Speaker 1: Welcome to a deep dive that's all about making complex
Speaker 1: cybersecurity concepts clear and intensely practical. Absolutely, today we're unpacking
Speaker 1: a fascinating topic, security monitoring. With Wazoo. You've provided us
Speaker 1: with a fantastic resource, really and a comprehensive look at
Speaker 1: this powerful open source security platform, and our mission today
Speaker 1: is to distill its most important nuggets, giving you a
Speaker 1: comprehensive understanding of its capabilities and how it tackles critical
Speaker 1: cybersecurity challenges head on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and what's truly compelling about Wazuo, particularly as an
Speaker 2: open source solution, is how directly it confronts some of
Speaker 2: the biggest hurdles in cybersecurity today. I mean, I think cost, flexibility,
Speaker 2: and the power of community collaboration. It's quite unique. We're
Speaker 2: going to explore how it fundamentally enhances threat detection, incident response,
Speaker 2: continuous security monitoring, threat intelligence, and compliance management, all consolidated
Speaker 2: within a single accessible platform.
Speaker 1: So consider this your essential shortcut to understanding how you
Speaker 1: can get hands on with crucial cybersecurity skills, whether you're
Speaker 1: just stepping into the field or maybe you're looking to
Speaker 1: quickly grasp the cutting edge of modern security operations. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's unpack this. Then, the material we have highlights Wazoo
Speaker 1: as a real game changer.
Speaker 2: It really is.
Speaker 1: Beyond just being open source. What are the core benefits
Speaker 1: that truly elevate it in today's constantly evolving cybersecurity landscape.
Speaker 2: Well, the profound benefits of Wazoo, they really distill down
Speaker 2: to two core pillars flexibility and cost effectiveness. Okay, because
Speaker 2: it's open source, organizations gain this unparalleled freedom to adapt
Speaker 2: its source code engine your new features tailored to their
Speaker 2: unique needs, and seamlessly integrate it deeply within their existing
Speaker 2: security ecosystem. Its configuration is incredibly granular, you know how,
Speaker 2: allowing for precise tuning to meet specific, often quite niche
Speaker 2: security requirements. And then on the cost side, well, the
Speaker 2: absence of software license fees and vendor lock in genuinely
Speaker 2: democratizes access to advanced cybersecurity capability.
Speaker 1: Right, no lock in. That's huge, exactly.
Speaker 2: This makes sophisticated protection accessible to a much broader spectrum
Speaker 2: of users, and equally important, it serves as an invaluable
Speaker 2: educational resource for anyone looking to learn hands on.
Speaker 1: That accessibility is more than just a benefit. It feels
Speaker 1: like a massive shift for democratizing powerful security tools. I
Speaker 1: think so too so for someone looking to get hands
Speaker 1: on with this, what's actually under the hood? Could you
Speaker 1: walk us through the fundamental architecture? How do these parts interact?
Speaker 2: Sure? So, the waz solution operates through a synergistic arrangement
Speaker 2: of three primary components plus its agents of course, okay.
Speaker 2: At the core is the Wazuo server. Think of it
Speaker 2: as the central brain. It meticulously collects logs from diverse
Speaker 2: sources I mean everything, endpoints, network infrastructure, firewalls, cloud instances,
Speaker 2: all of it, all of it, and crucially, it normalizes
Speaker 2: this disparate data into a uniform format before analysis. It
Speaker 2: also exposes an API for remote interaction and management. Then
Speaker 2: we have the Wazoo Indexer. This is designed specifically for
Speaker 2: indexing and robustly storing all the security alerts generated by
Speaker 2: the server. It's engineered to handle colossal volumes of data,
Speaker 2: ensuring scalability even in high demand environments.
Speaker 1: Don't grow with you.
Speaker 2: Precisely, your window into all this activity is the Wazoo dashboard.
Speaker 2: This is your web interface. Pretty intuitive provides comprehensive visualization
Speaker 2: and analysis capabilities. You can monitor events craft custom rules
Speaker 2: and critically track regulatory compliances across standards like pcidss GDPR HIPITA,
Speaker 2: NIST eight hundred and fifty three. All that alongside detecting
Speaker 2: vulnerable applications.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, compliance too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And finally, the Wazoo agents. These are the eyes
Speaker 2: and ears on the ground right right. They're installed directly
Speaker 2: on the endpoints you want to monitor, servers, desktops, laptops,
Speaker 2: cloud vms. These agents leverage the oseecid module to collect
Speaker 2: real time events and transmit them securely back to the server.
Speaker 1: The ossec module. Okay, if I'm understanding this correctly, it's
Speaker 1: capable of monitoring everything from my individual laptop all the
Speaker 1: way up to an entire cloud infrastructure. That's it. That's
Speaker 1: remarkable versatility for a single platform. And how do organizations
Speaker 1: typically go about deploying something with this kind of breadth?
Speaker 1: Is it complex?
Speaker 2: Well? Wazoo is designed with deployment flexibility in mind. You
Speaker 2: can implement it on premises within various cloud environments, or
Speaker 2: containerize using technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.
