Fortifying Business Data and infrastructure

The Ongoing Battle in Cyber Protection

In the relentless race of today’s fast-paced digital landscape, organizations find themselves on the frontline of an ongoing battle—protecting their sensitive data from the ever-evolving threat of cyber attacks. Recent events underscored the imperative for organizations to be vigilant and take quick action in the face of such threats.

Many companies using Confluence, a widely used collaboration tool developed by Atlassian, fell prey to malicious actors who exploited a critical flaw, namely CVE-2023-22518, in it. This vulnerability, impacting all versions before 7.19.16 of Confluence Data Center and Server, left systems vulnerable to unauthorized access. Despite Atlassian’s swift response, this company’s server was hacked by malicious actors over the same weekend the patch was announced.

The Setup played a crucial part in stopping damage.

A key component in the company’s line of defense against the flaw was the use of a dedicated Confluence user, with very limited permissions, thwarting any attempts by hackers to seize control of their server.  Utilizing a dedicated Confluence user established a fortified barrier that acted as a deterrent against unauthorized access. This strategic decision was pivotal in safeguarding their digital ecosystem. 

Another key configuration decision that made our client’s digital infrastructure more resilient was accomplished by leveraging Docker containers with isolated namespaces. Docker containers offer a lightweight and portable way of encapsulating applications and their dependencies, ensuring consistent and reliable deployment across different environments. Isolated namespaces, a feature of Docker, are critical in enhancing security by creating separate, independent environments for processes. This means that if one container or process is compromised, it does not affect the security of other containers or the underlying system. In our client’s case, this approach was essential in safeguarding critical components such as Jira, Bitbucket, and Crowd. By encapsulating these Atlassian applications within individual Docker containers, each component operated within its isolated namespace. This isolation ensures that if one container is breached or compromised, the attack vector is contained, and the integrity of other containers remains intact. The compromised container cannot directly interfere with or access the resources of other containers or the host system.

The importance of backups

After remediation, we immediately restored Confluence files from the previous day’s backup, which ensured zero data loss for the client. Concurrently, an upgrade to the latest patched version, as recommended by Atlassian, sealed the security loophole that had been exploited. 

Fortifying the instance

Rapid response and quick resolution are critical in mitigating any damage.  To address this, we fortified the client’s Confluence and Jira installations by deploying monitoring tools that track bash activity, offering real-time insights into server behavior. Additionally, we deployed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions.  EDR serves as a robust defense mechanism against potential future threads NS empowers us to detect and respond swiftly to any suspicious activity, particularly in anticipation of possible future vulnerabilities.

It’s ‘When’ vs. ‘If’, but proper security measures can extend the ‘When’

This incident is a stark reminder that even the most diligent organizations can fall victim to sophisticated cyber attacks. It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Learning from such experiences is paramount. Staying informed about software vulnerabilities and implementing robust security measures are crucial to digital resilience. This demands constant vigilance, adaptive strategies, and an unwavering commitment to cybersecurity excellence.  

 The End Result

Embracing these lessons becomes the cornerstone of fortifying businesses’ data and infrastructure, creating a resilient defense against the dynamic landscape of cyber threats. In unity, let’s navigate the digital frontier with confidence and security, ensuring that our organizations survive and thrive in an era where cyber resilience is paramount.

 Investing in cybersecurity with NTS is easy.

NTS provides comprehensive cybersecurity services as part of our managed services. Our customers receive a proactive, effective solution through high-quality tools employed by a team of experts with a broad and deep skill set.  We provide foundational systems support that significantly maximizes network performance and uptime while reducing the risk of cyberattacks and malicious actions, allowing our clients to focus on their operations and customers. Schedule a consultation with NTS today!