Dan,<br>I completely agree with the points you clarified from my previous mail. When I wrote it, I had in my mind what you exactly described: referencing other security BP documents for OS and standard applications (not directly related with VoIP, but required), and covering in our BP document the specific VoIP shades. This applies to sections #5, #6 and #7, both to OS, applications and protocols.
<br>Example.-<font face="sans-serif" size="2"> DNS service should be secured according
to standard industry best practices, as noted here [x]. From a secure VoIP perspective, DNS should be setup in this and that way.</font><br><br>Although my previous mail didn't accurately reflected it, the document scope must be 100% VoIP related, with external references to general security BP's when required.
<br><br>Re fail-over, I think it should be included in the section associated to the resources where the fail-over solution is applied. That is, if we're covering fail-over for the call controller (as Jozef suggested), then it should go into Section #2, Call Control, but if we recommend fail-over for other types of servers, IMHO, it should go in Sectiom #5, Securing Servers. If we recommend fail-over for DNS records, then it should go to Section #7, Securing the TCP/IP net and basic services. And so on and so forth.
<br><br>I see fail-over as any other security countermeasure/solution, like encryption, that will be covered in multiple sections: encryption for the voice and media streams, encryption for call management...<br><br>For Qos I suggest to point to other external references more focused on QoS than in security, although there is an obvious relationship between both. I think QoS should be pointed out in Section #6, when describing the network requirements.
<br><br>I like the idea of Section #9 about cutting-edge and emerging threats (and related BP's).<br><br>Re Eugene comment about covering law implications, take into account this is/should-be an international document, so if we decide to cover this area, not only CALEA should be there :-)
<br>--<br>Raúl Siles<br>GSE <br><a href="http://www.raulsiles.com">www.raulsiles.com</a><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 1/19/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Jozef Janitor</b> <<a href="mailto:jozjan@cnl.tuke.sk">
jozjan@cnl.tuke.sk</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Hi Dan,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Ad fail-over: I think it would fit to section #2, Call Control. I
think we could describe in that section the fail-over backup solutions. For SIP
based systems we could talk about the efficiency of multiple DNS SRV records (HA
vs. HP), and about sharing the registration information from UAs between
multiple registration servers. So if a UA registers to a SIP server with higher
priority which after some time broke down, then other servers with lower
priority will be used for call processing. But then it is important to share
the registration and call state information between those servers. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">BTW: It looks like the Call Control section will be a quite huge
section :)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Ad QoS: Designing a secure voip network means the L1-L7 security
but it also means a well designed a network with QoS. I think the document
should show the best practices in securing the voip on L1-L7, but it should
also show some of design paths on QoS – RSVP, CoS, ToS, DSCP, ....</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Regards,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> Jozef</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<div style="border-style: none none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color blue; border-width: medium medium medium 1.5pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 0cm 4pt;">
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<p><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <a href="mailto:dan_york@Mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">dan_york@Mitel.com</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:dan_york@Mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">dan_york@Mitel.com</a>] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, January 19, 2007 8:18 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Nhut Nguyen<br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:bestpractices@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bestpractices@voipsa.org</a>; Jozef Janitor<div><span class="e" id="q_1103c4a1f606b8a2_1"><br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: [VOIPSA Best Practices] Best Practices document structure
set -next question: are these the appropriate areas?</span></div></span></p>
</div>
</div><div><span class="e" id="q_1103c4a1f606b8a2_3">
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nhut,</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Sigh) Yes,
you're right. We probably need a Section 9 called "Emerging Areas of
Concern" or something like that[1] into which we lump SPIT and other
miscellaneous things that don't yet have solid best practices (because they're
not yet solid threats, IMHO) if only so that we can avoid the inevitable
questions "Why is it that in your entire Best Practices document you don't
mention SPIT? How are we to guard against it?" </span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Jozef,</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">- I don't know
where fail-over fits. Section 8, in *my* mind (but I'm just one contributor)
was about all the physical layer stuff that many of us network geeks generally
try to ignore such as backup power, physical security, etc. I was
thinking of it from the "availability" point-of-view in that if you
lose power and don't have your IP-PBX *and* network switches powered by a UPS,
your phones are nice pretty bricks. And you should have them in locked
rooms, etc. I don't know that we'll have all that many Best Practices in
this area.</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">As to
fail-over, I'm not sure... is it in Section 8? Or is it in call control?