Speaker 1: Lots of options okay, for.
Speaker 2: Production grade resilience and to manage substantial traffic deploying components
Speaker 2: in a cluster configuration is strongly recommended, you know, for.
Speaker 1: High availabilities make sense for production, but for.
Speaker 2: A more streamlined learning or lab environment. There's a convenient
Speaker 2: Wazoo VMOVA file that unifies all components into one easy
Speaker 2: to deploy package, simplifies setup.
Speaker 1: Immensely as handy for getting started definitely okay. That truly
Speaker 1: gives us a solid foundation for understanding Wazoo's architecture. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get into the heart of its power. What can
Speaker 1: Wazoo actually do? Ah?
Speaker 2: The fun part.
Speaker 1: Our source material meticulously breaks down its core capabilities, beginning
Speaker 1: with its role as an intrusion detection system or IDs.
Speaker 2: Right, and IDs is absolutely fundamental in cybersecurity. Its primary
Speaker 2: role is to continuously monitor network traffic, system logs other
Speaker 2: critical information streams, basically looking for patterns patterns that signal
Speaker 2: known threats or anomalist behaviors. Its ultimate purpose is to
Speaker 2: alert security administrators promptly to potential threats or outright breaches.
Speaker 1: And when we talk about IDs, there are different categories, right,
Speaker 1: It's not just one type.
Speaker 2: Precisely, we categorize them broadly into network contrusion detection systems NIDS,
Speaker 2: which primarily monitor network traffic at a broader.
Speaker 1: Level like the whole network highway.
Speaker 2: Kind of yeah, and a host intrusion detection systems HIDS
Speaker 2: which focus on monitoring individual devices, individual endpoints. Wazoo itself
Speaker 2: is prominently recognized as a powerful HIDS.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Wazoo is mainly at HIDS. But here's where
Speaker 1: it gets really interesting for me the mention of suri
Speaker 1: Kata in our source. Ah. Yes, what exactly is suri
Speaker 1: Kata and how does it integrate with Wazoo to enhance
Speaker 1: the overall detection capabilities.
Speaker 2: So, Sirakata is a highly capable open source network IDSES.
Speaker 2: It excels at monitoring network traffic in real time. It
Speaker 2: uses a sophisticated rule based language to detect a wide
Speaker 2: array of threats, malware intrusion, attempts, subtle network anomalies.
Speaker 1: It's very powerful dy essex so it can block too.
Speaker 2: It can yes the IPS part intrusion prevention system. Organizations
Speaker 2: deploy it for its network traffic visibility, its ability to
Speaker 2: perform signature and anomaly detection against robust community rule sets
Speaker 2: like emerging threats, and its deep protocol analysis capabilities. While
Speaker 2: it can function as an IPS to actively block malicious traffic.
Speaker 2: That capability requires really meticulous configuration to avoid disrupting legitimate operations.
Speaker 1: You have to be careful, right, You don't want to
Speaker 1: block the wrong thing exactly, So, how does this combination
Speaker 1: Wazoo and Sirikata manifesting catching actual threats? Can you walk
Speaker 1: us through some tangible examples from the source material.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, the examples truly brant to life. Consider network scanning
Speaker 2: prob attack detection.
Speaker 1: Okay, like end map scans.
Speaker 2: Exactly if an attacker attempts an n MAP syn scan
Speaker 2: or maybe a version scan on a target machine, the
Speaker 2: source material demonstrates how Surikata, powered by the Emerging Threats
Speaker 2: rules set, will immediately detect this. Wazoo then visualizes these
Speaker 2: alerts on its dashboard. You see crucial details like ET scan,
Speaker 2: potential SSH scan outbound or n MAP scan alerts, complete
Speaker 2: with the attacker source IP and the detected signature. That
Speaker 2: granular detail.
Speaker 1: Is vital instant visibility.
Speaker 2: Right. Then there are web based attacks using DVWA, the
Speaker 2: damn vulnerable web application that intentional insecure environment used for
Speaker 2: training and testing.
Speaker 1: I yes, DVWA classic.
Speaker 2: The source illustrates how Surricata effectively identifies common web attacks
Speaker 2: like SQL injection and reflected cross scripting or EXSS okay
Speaker 2: show me. For instance, in SQL injection example might involve
Speaker 2: an attacker injecting something like union select hello Hello again
Speaker 2: into a URL. Sirrakata flags this instantly as e tech
Speaker 2: webserver possible SQL injection attempt, and WASO highlights the specific
Speaker 2: URL query string used in the attack right there on.
Speaker 1: The dashboard, so you see exactly what they tried Precisely.
Speaker 2: Similarly, for a reflected EXSS example, injecting a script tag
Speaker 2: like script alert exss script is immediately flagged by Sirakata
Speaker 2: as et webserver script tag in URI cross site scripting attempt.
Speaker 1: Those examples really paint a picture of how granular this
Speaker 1: detection can be. It's not just something happened, it's what happened.
