A Mac or iPad appearing on your organization’s network may not be cause for concern at first. But when did it join the network? What is it doing? Is it the only one? These questions can help discern a benign connected device from a malicious product trying to infiltrate an organization.
"The number of unmanaged devices has pretty much exploded in the last five years," said the head of threat research at Awake Security. More people are connecting to corporate networks with devices that are not managed to the level you might expect corporate infrastructure and devices to be managed. This is a growing problem, in large part because most Internet of Things (IoT) device traffic is unencrypted. "There's so much information that gets shared, whether that's internal to internal, or internal to external, that's just completely in the clear," says Awake Security.
Since the pandemic closed offices and businesses in early 2020, people are bringing business data onto home networks, ensuring data security is even more important. About a year ago, the Awake Security team hypothesized they would be able to analyze the behavior of a device and, in doing so, distinguish IoT and operational technology (OT) devices from mobile devices, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) systems, corporate infrastructure, and enterprise devices. They not only learned this was possible but discovered numerous ways these connected devices put businesses at risk.
Enterprise devices the laptops and desktops used to access business services typically use corporate authentication mechanisms. They usually have uniform naming schemes so IT and security groups can understand who is using what, and they generally use many applications. These are on the network for long periods of time; while they may close at night or in between meetings, there will be a significant stretch between their first and last appearances.[1]
BYOD systems overlap with enterprise devices but generally do not use corporate authentication mechanisms for servers and services. They will have several naming schemes "Jen's Macbook Pro," for example and you will notice several device models. Like corporate devices, they use many applications but are unmanaged and often do things like use personal email accounts or visit gaming sites. Similarly, mobile devices do not use corporate authentication, have various naming schemes, and move around a lot. Some might have more than 100 access points in a couple of months.
Corporate infrastructure includes things that serve the services businesses use: Active Directory, DNS, and access points. These exist for long periods of time, generally do not use the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) because they are high value assets and have the same IP address consistently. They use few to zero applications.
IoT and OT encompasses a large category of smart devices and are not usually known to, or managed by, the business because they do not go through IT and security to be on a network. These devices do not match any of the aforementioned profiles. Teams may notice unparsed protocols sometimes in mainstream devices or frequently in custom devices. IoT and OT products often learn about their environments via multicast. Some have specific naming schemes, like smart speakers and cameras. Some appear in large number, like smart cameras or TVs.
The researchers' study found some cases in which malicious devices were infiltrating enterprise networks. In one utility company, for example, the researchers found a clue, a small device. It was the only one on the network, "which is a pretty good red flag when we're talking about these kinds of things," said Awake Security. It appeared two months into observing this network, was enumerating the network, and was accessible via SSH. All of these were indicators saying this should not be on the network and something was going on. In another case, there was a rogue on the network of a consumer financial institution, which generally was not a place where you would expect to see a non-standard device. The device was tunneling all of its traffic via remote access tool TeamViewer, which was a surprise to the researchers.
In some cases, the devices discovered were not malicious but could introduce serious compliance issues for the organization and foreshadow future attacks. The study described an organization in which exercise bikes were regularly beaconing out log information back to their home bases. These logs included account names, passwords, station names, and MAC addresses. The body of the message had users' email addresses, ages, weights, heights, and social media profiles. The logs were on an ICS network and sending logs unencrypted over the Internet, unknown to the IT and security team and creating a "gaping hole in their security."
Other examples the researchers saw included a smart beverage system phoning home in plaintext with Wi-Fi information, dozens of remote ATMs communicating their locations and customer transactions over the Internet in plaintext, and an HVAC system managed via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) remotely by a third-party vendor, allowing the vendor's IP to communicate with the HVAC system remotely over the Internet and creating huge risks.
So how can you pinpoint and address these devices before they cause problems? Device knowledge is essential for complex threats described above. It is critical to understand the products on your network as devices. Otherwise you cannot understand the contextual clues discerned in the Awake Security study.
Behavioral analysis and understanding which behaviors are normal and which are not are just as important. If a device is externally reachable, it is a huge risk. Do you trust whether a third-party vendor has controls to keep your security safe? If it is completely open and internally reachable, it is essentially compromised.
Intra-network communications are also key: Are they allowed? Are you being smart about it? Is information sent and received externally? Consider the risks you will be accepting: Is personally indentifiable information being transmitted? If so, are you OK with that?
Finally, segmentation should be a priority. Segmentation reduces the scope of attacks.
Red Sky Alliance has been has analyzing and documenting cyber threats for 9 years and maintains a resource library of malware and cyber actor reports. We have years of experience with cyber security.
The installation, updating and monitoring of firewalls, cyber security and proper employee training are keys to blocking attacks. Please feel free to contact our analyst team for research assistance and Cyber Threat Analysis on your organization.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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[1] https://www.darkreading.com/risk/how-to-pinpoint-rogue-iot-devices-on-your-network/d/d-id/1339145
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