The system was easy to access even with the low-end firewall installed on the router. The administrative password on the server was still the default password known to everyone, and no one installed Service Pack 2, which would have disabled the administrative account. It was easy pickings. Deep-Penetration had even figured out how to access the tax application that was installed directly on the machine she was using to connect to the internal network.
She enjoyed looking at all the personal financial details. On previous visits, she had found several high net worth clients who had more than one million dollars in income. This time, Deep-Penetration was back for a reason. Deep-Penetration was short on cash and figured selling some names and social security numbers to ID-ME would be a quick way to make some money without getting caught.
She knew exactly where she could get at least 2, names and the matching social security numbers, and she was going to cash in. Think this is farfetched? Perhaps not as farfetched as it might seem! This discussion made me think about the fact that many accountants may not understand this very important security prevention technique — what I like to equate to putting a dead bolt on the door.
And they may not know if their firms are as prepared as the owners might assume. The scenario above identifies a lot of things that are wrong besides the firewall. However, these mistakes could very well be happening in a firm and no one knows it. With what seems like every vendor coming out with a firewall as part of their product offering, many people may think that they are over protected.
Unfortunately, this idea lulls us into a false sense of security. The Types of Firewalls Good news! Firewalls only come in two basic designs: software-based and hardware-based.