Speaker 1: That's the key takeaway for an organization. The implications seemed profound.
Speaker 1: What's the biggest shift in security posture this kind of
Speaker 1: detailed visibility enables.
Speaker 2: Well. The real revelation here is how Surikata, combined with
Speaker 2: Wazu's visualization, transforms raw network activity into immediate actionable intelligence.
Speaker 2: It's not just about detecting an end map scan. It's
Speaker 2: about getting the attacker's IP and the specific signature in
Speaker 2: an instant. This capability dramatically cuts down investigation time. We're
Speaker 2: talking hours down to minutes.
Speaker 1: That's huge.
Speaker 2: It empowers rapid response, preventing minor probes from potentially escalating
Speaker 2: into major incidents. It really shifts you towards proactive defense,
Speaker 2: not just reactive cleanup, proactive.
Speaker 1: I like that. Okay, So beyond intrusions, malware remains this pervasive,
Speaker 1: constantly evolving threat. How does Wazo specifically help in combating
Speaker 1: this persistent challenge.
Speaker 2: Yeah, malware, as you know, it's incredibly diverse. You've got
Speaker 2: viruses attaching to files like I Love You, worms spreading
Speaker 2: through networks like my Doom.
Speaker 1: My Doom Wow, blasts from the past, right.
Speaker 2: Then trojans disguise as legitimate software like zeus, ransomware encrypting
Speaker 2: data WannaCry being a famous example, and stealthy spyware like
Speaker 2: fin spy covertly collecting info. It's a vast landscape.
Speaker 1: That's an enormous range of threats to constantly monitor and
Speaker 1: defend against.
Speaker 2: Seems overwhelming, it can be, but Wazoo has robust building
Speaker 2: capabilities and crucial integrations to tackle this. File integrity monitoring
Speaker 2: FM is absolutely foundational.
Speaker 1: Here fem okay, how does that work?
Speaker 2: Wazoo leverages FEM to detect any changes, additions, or deletions
Speaker 2: to critical system files think executables, canfig files, temp files,
Speaker 2: register re entries, even PowerShell scripts. If malware attempts to
Speaker 2: modify or create a suspicious file, FM instantly triggers an
Speaker 2: alert BAM, so.
Speaker 1: It spots unauthorized changes immediately exactly.
Speaker 2: Additionally, its root kit behavior detection uses the root check function.
Speaker 2: This looks for anomalies that strongly suggest a root kit's presence,
Speaker 2: things like unauthorized privileged escalation or attempts to conceal malicious
Speaker 2: files or processes.
Speaker 1: Root check got it. Now. We've explored Wazoo's native capabilities,
Speaker 1: but in modern security, integration is key.
Speaker 2: Right, absolutely critical.
Speaker 1: How does Wazoo extend its reach by working with external
Speaker 1: tools and what are some of the most impactful integrations
Speaker 1: for malware detection?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the beauty of Wazoo lies in its extensibility. One
Speaker 2: powerful method involves CDB lists constant database files. CDB list
Speaker 2: basically simple text files. Wazu can use these to store
Speaker 2: curated lists of known malware hashes like md fives or
Speaker 2: suspicious ips and domains. If a file's hash on a
Speaker 2: monitored endpoint matches an entry in say a malware hash
Speaker 2: is CDB list, Wazu immediately triggers an alert. The material
Speaker 2: gets a clear example of detecting a Mira malware file.
Speaker 1: This way simple but effective.
Speaker 2: Very Then there's the incredibly powerful Virus Total Integration.
Speaker 1: AH Virus Total. Everyone knows that one right.
Speaker 2: Wazu's FEM module can monitor a specific directory and when
Speaker 2: a file changes, it automatically sends that files hash to
Speaker 2: Virus Total for comprehensive analysis. Virus Total then stands it
Speaker 2: with over seventy different anti virus engines, giving you this
Speaker 2: multifaceted assessment. We saw compelling example detecting an ICAR test
Speaker 2: file with.
Speaker 1: This seventy engines. That's thorough it is.
Speaker 2: Wazoo also facilitates Windows Defender logs integration. Now, while Defender
Speaker 2: is ubiquitous, Wazoo can centralize its logs. This gives SoC analysts,
Speaker 2: you know, security operation center analysts, a unified view of
Speaker 2: endpoint security status directly from the Wazoo manager streamlining oversight.
Speaker 1: Okay, unifying the view. That's helpful.
Speaker 2: And this brings up an important question. What about sophisticated
Speaker 2: threats like filess malware. These attacks don't leave traditional files
Speaker 2: on disc, making them incredibly evasive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's notoriously tricky for traditional security tools. How does
Speaker 1: Wazoo approach detecting those kinds of stealthy attacks.
Speaker 2: Well, fileust malware operates primarily in memory, leveraging legitimate system
Speaker 2: processes and tools. That's precisely why traditional file based anti
Speaker 2: virus solutions.
Speaker 1: Struggle, right, nothing to scan on the desk exactly.
