The Basics of Exploit Development 5: x86-64 Buffer Overflows Hello! If you have read the other articles in this series, welcome back. If not, I would encourage you to read those before proceeding with this article as it builds on concepts laid down in the previous installments. In this article we will be covering a technique similar to the one in the first installment of this series, however, with the twist in that this exploit will be of a 64-bit process running on Windows 10.

Due to the nature of modern operating systems and the exploit mitigation techniques they employ, this will not be a very realistic example due to the fact that we will be disabling everything so we can concentrate on a few aspects of exploiting a 64-bit application. Specifically, we will be looking at the differences in how the different architectures call functions and how the features of the 64-bit method can be leveraged to exploit a vulnerability. Read more

Offensive Security Testing Using Cloud Tools When performing offensive security testing, assessors sometimes run into issues where their source IP address gets blacklisted. For example, we might be performing a web application test and, due to the many suspicious queries being performed, our IP address is suddenly blocked. While on the surface this may seem like an effective security control, it’s actually quite easy to change a source IP address. Methods have existed for a long time, including using a proxy server or routing traffic through a VPN tunnel. The problem with these methods is that they take effort to set up and those new source IP addresses can just as easily be blocked, leaving assessors in the dark once again. When doing this kind of work every day, it would be nice to have an efficient method for changing a source IP address for this kind of testing without risking getting blacklisted. Read more

Reflections on Women in Cybersecurity I joined Coalfire in 2014. At the time, there were very few women in cyber, much less in leadership roles. As it sometimes happens, I found myself in an elevator with Tom McAndrew, who is now our CEO. We started talking about the direction of my career and plans for my role as Director of Coalfire’s Quality Management System. He asked me a simple question, “What are you doing next?” I had to suddenly come up with a literal elevator pitch of what I could do in my sphere of influence. Read more

The impact of Covid-19 on SOC reporting The audit cycle for organizations that receive SOC reports includes new challenges related to Covid-19. Remote workforces are now the norm throughout the world, which introduces new risks. For example, connecting to corporate networks using personal computers that may be infected with malware is one such risk. Additionally, hackers and fraudsters have stepped up their game and increased the frequency and sophistication of their attacks to take advantage of the vulnerabilities that come with a remote workforce. Many organizations have suffered economically due to Covid-19 with workforce reductions to help reduce costs. However, this could result in a failure to re-assign control responsibilities and a corresponding failure to perform certain controls. Read more

FedRAMP 101: How to get listed as “In Process” Are you a cloud service provider working on a federal contract and need a FedRAMP authorization – but don’t have a sponsor yet? Acquiring a committed government agency sponsor early in the FedRAMP process is crucial to your success and will ensure a smoother process. A major role for an agency sponsor is to identify which risks they are willing to accept in your Cloud Service Offering (CSO) that may not fully align with FedRAMP requirements. Read more