I'm not sure on that one... any other opinions?</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">- Yes, caller
ID spoofing is something to be addressed. Probably in Call Control? (Eric
Chen, now's probably a good time to weigh in before we assign everything to
you! :-) As for ENUM, there's probably a large debate on that one,
but as we write the best practice around caller identification the debate can
be waged then.</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">- QoS - Yes,
there is definitely a balancing act between quality and security... although
I'm not entirely sure how we create that as a best practice. Would the
best practice be something like "Install and use quality monitoring
equipment" - somewhat along the lines of what Gary was suggesting earlier?</span>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Love all these
comments... keep on sending them in... this is *your* document as much as it is
mine or anyone elses. Let's make sure it's right.</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Thanks,<br>
Dan</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1] Or the
section can be called "Issues Related To VoIP Security That Are Over-Hyped
By The Media Because They Get Attention" (and yes, I know there are
probably several members of the media subscribed to this list)<br>
<br>
</span><br>
<br>
</p>
<table style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="padding: 0.75pt;" valign="top"><br></td>
<td style="padding: 0.75pt;" valign="top">
<p><b><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">"Nhut
Nguyen" <<a href="mailto:nnguyen@sta.samsung.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">nnguyen@sta.samsung.com</a>></span></b> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">01/19/2007
12:35 PM</span> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0.75pt;" valign="top">
<p><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">
</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">
To: "Jozef Janitor"
<<a href="mailto:jozjan@cnl.tuke.sk" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">jozjan@cnl.tuke.sk</a>>, <<a href="mailto:dan_york@Mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
dan_york@Mitel.com</a>>,
<<a href="mailto:bestpractices@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bestpractices@voipsa.org</a>></span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">
cc: </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">
Subject: RE: [VOIPSA Best Practices]
Best Practices document structure set -next question: are these the
appropriate areas?</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p><br>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Hi
All,</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Great
discussion! </span><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Regarding
SPIT I am not sure if the industry has any good practices yet. I believe this
problem is emerging but solutions are still in the research stage. However, it
may be a good idea to have a stub or a place holder to document emerging
practices like these, or those that address security issues of presence
information, for example!</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Cheers,</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><br>
Nhut</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"> </p>
<div style="text-align: center;" align="center">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</div>
<p><br>
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<a href="mailto:bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org</a>] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>Jozef Janitor<b><br>
Sent:</b> Friday, January 19, 2007 11:23 AM<b><br>
To:</b> <a href="mailto:dan_york@Mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">dan_york@Mitel.com</a>; <a href="mailto:bestpractices@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
bestpractices@voipsa.org</a><b><br>
Subject:</b> Re: [VOIPSA Best Practices] Best Practices document structure set
-next question: are these the appropriate areas?</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Does the point #8 describe also
the fail-over procedures? So if my primary call controller broke down then the
second call controller will automatically handle the active calls? This may
involve some clustering techniques.</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Also important part of voip
security is the credibility of an incoming calling number (callid). Because in
the PSTN network normally I can't change my callid, but in the VoIP it's
usually not a big problem. Maybe this problem could be handled with ENUM.</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">QoS – this is very important when
we are going to talk about security in voip. We have to consider what level of
security do we need because the encryption of traffic and other security
features are always adding additional delay to the transported voice. If the
value of this additional delay is going to be too high then our call is maybe
for 100% secured but it's not pleasant to hear.</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">And SpIT. We know that controlling
SPAM in our emails is very difficult . But controlling SPAM in VoIP will be
even more difficult. So I hope that some pages in this document will also cover
the possibilities of solving the SpIT problem.</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">All the best,</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> Jozef Janitor</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span><a href="http://www.cnl.tuke.sk/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">www.cnl.tuke.sk</span>
</a>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span> <br>
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<a href="mailto:bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
bestpractices-bounces@voipsa.org</a>] <b>On
Behalf Of </b><a href="mailto:dan_york@Mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">dan_york@Mitel.com</a><b><br>
Sent:</b> Friday, January 19, 2007 11:58 AM<b><br>
To:</b> <a href="mailto:bestpractices@voipsa.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bestpractices@voipsa.org</a><b><br>
Subject:</b> [VOIPSA Best Practices] Best Practices document structure set -
next question: are these the appropriate areas?</span> <br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Best Practices team,</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Thank you to those of you who sent in comments either on the list or directly
to me. A special thanks to Eugene Nechamkin who took the time to write up
a counter-proposal. Outside of his contribution, basically all the feedback was
for proposal #2, structuring the document around functional areas, and so I'm
going to say we're going with that.</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Now, the next question - is this list below from the wiki the appropriate list
of areas for VoIP-related best practices?</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
1. </span>Securing Voice and Media stream <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
2. </span>Securing Call Control <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
3. </span>Securing Management Interfaces and APIs <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
4. </span>Securing PSTN Interfaces and Traditional
Telephony Issues (i.e. don't forget toll fraud) <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
5. </span>Securing Servers and Operating Systems <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
6. </span>Securing IP Endpoints (ex. sets,
softphones, etc.) <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
7. </span>Securing the TCP/IP network (ex. VLANs, 802.1X,
wireless, etc.) <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
8. </span>Physical Security, including backups,
power, etc. <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Are we missing any major areas? Should these be modified or tweaked?</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
It seems to me to be a complete list, but then again, I wrote it, so of course
it would. Any feedback is welcome.</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Regards,<br>
Dan</span> <br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
-- <br>
Dan York, CISSP<br>
Dir of IP Technology, Office of the CTO<br>
Mitel Corp. <a href="http://www.mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.mitel.com</a><br>
<a href="mailto:dan_york@mitel.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">dan_york@mitel.com</a> +1-613-592-2122<br>
PGP key (F7E3C3B4) available for <br>
secure communication</span> </p>
</span></div></div>
</div>
</div>
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