Speaker 2: This is where sisman becomes indispensable. Sisman is a Windows
Speaker 2: system service provides incredibly advanced detailed monitoring of process creation,
Speaker 2: network connections, file changes much deeper than standard logs.
Speaker 1: So sisman creates this deep, granular log of intricate system activities,
Speaker 1: and Wazoo then ingests and analyzes those logs to spot
Speaker 1: the subtle, non file based indicators of fileless attacks, things
Speaker 1: like unusual process injection, suspicious network connections from trusted processes,
Speaker 1: or maybe specific stealthy registry modifications for persistence.
Speaker 2: Precisely, you've got it the source material meticulously breaks down
Speaker 2: fileless malware attacks into their common stages, gain access, deal credentials,
Speaker 2: establish persistence, often through registry manipulation, and finally data exfiltration.
Speaker 2: Sisman's highly detailed logging, when seamlessly integrated with Wazoo, is
Speaker 2: instrumental in exposing these often hidden activities that conventional file
Speaker 2: based detection might entirely miss. It really transforms Wazoo into
Speaker 2: a much more robust guardian against these modern advanced threats.
Speaker 1: That integration sounds crucial for dealing with modern attack techniques. Okay,
Speaker 1: shifting gear slightly. In cybersecurity, we're constantly bombarded and overwhelming
Speaker 1: influx of new threats, vulnerabilities, indicators of compromise. The noise
Speaker 1: is incredible sometimes exactly how does Wazu help security teams
Speaker 1: make sense of this dayly age of information and turn
Speaker 1: it into actionable intelligence rather than just noise.
Speaker 2: This is precisely where automated threat intelligence transitions from being
Speaker 2: a nice to have to an absolute necessity. I mean,
Speaker 2: the days of manually copying and pasting thousands of observable
Speaker 2: suspicious IPS hashes into various databases are just inefficient, unsustainable
Speaker 2: Automated threat intelligence is designed to directly address the critical
Speaker 2: challenges delayed detection, missed alerts, sluggish response times that plague
Speaker 2: manual processes.
Speaker 1: So what are the cornerstone tools that Wazoo integrates with
Speaker 1: to achieve this level of automated threat intelligence.
Speaker 2: Wazu integrates with some really powerful and widely adopted platforms
Speaker 2: in the industry. Think MISP, the malware information Sharing platform
Speaker 2: and ASP right the Hive, which is a robust, oh
Speaker 2: open source incident management platform, and Cortex, a potent threat
Speaker 2: analysis engine that works hand in hand with the Hive.
Speaker 1: Okay, MISP, the Hive Coretex. What are the compounding benefits
Speaker 1: of linking all these together within the Wazoo ecosystem.
Speaker 2: The integration delivers several profound benefits. First, it enables scalable
Speaker 2: security operations. By streamlining how security events are handled, organizations
Speaker 2: can effectively manage an ever increasing volume of incidents with
Speaker 2: significantly less manual effort. Teams can scale without just throwing
Speaker 2: more people.
Speaker 1: At the problem. Efficiency games big time.
Speaker 2: Second, it facilitates automated incident response by directly leveraging the
Speaker 2: rich threat intelligence data from MISP analysts within the Hive
Speaker 2: can rapidly generate consistent prompt response playbooks. This ensures every
Speaker 2: identified incident is addressed with speed and precision.
Speaker 1: So standardizing the response. Can you give us a concrete
Speaker 1: example of this entire chain in action, Wazoo, MISP, the
Speaker 1: Hive Cortex working together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the source material provides an excellent use case. Imagine
Speaker 2: Wazoo generates a critical alert. That alert is automatically sent
Speaker 2: to the hive.
Speaker 1: Okay, alert pops up in the hive right.
Speaker 2: An SC analyst reviews this alert in the hive, creates
Speaker 2: a new case and adds various observables that are part
Speaker 2: of the alert, maybe a suspicious file name like sv
Speaker 2: cost dot ex, a problematic IP address like ninety five
Speaker 2: point one four, or a malicious domain like drivogle, dot firewalldush, gateway,
Speaker 2: dot com.
Speaker 1: Okay, collecting the clues.
Speaker 2: Exactly, and then the Hive, through its integration with Cortex,
Speaker 2: analyzes those specific observables against comprehensive MISP threat intelligence feeds.
Speaker 1: Ah so Cortex queries MISP. That's where the magic happens exactly.
Speaker 2: The analyst can initiate an analyzer maybe MISP twenty one
Speaker 2: directly on the observable within the hive. The hive then
Speaker 2: receives a detailed report back from MISP. This report outlines
Speaker 2: any matching threat intelligence events, including critical info like evn IDs,
Speaker 2: the original source providers of the intel like circole. This
Speaker 2: process dramatically enriches the analysts understanding.
Speaker 1: Provides context instantly.
Speaker 2: Right immediate context. It helps them assess the severity and
Speaker 2: nature of the attack far more quickly than manual lookups.
Speaker 1: Ever, could that sounds like an absolute game changer for
Speaker 1: security teams. Yeah, a massive productivity boost automating that initial
Speaker 1: investigation and enrichment.
