Roles make it easier to grant and revoke privileges for users of a relational database. Rather than managing privileges for each user individually, you manage privileges for each role and all changes apply to all users who are assigned that role. Organizations often create multiple roles to suit their unique needs. However, most databases come with a pre-defined role called PUBLIC. In this blog, we explain what the PUBLIC role means in Oracle and key best practices for using it.

Unconstrained delegation represents a serious cybersecurity risk. By taking steps to abuse the Active Directory delegation controls applied to user and computer objects in an AD environment, an attacker can move laterally and even gain control of the domain. This blog post explores this area of attack (unconstrained delegation) and offers security teams and administrators effective strategies for mitigating this security risk.

Commando VM is a testing platform that Mandiant FireEye created for penetration testers who are more comfortable with the Windows operating system. Windows Commando VM is essentially the sister to Kali Linux, a Linux testing and malware analysis platform widely used by the penetration testing community. These security testing platforms are packaged with all the common solutions and scripts that a pentester would need for offensive testing.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a great way to increase both on-premises and cloud security. With MFA in place, when a user logs on, they are required to provide not only their user ID and password but another authentication factor, such as a code sent to their phone. This process reduces the attack surface by preventing adversaries with stolen user credentials from logging on. However, MFA is not a cybersecurity panacea.

Changes to your IT devices, systems and servers are inevitable — but they can introduce critical security weaknesses. A file integrity monitoring (FIM) solution will track changes to your system and configuration files so you can promptly verify patch rollouts and investigate and mitigate unauthorized modifications — helping your business maintain a strong security posture and ensure ongoing regulatory compliance.

Internal reconnaissance is one of the first steps an attacker will take once they have compromised a user or computer account in your network. Using various tools or scripts, they enumerate and collect information that will help them identify what assets they should try to compromise next to get what they want. For example, BloodHound will map out attack paths that can enable an adversary to escalate their privileges from ordinary user to admin.