In this task, you will use the Security Audit wizard to make the necessary changes to the router configuration.
Step 1: Review the Security Problems Identified window for potential items to fix.
In the Security Audit window, click Close.
A window appears listing the items that did not pass the security audit. Click Next without choosing any items. What message did you get? Warning. Please select at least one item to fix.
Click OK to remove the message.
Step 2: Fix security problems.
With the Security Audit tool, you can fix selected problems or all security problems identified.
Click Fix All and then click Next to fix all security problems.
When prompted, enter an enable secret password of cisco12345 and confirm it.
Enter the text for the login banner: Unauthorized Access Prohibited. Click Next.
Add the logging host IP address 192.168.1.3, and accept the logging defaults. Click Next.
Accept the default security settings for inside and outside interfaces and click Next.
Deselect URL Filter Server, and click Next.
For the security level, select Low Security and click Next.
At the Firewall Configuration Summary, review the configuration and click Finish.
Scroll through the Summary screen. This screen shows what Security Audit will configure for the router.
Click Finish to see the actual commands that are delivered to the router. Scroll to review the commands.
Make sure that Save running config to router’s startup config is selected, and click Deliver.
Click OK in the Commands Delivery Status window to exit the Security Audit tool. How many commands were delivered to the router? 181 in this case.
Task 6. Review Router Security Configurations with SDM and the CLI
In this task, you will use Cisco SDM to review changes made by Security Audit on router R1 and compare them to those made by AutoSecure on R3.
Step 1: View the running configs for R1 and R3.
From the PC-A SDM session with R1, click the View option from the main menu and select Running Config.
Using PuTTY, open an SSH connection to router R3, and log in as admin.
Enter privileged EXEC mode, and issue the show run command.
Step 2: Contrast AutoSecure with SDM Security Audit.
Compare the function and ease of use between AutoSecure and SDM Security Audit. What are some similarities and differences?
AutoSecure is an automated Cisco IOS-based CLI security tool that provides a one-step process that enables security features and disables unneeded services. AutoSecure allows a router to quickly be secured without thorough knowledge of all the Cisco IOS features.
SDM Security Audit is a GUI-based tool that can perform a security analysis and fix all or selected problems. It also has a one-step lockdown feature. It provides wizards and is somewhat easier to use than AutoSecure. It also provides many helpful explanations as to how and what is being done. Although SDM Security Audit is GUI-based tool, the end result is a set of generated Cisco IOS commands that are delivered to the router.
Refer to the AutoSecure configuration on R3 and the SDM Security Audit configuration on R1. What are some similarities and differences between the configurations generated by AutoSecure and Security Audit?
Differences can vary depending on user responses to the prompts as each tool runs. Student answers may vary but could include: SDM generates a firewall with ACLs. AutoSecure disables more services. SDM generates more HTTP-related commands because it is web based. AutoSecure configures an enable password and an enable secret. SDM only configures the enable secret. AutoSecure does not prompt for a syslog host but SDM does. SDM firewall prompts for an HTTP filter.
They both encrypt passwords, set login banners, set minimum password lengths, and control no ip redirects, ip unreachables, and ip proxy-arp for interfaces. Both enable AAA.
Step 3: Test connectivity.
Ping from router R1 to the router R3 S0/0/1 interface (10.2.2.1). Were the pings successful? Why or why not? Yes, AutoSecure did not set up a firewall on R3.
Note: Firewalls are covered in detail in Chapter 4.
Ping from PC-A on the R1 LAN to PC-C on the router R3 LAN. Were the pings successful? Why or why not? Yes, the R1 firewall allows traffic that originates from hosts on the R1 LAN to return.
Ping from router R3 to the router R2 S0/0/0 interface (10.1.1.2). Were the pings successful? Why or why not? Yes. There is no firewall or security blocking pings on R2.
Ping from router R3 to the router R1 S0/0/0 interface (10.1.1.1). Were the pings successful? Why or why not? No. The SDM Security Audit configuration does not allow R1 S0/0/0 to respond.
Ping from PC-C on the R3 LAN to PC-A on the router R1 LAN. Were the pings successful? Why or why not? No, the SDM Security Audit configuration does not allow hosts on the R1 LAN to respond to requests from outside the firewall.
Task 7. Reflection
How important is securing router access and monitoring network devices to ensure responsibility and accountability and for thwarting potentially malicious activity. Answers will vary but it should be clear after this lab that there are many potential vulnerabilities for routers that can be exploited. Securing these devices is a very important part of a network administrator’s job and an organization’s security policy.
What advantages does SSH have over Telnet? SSH is much more secure than Telnet.
What advantages does Telnet have over SSH? Virtually any host has a Telnet client available, but SSH requires an SSH client to gain access to the SSH-enabled router
How scalable is setting up usernames and using the local database for authentication? Using the local router database for authentication does not scale well because usernames would need to be set up on each device. AAA with an external centralized server is a much more scalable solution. AAA is covered in detail in Chapter 3.
Why it is better to have centralized logging servers rather than only have the routers log locally?
It is better to use centralized logging servers because it is much easier to manage and track events. In larger organizations, it is almost impossible to keep track of every individual router’s events without having a centralized way to view information.
What are some advantages to using automated security mechanisms like AutoSecure and SDM Security Audit? These tools catch security vulnerabilities that many network administrators might overlook or might not even be aware of. These tools can lock down a router much faster than entering one command at a time and results in less potential for entry errors. Also, the tools avoid the need to use complex Cisco IOS commands and procedures.
Router Interface Summary Table
Router Interface Summary
Router Model
Ethernet Interface #1
Ethernet Interface #2
Serial Interface #1
Serial Interface #2
1700
Fast Ethernet 0 (FA0)
Fast Ethernet 1 (FA1)
Serial 0 (S0)
Serial 1 (S1)
1800
Fast Ethernet 0/0 (FA0/0)
Fast Ethernet 0/1 (FA0/1)
Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0)
Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
2600
Fast Ethernet 0/0 (FA0/0)
Fast Ethernet 0/1 (FA0/1)
Serial 0/0 (S0/0)
Serial 0/1 (S0/1)
2800
Fast Ethernet 0/0 (FA0/0)
Fast Ethernet 0/1 (FA0/1)
Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0)
Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
Note: To find out how the router is configured, look at the interfaces to identify the type of router and how many interfaces the router has. There is no way to effectively list all the combinations of configurations for each router class. This table includes identifiers for the possible combinations of Ethernet and Serial interfaces in the device. The table does not include any other type of interface, even though a specific router may contain one. An example of this might be an ISDN BRI interface. The string in parenthesis is the legal abbreviation that can be used in Cisco IOS commands to represent the interface.
Device Configs - Part 1 and 2 combined for R1 and R3
Router R1
R1#sh run
Building configuration... Current configuration : 1856 bytes