Speaker 2: It really is.
Speaker 1: Okay, building on that concept of automated threat intelligence and
Speaker 1: incident enrichment, let's talk sor security orchestration, automation and response.
Speaker 1: Sounds like something right out of a sci fi movie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, autonomous defense systems. What exactly is SR in
Speaker 1: simple terms? And how does it push security operations forward?
Speaker 2: Well? Gardner defines SR as solutions that combine incident response, orchestration, automation,
Speaker 2: and threat intelligence management into a single, unified platform. Its
Speaker 2: overarching purpose is to implement security playbooks and workflows that
Speaker 2: actively support analysts moving beyond just alerting to active mitigation
Speaker 2: and response.
Speaker 1: Okay, break that down a bit orchestration automation.
Speaker 2: Sure security orchestration is about coordinating tasks across multiple disparate
Speaker 2: tools and teams, making them work together harmoniously like a conductor.
Speaker 2: Security automation is the execution of predefined actions in response
Speaker 2: to specific security events, often without direct human intervention at that.
Speaker 1: Moment, machines doing the work to a degree.
Speaker 2: Yes, An incident response within SR is about systematically streamlining
Speaker 2: the entire process from detection through containment and recovery when
Speaker 2: an incident occurs.
Speaker 1: So it connects all the pieces and makes them act
Speaker 1: autonomously or at least automatically initiate actions based on playbooks.
Speaker 1: What's an example of an open source SR platform that
Speaker 1: integrates effectively with Wazoo.
Speaker 2: Our source introduces shuffle Soar. It's an open source interpretation
Speaker 2: of SR principles, leveraging Docker and micro services for its architecture.
Speaker 2: It features highly customizable apps and workflows, enabling users to
Speaker 2: construct bespoke security use cases typically categorized into stages collect
Speaker 2: and rich, detect, respond and verify.
Speaker 1: Very modular Shuffle so and how does the integration between
Speaker 1: Wazoo and Shuffle actually work in practice. How do they
Speaker 1: talk well?
Speaker 2: The initial integration scripts are conveniently pre built within Wazoo,
Speaker 2: which helps. Yeah. The process involves creating a Shuffle workflow
Speaker 2: with a specific webook URI. Then you configure Wazoo to
Speaker 2: push relevant alerts say all alerts above level three or
Speaker 2: specifical ideas like five hundred and ten for abnormal logins
Speaker 2: directly to that web hook. This allows Shuffle to ingest
Speaker 2: security events from Wazoo and then act upon them based
Speaker 2: on its configured workflows.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Wazoo pushes alerts to Shuffle. This raises an
Speaker 1: important question though, Can Shuffle actually control Wazoo? Can it
Speaker 1: reach back and tell Wazuo to do something?
Speaker 2: Yes, it absolutely can, and this is where the power
Speaker 2: of USAW really comes to life. Shuffle can remotely manage
Speaker 2: waz by authenticating to the Wazu API. You first get
Speaker 2: a JWT adjacent web token from Wazoo for secure access,
Speaker 2: and then use that token to make subsequent API requests.
Speaker 2: This enables Shuffle to programmatically add, remove, restart, or even
Speaker 2: upgrade Wazoo agents directly from within its workflows.
Speaker 1: Wow upgrade agents automatically potentially Yes.
Speaker 2: This level of control represents a highly sophisticated automation capability
Speaker 2: allowing for truly dynamic and responsive security actions based on events.
Speaker 1: That's powerful stuff. Okay, so when an attack actually hits
Speaker 1: speed is absolutely everything we know? That's critical. How does
Speaker 1: Wazu specifically empower organizations to respond to incidents with the
Speaker 1: necessary swiftness and efficacy?
Speaker 2: Well, incident response I are, it's fundamentally about that immediate identification, mitigation, containment,
Speaker 2: and ultimately fixing the root cause of an attack. Our
Speaker 2: source material points to widely recognized frameworks like NIST with
Speaker 2: four steps and SANDS with six steps. Both provide structured
Speaker 2: guides for navigating this critical process. Wazoo's key contribution here
Speaker 2: is its active response capability.
Speaker 1: Right active response, What precisely does that entail and how
Speaker 1: does it help speed things up?
Speaker 2: Wazoo Active Response is a mechanism that allows for autumn
Speaker 2: predefined actions to be executed directly on monitored endpoints in
Speaker 2: real time, triggered by specific security alerts. It leverages a
Speaker 2: combination of pre built scripts like netch dot exx for
Speaker 2: Windows or firewall drop for Linux, but also supports custom
Speaker 2: scripts tailored to an organization's unique needs or environment.
Speaker 1: So if a critical security event happens, Wazoo doesn't just alert,
Speaker 1: it can potentially take immediate autonomous action to shut down
Speaker 1: or contain the threat.
