Here at ITC we are very partial to an Apple. They can be nutritious, turned into Cider, look slick, work well and are immune to those horrible nasties the other lot get. Aren’t they?
As first Adam and then Snow White found out to their (considerable) cost, if you come across a bad Apple, you will be paying the price for hundreds or millions of years.
This week Apple has released a significant number of patches for Mac OSX, iOS and AppleTV and although Apple don’t rate the fixes in any order of significance the issues that are patched (they will probably have to soon) look significant across the board.
Obviously we recommend that all of you out there patch your iOS and OS X platforms as soon as possible, but we would encourage you to think about the bigger picture.
Apple don’t prioritise patches or provide any information around this
You probably have a shedload of Apple devices connected to your network somewhere
How would you be able to manage an exploit of connected Apple machines?
We recommend that you are in a position to know at all times the status of device connected to your network, their patching levels, the versions of software such as Java and Adobe they are running.
Unless you do this you will never be able to quantify how vulnerable you are and will never be able to do anything about an exploit, such as disabling wired or wireless ports post haste.
We are having considerable success solving this problem using ForeScout’s CounterAct network access control technology which can seamlessly profile and posture check anything connected to your network without relying on nasty old 802.1x. With multiple deployment options and interventions this platform is easy to deploy and can make a real difference.
Furthermore we have 2 way integration with our NetSure360° managed services platform so we can disable ports, move a devices VLAN or simply message an out of compliance user automatically in real time.
If you would like a demonstration of this technology and integration, please contact us on [email protected] or call 020 7517 3900.
We promise get back to you quicker than a handsome Prince to kiss you awake from your Apple induced slumber to the delight of the 7 dwarves, or the arrival Riders of The Apocalypse to take you to meet your maker. We may even consider sharing a nice cold Cider.
