SekChek Classic
Encyclopedia
SekChek Classic comprises a set of automated computer security audit and benchmarking tools for non-mainframe platforms developed by SekChek IPS in 1996.
The product analyses the effectiveness of security controls on host systems supporting organisations’ applications and produces reports highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and recommended corrective actions, relating to security controls on a host or domain.
The reports are offered in user selectable formats, including Microsoft Word
, Excel
and Access
. The product comprises four security analysis modules: Windows, AS400, UNIX and Netware as well as SekCrypt, a symmetric encryption/decryption module.
Encryption technologies
Microsoft Office versions:
. The security settings and values are benchmarked against data points contained in a statistics database and mapped against various industry types, geography
, operating platform and number of system accounts.
The statistics database contains over 30 million anonymous security measures retrieved from over 60,000 analyzed systems located in 120 countries. The reports are offered in Microsoft Word, Excel and Access and contain technical and high level summaries. The developers
of the software designed the reports to assist IT and Audit professionals determine the effectiveness of host security and provide formal evidence of auditing for inclusion in working papers.
The Windows, AS400, UNIX and Netware tools scan a system for security policies and objects defined on the target host or domain. The product analyses the host’s details, User and Group accounts, Group memberships, Account Rights, Administrative privileges, Security policies, Security properties, Services, Audit Events, Network Shares, Disks and Host Properties.
The SekCrypt utility is a symmetric encryption tool that can encrypt and decrypt files using encryption algorithms 3DES and AES (Rijndael).
tool – a product utilized for on-site assessment of Windows systems.
The product analyses the effectiveness of security controls on host systems supporting organisations’ applications and produces reports highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and recommended corrective actions, relating to security controls on a host or domain.
The reports are offered in user selectable formats, including Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
, Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
and Access
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Office Access, previously known as Microsoft Access, is a relational database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools. It is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of...
. The product comprises four security analysis modules: Windows, AS400, UNIX and Netware as well as SekCrypt, a symmetric encryption/decryption module.
Supported platforms and technologies
Operating systems:- Microsoft platforms: Windows NT4, 2000Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, 2003, XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, VistaWindows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, 2008, 7, Active DirectoryActive DirectoryActive Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
, MS-ExchangeMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products... - UNIX Platforms: HP-UXHP-UXHP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
(including C2/TCBTrusted computing baseThe trusted computing base of a computer system is the set of all hardware, firmware, and/or software components that are critical to its security, in the sense that bugs or vulnerabilities occurring inside the TCB might jeopardize the security properties of the entire system...
), AIX, SUN/Solaris, OSF/1, DG-UX, SCOSCO OpenServerSCO OpenServer, previously SCO UNIX and SCO Open Desktop , is, misleadingly, a closed source version of the Unix computer operating system developed by Santa Cruz Operation and now maintained by the SCO Group....
, UnixWareUnixWareUnixWare is a Unix operating system maintained by The SCO Group . UnixWare is typically deployed as a server rather than desktop. Binary distributions of UnixWare are available for x86 architecture computers. It was originally released by Univel, a jointly owned venture of AT&T's Unix System...
, DynixDynixDynix is an operating system developed by Sequent. It is a flavor of Unix based on BSD. DYNIX was replaced by DYNIX/ptx, which was based on the System V version of UNIX produced by AT&T....
, BSD, HI-UX, Nokia IPSONokia IPSOCheck Point IPSO is the operating system for the 'Check Point firewall' appliance and other security devices, based on FreeBSD, with numerous hardening features applied.....
, LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds... - Netware Platforms: Netware 4.x, 5.x, 6.x
- AS400 platforms: iSeries (V2R3 to V7R1)
Encryption technologies
- PKIPublic key infrastructurePublic Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
(public key cryptography), RC2RC2In cryptography, RC2 is a block cipher designed by Ron Rivest in 1987. "RC" stands for "Ron's Code" or "Rivest Cipher"; other ciphers designed by Rivest include RC4, RC5 and RC6....
, RC4RC4In cryptography, RC4 is the most widely used software stream cipher and is used in popular protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer and WEP...