Speaker 2: Potentially, yes, and that's the strategic advantage. The system operates
Speaker 2: by the Wazoo server issuing an order to the agent
Speaker 2: on the endpoint to perform a specific action. This action
Speaker 2: is carefully defined within a command block, which is intrinsically
Speaker 2: tied to a particular rule ID, a severity level, or
Speaker 2: a rule group that has been triggered by whatever event
Speaker 2: was detected.
Speaker 1: Okay, trigger rule action. Can you provide some tangible, real
Speaker 1: world examples from the source material that illustrate this active
Speaker 1: response in action?
Speaker 2: Sure? Our source material details several critical use cases, for instance,
Speaker 2: blocking unauthorized.
Speaker 1: SSH access common problem.
Speaker 2: Right, If Wazoo detects an attempt to log in using
Speaker 2: a non existent user that corresponds to rule ID fifty
Speaker 2: seven to ten, it can trigger the firewall drop script
Speaker 2: on say an a Buntu agent. This script automatically adds
Speaker 2: the attacker's IP address to the IP tables denialist, effectively
Speaker 2: blocking them for a specified time out. Maybe sixty seconds.
Speaker 2: Maybe longer buys you time stops the brute force exactly.
Speaker 2: Another crucial example isolating an infected Windows machine think ransomware, Yeah,
Speaker 2: contain it is key there absolutely. If a Windows machine
Speaker 2: is compromised by malware, perhaps detected via a virus total
Speaker 2: alert matching rule ID eight to seven one oh five,
Speaker 2: Wazoo can trigger a custom batch script maybe fw dot cmd.
Speaker 2: This script then executes a PowerShell script WF block dot
Speaker 2: ps one, which proceeds to create an automatic outbound firewall
Speaker 2: rule in Windows Firewall, effectively blocking all outgoing traffic from
Speaker 2: the infected machine. Containing the spread.
Speaker 1: Instantly cuts it off from the network.
Speaker 2: Very smart and final only blocking RDP brood force attacks
Speaker 2: Remote desktop protocol another common target. If three failed RDP
Speaker 2: logan attempts are detected within say one hundred and twenty seconds,
Speaker 2: corresponding to rule ID one hundred one hundred, Wazoo can
Speaker 2: employ the default dot ex script on the Windows agent.
Speaker 2: This script automatically blocks the attacker's IP address, preventing any
Speaker 2: further brute force attempts.
Speaker 1: It's incredibly proactive and precise the ability to automatically contain
Speaker 1: or mitigate attacks in real time that can genuinely save
Speaker 1: an organization from significant cascading damage during an incident.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's about reducing that impact window.
Speaker 1: Okay, we've talked a lot about automated detection and response,
Speaker 1: but our source material places significant emphasis on thread hunting,
Speaker 1: especially for those elusive maybe twenty percent of threats that
Speaker 1: slip past automated defenses.
Speaker 2: Right the ones that hide.
Speaker 1: How does Wazoo specifically facilitate and empower proactive threat hunting efforts?
Speaker 2: Yeah, threat hunting is a proactive discipline. It goes beyond
Speaker 2: automated detection to actively seek out and neutralized threats that
Speaker 2: might be cleverly hiding within the environment. Wazoo provides a
Speaker 2: robust foundation for this by centralizing and analyzing vast quantities
Speaker 2: of logs, offering real time monitoring, supporting custom rule sets,
Speaker 2: and integrating seamlessly with key threat hunting frameworks.
Speaker 1: So what are some of Wazoo's specific capabilities that thread
Speaker 1: hunters find most valuable for unearthing those hidden threats? What
Speaker 1: tools does it give them?
Speaker 2: The source highlights several powerful capabilities. First, just the basic
Speaker 2: log data analysis. Wazoo centralizes logs from everywhere, endpoints, servers,
Speaker 2: network devices. It's decoders revital here. Extracting meaningful, actionable information
Speaker 2: from raw logs. That's fundamental for manual hunting.
Speaker 1: Having all the data in one place crucial.
Speaker 2: Second, mitre ATT and CK mapping. This framework, as you know,
Speaker 2: categorizes adversary tactics techniques TTPs.
Speaker 1: Very popular framework.
Speaker 2: Extremely Wazoo intelligently maps observe security events to specific ATT
Speaker 2: and CK techniques like T eleven ten for brute force.
Speaker 2: This mapping gives teams a clear strategic understanding of adversary methods.
Speaker 2: You can even use tools like ATT and K Navigator
Speaker 2: to prioritize hunting efforts based on likely techniques.
Speaker 1: Focus is on exactly.
Speaker 2: Then there's the particularly fascinating Oscary integration developed by Facebook.
Speaker 2: Oscary basically turns your operating system into a relational database.
Speaker 1: Query the OS with SQL pretty much.
Speaker 2: It allows threat hunters to query their entire IT infrastructure
Speaker 2: using familiar Seql like commands. You can get real time
Speaker 2: data about processes, active users, network connections, installed apps, so
Speaker 2: much more, all on demand.
