Simple Approach to Access Control: Port Control and MAC Filtering

Many times businesses will spend time and money on 'Magic Bullet' security and focus on a single technology or threat. This focus can lend itself more towards placing a 'check in the box' for compliance rather than on actual security and facing today's threats. Frequently, missing controls can have a cascading effect where because one control was missing or inadequate, other failures occur turning a minor problem into a breach. This paper approaches one such incident, calls out which control was identified as the primary failure and offers an evaluation of a specific tool that could have helped prevent this attack. It coversnot only the cost of the tool and the time to implement but discusses other costs such as training, monitoring, maintenance, user impact and offers a guide for a successful implementation.