Man (packetman@altsec.info)
Date: Fri Feb 10 2006 - 15:57:01 EST
Derek Nash wrote:
> Recently I have begun to consider including data from a web usage
> analysis tool that has the ability to identify spyware downloads and
> phone home attempts to augment these manual efforts. I am wondering
> what others are doing in regards to spyware assessments and if anyone
> is aware a spyware "network scanner" that would allow me to look at a
> larger sampling of hosts on a network during these assessments.
My last intensive research into this seemed to indicate that
Sunbelt Software's "Counterspy", and I found it quite effective
in installations at my former day job.
Here's a comparison review:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/software/anti-spyware-reviews/index.html
Overall though, I think that "true" detection of any unauthorized
software boils down to three things:
1. Intensive audit of the system(s) (HIDS)
2. Network monitoring (NIDS, Sniffing)
3. Audit logs of the systems themselves
While use of products such as Counterspy are invaluable in
protection of hosts, they are inherently "reactionary" and
rely on detection techniques that are always going to be a
jump behind the leading edge attackers.
Therefore, I rely on a HIDS such as Osiris to do frequent
sweeps of the hosts critical files.
Then, I install a central logging client such as "Snare"
on the Windows hosts, and have ALL systems in the network
log to a tightly secured, central logging host. Those logs
are frequently scanned and analyzed.
Further, I use snort and firewall logs to keep track of
who is connecting to whom on what port. Those logs are
frequently correlated and analyzed as well.
One thing that helps much is to force browsing through a
proxy, such as Squid or its commercial equivalents.
I hope this helps.
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