Speaker 1: Wow. That ability to query the OS directly with SQL
Speaker 1: sounds like a profound shift for threat hunting. How does
Speaker 1: that fundamentally change the speed and depth of investigations.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's a game changer. Instead of logging into individual
Speaker 2: machines and running disparate commands, Oscary integrated with Wazoo, centralizes
Speaker 2: and democratizes that data collection. The source gives examples like
Speaker 2: querying for the top ten and largest processes by memory size,
Speaker 2: or the top ten most active processes across your.
Speaker 1: Whole fleet, us the whole fleet instantly.
Speaker 2: Right when Oscary is integrated with Wazoo, These sophisticated queries
Speaker 2: can be widely deployed across thousands of endpoints and centrally administered.
Speaker 2: It massively accelerates identifying suspicious anomalies or persistent threats that
Speaker 2: might otherwise take days or weeks to uncover. It just
Speaker 2: collapses investigation time, incredible efficiency, and finally, command monitoring. Wazoo
Speaker 2: also has a built in feature to monitor the output
Speaker 2: of specific Windows or Linux commands and treat that output
Speaker 2: directly as lag content. This is exceptionally useful for continuously
Speaker 2: tracking critical operational metrics, disc usage, load averages, or importantly
Speaker 2: changes in network listeners.
Speaker 1: So if a new unexpected port suddenly opens up on
Speaker 1: a critical server, Wazoo can flag it instantly just by
Speaker 1: monitoring the output of a netstat command that gives you
Speaker 1: real time insight into potentially unauthorized services.
Speaker 2: Precisely, the source clearly demonstrates how continuously monitoring netstat toll
Speaker 2: then can generate an immediate alert for a listened port
Speaker 2: status netstat changed event, leveraging a pre built Wazoo rule
Speaker 2: designed for exactly this purpose. It's an elegant way to
Speaker 2: turn routine system checks into active security monitoring.
Speaker 1: Very clever. Okay, shifting focus slightly again beyond just core
Speaker 1: security functions. Many organizations operate under strict regulatory compliance requirements
Speaker 1: PCIDSS HYPA, NYST. Oh.
Speaker 2: Yes, the compliance burden is real.
Speaker 1: It often involves this constant battle to demonstrate adherence. Can
Speaker 1: Wazu genuinely help streamline and manage these complex compliance demands? Yeah?
Speaker 2: This raises that important question many organizations grapple with, how
Speaker 2: do you ensure continuous compliance without completely overwhelming your security
Speaker 2: and OPS teams with manual audits and endless checklists. Wazu
Speaker 2: addresses this directly with two dedicated modules. First, the Vulnerability Detector.
Speaker 2: This module continuously scans and identifies vulnerabilities in operating systems
Speaker 2: and installed applications across your vitronment. It builds a comprehensive
Speaker 2: inventory and integrates with authoritative external vulnerability feeds MVD, Microsoft, Debian,
Speaker 2: red Hat advisories, giving you a current view of your
Speaker 2: risk posture related to known vulmes.
Speaker 1: So it finds the known weaknesses right.
Speaker 2: Complementing this is the Security Configuration Assessment SCA module. This
Speaker 2: is designed to maintain the baseline security configuration of endpoints.
Speaker 2: It uses flexible yamal based policies to continuously ensure systems
Speaker 2: meet specific predefined security standards and hardening guidelines.
Speaker 1: SEA checks the configuration baseline YEP. Okay, So let's look
Speaker 1: at some concrete examples of how WAZU helps with adherence
Speaker 1: to specific compliance frameworks as highlighted in our source material. Okay.
Speaker 2: Our source provides excellent examples across three major ones PCIDSS,
Speaker 2: NIST eight hundred five to three and HYPA for PCIDSS,
Speaker 2: the payment card industry standard all about protecting cardholder data
Speaker 2: Vulnerability detection use case Requirements six and eleven. Wazi's vulnerability
Speaker 2: detector is instrumental. It can pinpoint vulnerabilities on Windows machine,
Speaker 2: say in Google Chrome, allowing you to prioritize critical findings
Speaker 2: that could expose cardholder data. Addresses those specific requirements. SAA
Speaker 2: use case requirement too. PCIDSS mandates disabling unnecessary functionalities. The
Speaker 2: source shows how SEA can verify if interactive logan do
Speaker 2: not display last username is enabled on Windows, a best
Speaker 2: practice preventing attackers from grabbing usernames.
Speaker 1: Visually checking those specific settings exactly.
Speaker 2: SEA use case requirements seven. This emphasizes restricting access based
Speaker 2: on need to know. SCA can audit if disable anonymous
Speaker 2: enumeration of SAM accounts and shares is enabled on Windows,
Speaker 2: preventing unauthorized users from listing accounts or shares for NEST
Speaker 2: eight hundred and fifty three, the standard for US federal agencies.
Speaker 2: Vulnerability Detection Use Case Control CA. Wazoo's vulnerability detector helps
Speaker 2: discover valluns across various ocs, including things like Collie Linux,
Speaker 2: ensuring compliance with assessment and monitoring controls. SEA Use Case
Speaker 2: Control AC seventeen. This focuses on hardening SSH. Sc can
Speaker 2: check if the SSAH port on a Kali Linux machine
Speaker 2: is not the default port twenty two, aligning with security
Speaker 2: best practices.
