full-disclosure - Removing FIred admins

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From: gerhard at fugro-jason.com (Gerhard den Hollander)
Subject: Removing FIred admins

* James Patterson Wicks <pwicks@...gen.com> (Fri, Feb 13, 2004 at 08:06:57AM -0500)
> Only the senior administrator and the CTO have the root password to the
> Unix systems.  The senior admin does not "own" and servers, but is the
> manager for all of the other admins.  Could he get mad and make changes
> to the interpreter, but the server "owner" would notice this and check
> the changes against the change management log.  Any unusual events would
> be sent to the CTO.

So, what would happen if the senior admin ``forgets'' to install the kenrel
patch (the one that gives root access if exploited) on one of the
not-so-often used linux servers ?

And how do you check that the patch being applied is indeed the patch he
sais it is ?
And not the minor vulnerability patch, that also includes a hacked xload ?

or ....

As you say
> Like you said, there is no magic button to press and instantly remove an
> admin's influence from an enterprise.  BUT if you have a good process in
> place that leverages existing technologies, you can do a good job of
> protecting your enterprise.  Admins leave companies all the time, but
> enterprises continue to operate without a problem.

Yes, but not so much out of technical barriers (because if your admin is
good, he can bypass them, and if he isn;t you wouldn't have made him senior
;) ) as well out of social or legal barriers.

> If all else fails, make sure that the company lawyer is in the office
> when you fire the admin.  A good threat can go a long way.

>> We are working on something called "The Button", which is nothing but 
>> small script that activates a series of scripts that change all root, 
>> local and domain administrator passwords on our Unix and Windows 
>> servers when run.

And changes all user passwords, and all webserver accounts and all ftp
accounts and all email passwords I assume ?