So far, I have written a few articles about firewall bypassing techniques. Using simple methods like ToR or SSH tunneling—if allowed—you can completely bypass firewall protections. But is there a way to bypass URL filtering as well? Unfortunately, yes, and it’s surprisingly simple. Google Translate as a Firewall Bypass Google Translate is usually allowed int… Read More »How to easily trick URL Filtering
The previous article discussed blocking Tor. Using Tor, we can easily bypass firewall protection. However, there is a much more dangerous use case: leveraging Tor’s capabilities to tunnel other traffic into Tor networks. See the example below. I have two virtual machines (VMs) located in completely different infrastructures: one in Azure and the other in… Read More »ToR and RDP tunneling
Some time ago, I wrote an article about how simple techniques can bypass firewall protections: How to Trick a Firewall and Bypass Protections. One of the methods discussed in that post was using Tor (The Onion Router). Beyond bypassing firewalls, Tor can be leveraged by threat actors to establish persistence in targeted environments. Google Cloud… Read More »Can we really block Tor?
As a system integrator, I constantly interact with new infrastructures and customers, which means I often come across a lot of “interesting things.” From time to time, I’m engaged in services to evaluate firewall configurations. What are the most common configuration or deployment mistakes I encounter? If you’re curious, read below: 1. Overly General Firewall… Read More »Firewalls: The Most Common Mistakes
In my blog, I’ve often mentioned that Palo Alto Networks (PANW) firewalls are feature-rich, offering a wide range of configurations across multiple areas. There are many steps involved in setting up a firewall according to best practices. Unfortunately, I often see subpar configuration quality. In a previous blog post, I discussed how to measure the… Read More »PANW best practices from Day 0
Organizations may invest in best-of-breed solutions, but if these are poorly configured, they won’t reap the benefits. I’ve seen many instances like this in both public and private entities. Sometimes configuration errors are obvious—such as widely open firewall rules or a network access control system that assigns the same VLAN to all hosts (yes, I’ve… Read More »How to measure configuration quality?
I’m not a wireless expert, but I do know a bit about Wi-Fi—how it works from a high-level perspective. In reality, Wi-Fi is a pretty complicated topic. With the 802.11ac standard, we can achieve over 1 Gbps throughput for wireless connections. So, when an access point (AP) is connected to a 1 Gbps switch port,… Read More »Wireless myths and realities
I’ve been involved in networking and network security for more than 13 years. During that time, I mostly focused on my technical knowledge. I’ve passed so many exams and certifications that I can’t even remember all of them. I’m well aware of how much I still don’t know from a technical perspective. Now, I realize… Read More »Why soft skills matter as much as technical expertise?
From time to time, every network and security vendor reveals new kinds of products. One example is SD-WAN. Nowadays, Software-Defined WAN is nothing uncommon, but five years ago, it was quite unusual. Today, SD-WAN technology is widely adopted. Currently, something similar is happening with SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) products. Vendors are claiming that traditional… Read More »Everyone needs SASE?
In previous blog posts, I described how network implementation and maintenance can be simplified. I mostly focused on the capabilities of switch operating systems like Fabric Engine (formerly VOSS) and Switch Engine (formerly EXOS). I also mentioned management software called ExtremeCloud IQ – Site Engine several times. But what exactly is the role of this… Read More »Network deployments: Past and Present vol. 6