Speaker 1: Verifying non standard configuration.
Speaker 2: And for IPI protecting patient health information PHI SEA use
Speaker 2: case administrative safeguards. Ip requires robust protection of audit information.
Speaker 2: Wazuo's SEA can verify if critical audit tools and logs
Speaker 2: like audit in its files on a Buntu have appropriate
Speaker 2: restrictive permissions maybe seven to fifty five restricter. This prevents
Speaker 2: unauthorized access or tampering with audit trails core to IPI.
Speaker 1: Checking file permissions on audit logs very specific. This truly
Speaker 1: demonstrates how Wazoo isn't merely a reactive security tool. It's
Speaker 1: a critical, proactive component of an overarching continuous compliance strategy.
Speaker 1: It provides measurable evidence, exactly evidence of adherents. It's clear
Speaker 1: Wazoo has a remarkable array of built in capabilities, but
Speaker 1: the source material also delves into the concept of custom rules.
Speaker 1: How does the ability to create these highly specific custom
Speaker 1: rules empower users even further to tailor their security posture. Ah.
Speaker 2: That's precisely where the profound adaptability of Wazoo really shines.
Speaker 2: It empowers users to create highly specific custom rules and decoders.
Speaker 2: This allows them to precisely enhance detection capabilities for unique
Speaker 2: niche or maybe evolving scenarios that might not be covered by.
Speaker 1: The default rule. Set go and beyond the default right.
Speaker 2: For Windows environments, you can craft custom PowerShell rules to
Speaker 2: detect specific PowerShell events, errors, warnings, critical logs, moving beyond
Speaker 2: generic monitoring to pinpoint highly suspicious script executions. On line systems,
Speaker 2: you can write custom addit rules to detect specific system
Speaker 2: call events, CISC goals, or even subtle changes in a
Speaker 2: user's environment, like unauthorized modifications to DOSH profile, often using
Speaker 2: CDB lookups for efficiency.
Speaker 1: Detecting specific command usage or file changes.
Speaker 2: For specific endpoint protection platforms like Kasperski, you can tailor
Speaker 2: custom Kasperski endpoint security rules to detect particular events like
Speaker 2: agent restarts or quarantine alerts, Integrating your EPP more tightly
Speaker 2: with Wazoo Monitoring, and finally, custom system rules allow for
Speaker 2: inc incredibly granular detection based on specific sismon events, process creation,
Speaker 2: Vivant one network connections, Event three, registry sets, Event thirteen,
Speaker 2: file stream hashes, Event fifteen often meticulously mapped to minor
Speaker 2: ADT and CK techniques for highly relevant alerts.
Speaker 1: So with custom rules you gain this unprecedented ability to
Speaker 1: fine tune Wazoo to look for precisely what matters most
Speaker 1: to your unique environment and the specific threats you face,
Speaker 1: rather than relying solely on a generic rule set. That
Speaker 1: level of bespoke security seems immensely valuable. It really is.
Speaker 2: It allows security to be much more targeted and effective.
Speaker 1: Wow, we've really taken a true deep dive into Wazoo today.
Speaker 1: I feel like we've covered a lot of ground. We
Speaker 1: certainly have, moving from its foundational open source philosophy right
Speaker 1: through its incredible breadth of capabilities spotting intrusions, catching malware,
Speaker 1: automating threat intel orchestrating incident response, proactively hunting threats, even
Speaker 1: streamlining compliance.
Speaker 2: Yeah. What's truly fascinating, I think, is how a single
Speaker 2: open source platform like Wazoo can provide such a comprehensive
Speaker 2: and integrated security posture. It merges so many critical functions
Speaker 2: and external tools. It effectively democratizes access to advanced cybersecurity.
Speaker 2: This really empowers organizations of all sizes, regardless of budget,
Speaker 2: to gain deep understanding and robust defense of their digital environments.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you've not only learned how Wazoo works and its
Speaker 1: core components, but you've also seen specific real world examples
Speaker 1: that illustrate precisely how it detects, analyzes, and responds to
Speaker 1: various attacks and compliance needs. This is far more than
Speaker 1: just surface level information. It feels like practical, actionable knowledge
Speaker 1: you can immediately appreciate, and.
Speaker 2: If we connect this to the bigger picture, perhaps looking forward,
Speaker 2: it raises an important question for all of us. I think,
Speaker 2: what's that As powerful, accessible, open source security solutions like
Speaker 2: Wazoo continue to evolve, become even more sophisticated, how might
Speaker 2: this fundamentally reshape the entire landscape of digital defense? Could
Speaker 2: it make advanced cybersecurity a baseline expectation for everyone, not
Speaker 2: just an capability for the elite few with huge budgets.
Speaker 1: Making advanced security accessible to everyone, That's definitely something for
Speaker 1: you to mull over as you continue your own deep
Speaker 1: dives into the dynamic world of cybersecurity.