Testing my Network Security

A couple of friend's and I are starting a small freelance web development company. As some of you may know, I have been doing web design for quite a few years. I have taken a few Windows 2000 Server administration classes, and I am in charge of setting up our network. Our network has been up for a few months now, and everything has been running pretty smooth. Lately we have been doing work for a few clients which we now host their sites, and I want to make sure that our network's security is good. I have done most of the basics such as making sure that only services that are being used are running, and I always install the latest service packs and critical updates. However, I am no security guru.

So I was wondering if anyone would be interested in messing around and seeing if they can find any holes in our network. I don't want any damage done obviosuly, just want to see if anyone can catch anything I missed. I want to run this business as securely as possible. The network is small and only has two computers on it. Both are running Windows 2000 Server. I can assure you that this is my network. I have full authority to give permission to mess around. I will even gladly talk to you over the phone about it and confirm that this is my property.

If you are bored or want to help me out by taking a look I'd really appreciate it. Like I said, I think I have it pretty secure, but I'm not a security guru. This could be a learning experience for me. If you are interested PM me. Also if you are paranoid about checking out the network, any suggestions about how to test my security would also be welcome. Scanner recommendations, or any mentioned common Windows 2000 Server flaws would be appreciated. Thanks.

Note: I hope this isn't breaking any AO rules. I have been a member for a while and have a good reputation. This is just an honest request to see if anyone would help me catch anything I missed.

My advice !

Set up a Nessus machine (deamon runs on *nix, clients for win32) or ask someone you know to create an account for you on their Nessus-Server and then install the Nessus-Client on your machine.

NessusWX scans more then 800 vulnerabilities.

More about Nessus at their website --> http://www.nessus.org/

If you get help from another AO member or a friend then Nessus is a good choice.

This way anyone can werify that it's your Machines since you have to initiate/start the scan from the client you install on the target machine. They just provides the attacking deamon :).

Be aware that a scan can take a long time (the scan of my old server took almost 35 hours).

Hope this may help you and other people eager to have their machines tested.

You should also check out NMAP as well to see that your router/firewall/other ACL's are doing their job as well. http://www.nmap.org. In addition; check their "top 50" list of security tools. Most of them are *nix based; so get a copy of Debian, or RedHat, or SuSE.. or .. or.. ;^)

But if you can't get in by using those top 50 tools... you've got 99.95% of it covered..

Also; if you're going to be serving stuff to the world; a program like TripWire (does MD5<?> checks on your files to make sure that they are not changed) http://www.tripwire.com would be a good idea. Lock the sig files on a CD-ROM, or a write-protected floppy though! The real Tripwire program can be VERY expensive, so look for alternates.

Finaly; get a system up and running using SNORT or another IDS (Intrusion Detection System) http://www.snort.org or Host based IDS (NFR has a nice one) to get logs of the hack when it eventaly does come.

Good Luck!!

Yea, People are going to be reluctant to help you out [ i mean by scanning your network] Im not saying that this is what you are doing but in the past people have said same things and then gave an IP adress to some server that they had nothing to do with just as a plot to get people to start scanning ****. I would recomend using the options that were given to you prior to this post

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

Yes, I was reluctant to post the request because I have seen people in the past abuse the forums and social engineer some of our members into scanning other people's networks. But if someone does want to take a look and see if there is anything open, I will gladly give proof that it is my network. All the sites are registered in my name, and the contact phone # is my cell phone.

I am going to take a look at some of those scanners and see what I can find. Unfortunately I don't have any *nix systems to run NMap or Nessus on. I know there has to be a lot more to securing your network than just running a few scanners on it. That's why I would like to get someone more experienced in security to see what they can find.

Anyway, I am going to take a look at some of the URLs provided and do a few scans on my IPs. The offer is still open if someone wants to help me out, or maybe even walk me through some other things besides scanning that I can do to check out my security.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

They have an NMAp for winblows, also.