3 ms·

You forgot that you need to use read-only media to transfer data from Internet-connected system to air gapped system, such as CD-ROM, or destroy writeable media

You forgot that you need to use read-only media to transfer data from Internet-connected system to air gapped system, such as CD-ROM, or destroy writeable media after use in an air-gapped system.

beAbU 2y ago
If the purpose of the attack is to bring something into the network, to e.g. destroy something (Stuxnet), or blink an LED that faces a window, then RO media will be pretty useless, and will probably cause a false sense of security.
- lucianbr 2y ago
  Likely that is the point. The initial process with the stick is security theater, and adding the RO requirement is just more theater. Both comments are sarcastic, imo.
  - bflesch 2y ago
    The read-only requirement makes sense because otherwise confidentiality of the airgapped system can be easily compromised (data extraction). If one's role is to only update AV on the airgapped machine then their data transfer to the airgapped machine should be only going into one direction.
    - 1oooqooq 2y ago
      i think the joke requires knowledge that, if the exe is compromised, there's zero ways in hardware you can enforce read only mode on a USB stick, so it's probably done in software and is moot. and also, if it's air gapped, why even have an antivirus. ... for air borne ones?
      - some_random 2y ago
        It's incredibly easy to enforce read only on a USB stick when you destroy it after bringing it into a classified environment. As for antivirus, aren't we talking _right now_ about bringing potentially infected drives into an network?
        BlueTemplar 2y ago
        Still sounds like unnecessary risk when you can achieve it with a read-only CD drive.
lolc 2y ago
The professionals who defined this update protocol have access to classified information I'm sure that allows them to assess risks us readers of public blog posts are not privy to! So we shouldn't judge on the morsels of public information what must have been an elaborate evaluation of best practices only accessible to the echelon of administrators in the government branch where I was doing my duty. Seriously though, I learned a lot there. If I wanted friends to have access to such a system, this is the plausibly deniable access route I'd set up for them.

You forgot that you need to use read-only media to transfer data from Internet-connected system to air gapped system, such as CD-ROM, or destroy writeable media after use in an air-gapped system.

beAbU 2y ago

If the purpose of the attack is to bring something into the network, to e.g. destroy something (Stuxnet), or blink an LED that faces a window, then RO media will be pretty useless, and will probably cause a false sense of security.

lucianbr 2y ago
Likely that is the point. The initial process with the stick is security theater, and adding the RO requirement is just more theater. Both comments are sarcastic, imo.
- bflesch 2y ago
  The read-only requirement makes sense because otherwise confidentiality of the airgapped system can be easily compromised (data extraction). If one's role is to only update AV on the airgapped machine then their data transfer to the airgapped machine should be only going into one direction.
  - 1oooqooq 2y ago
    i think the joke requires knowledge that, if the exe is compromised, there's zero ways in hardware you can enforce read only mode on a USB stick, so it's probably done in software and is moot. and also, if it's air gapped, why even have an antivirus. ... for air borne ones?
    - some_random 2y ago
      It's incredibly easy to enforce read only on a USB stick when you destroy it after bringing it into a classified environment. As for antivirus, aren't we talking _right now_ about bringing potentially infected drives into an network?
      - BlueTemplar 2y ago
        Still sounds like unnecessary risk when you can achieve it with a read-only CD drive.

lolc 2y ago

The professionals who defined this update protocol have access to classified information I'm sure that allows them to assess risks us readers of public blog posts are not privy to! So we shouldn't judge on the morsels of public information what must have been an elaborate evaluation of best practices only accessible to the echelon of administrators in the government branch where I was doing my duty. Seriously though, I learned a lot there. If I wanted friends to have access to such a system, this is the plausibly deniable access route I'd set up for them.