, DESDES-Computing:* Data Encryption Standard* DirectShow Editing Services, an Application Programming Interface-Medical:* Diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen and the origin of the phrase "DES daughter"* DES gene, which encodes the Desmin protein...
, Triple DESTriple DESIn cryptography, Triple DES is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm block cipher, which applies the Data Encryption Standard cipher algorithm three times to each data block....
, AESAdvanced Encryption StandardAdvanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
, RSA, S/MIME, TLS/SSL (Transport Layer SecurityTransport Layer SecurityTransport Layer Security and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer , are cryptographic protocols that provide communication security over the Internet...
/ Secure Sockets Layer).
Microsoft Office versions:
- Office 97Microsoft Office 97Microsoft Office 97 was a major milestone release of Microsoft Office, which included hundreds of new features and improvements, introduced "Command Bars", a paradigm in which menus and toolbars were made more similar in capability and visual design featured natural language systems and...
, Office 2000Microsoft Office 2000Microsoft Office 2000 is a release of Microsoft Office that succeeded Microsoft Office 97 and was designed as a fully 32-bit and Y2K compliant version to match Windows 2000 features. All the Office 2000 applications have OLE 2 capacity, which allows moving data automatically between various...
, Office XPMicrosoft Office XPMicrosoft Office XP is a productivity suite written and distributed by Microsoft for their Windows operating system. Released on March 5, 2001, it is the successor to Office 2000 and the predecessor to Office 2003, and was known as Office 10 in the early stages of its development cycle...
, Office 2003Microsoft Office 2003Microsoft Office 2003 is a productivity suite written and distributed by Microsoft for their Windows operating system. Released on October 21, 2003, it was the successor to Office XP and the predecessor to Office 2007.- Overview :...
, Office 2007Microsoft Office 2007Microsoft Office 2007 is a Windows version of the Microsoft Office System, Microsoft's productivity suite. Formerly known as Office 12 in the initial stages of its beta cycle, it was released to volume license customers on November 30, 2006 and made available to retail customers on January 30, 2007...
Features
The audit tools scan security policies, control settings and values from the enterprise’s host operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. The security settings and values are benchmarked against data points contained in a statistics database and mapped against various industry types, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, operating platform and number of system accounts.
The statistics database contains over 30 million anonymous security measures retrieved from over 60,000 analyzed systems located in 120 countries. The reports are offered in Microsoft Word, Excel and Access and contain technical and high level summaries. The developers
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
of the software designed the reports to assist IT and Audit professionals determine the effectiveness of host security and provide formal evidence of auditing for inclusion in working papers.
The Windows, AS400, UNIX and Netware tools scan a system for security policies and objects defined on the target host or domain. The product analyses the host’s details, User and Group accounts, Group memberships, Account Rights, Administrative privileges, Security policies, Security properties, Services, Audit Events, Network Shares, Disks and Host Properties.
The SekCrypt utility is a symmetric encryption tool that can encrypt and decrypt files using encryption algorithms 3DES and AES (Rijndael).
Distinctive characteristics
- The server extract tools do not have an installation procedure.
- The extraction products do not depend on agent software.
- Data is encrypted with PKIPublic key infrastructurePublic Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
prior to submission for report processing. - Includes embedded utilities: A PC Audit tool that performs a basic analysis of a client PC; Windows Firewall auditor; Encryption software; an Active Directory query tool; an Event Log query tool; a file hasher; SIDSecurity IdentifierIn the context of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems, a Security Identifier is a unique name which is assigned by a Windows Domain controller during the log on process that is used to identify a subject, such as a user or a group of users in a network of NT/2000...
resolver; Orphaned SID locator; and Ping.
Criticism
Clients, with company policies against exporting sensitive corporate data, were concerned about using SekChek Classic. Some of these concerns were dissipated with the development of the SekChek LocalSekChek Local
SekChek Local is a set of automated computer security audit and benchmarking tools developed by SekChek IPS in March 2008.The product analyses security controls on Hosts or domains across an organisation’s LAN and produces reports relating to the security on the network. The reporting engine is...
tool – a product utilized for on-site assessment of Windows systems.