IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Safeguard Catalogue - Communications Remarks
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S 6.52 Regular backup of configuration data of
active network components
Initiation responsibility: Head of IT Section, IT Security Management
Implementation responsibility: Administrators
Central active network components need to remain highly available because a
large number of users are generally dependent upon the smooth operation of a
local network. To allow operations to be resumed as quickly as possible
following the occurrence of a malfunction, all the configuration data of the
active network components should be backed up electronically (also refer to S
6.32 Regular data backups). In principle, such backups can be performed
locally on the individual components, or via the network using a network
management tool, for example. Once the data have been backed up
electronically, the corresponding configurations can be restored more quickly
and reliably, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming manual entries.
The data can be restored automatically, for example, by means of a central
network management tool, or manually by an administrator.
When backing up configuration data via the network though, it must be noted
that, in contrast to a local backup, it might be possible for potential intruders
to monitor the transferred data and thus obtain security-critical information on
the configuration of the active network components, such as passwords, and
consequently even acquire details on the overall network configuration. The
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) or Remote Copy Protocol (RCP) is
generally used here; wherever possible, use should be made of RCP with
authentication (refer to S 5.20 Use of the security mechanisms of rlogin, rsh
and rcp). In contrast, TFTP does not offer any mechanisms for protection
against unauthorised access to configuration data (also refer to S 5.21 Secure
use of telnet, ftp, tftp and rexec), so that its use is not recommended.
For all backup techniques, a test is required to ascertain whether the backup
was performed successfully and whether the configuration data can be
restored properly. This particularly applies to backups performed via the
network, because the occurrence of an error here may give rise to a situation
in which restoration is no longer possible via the network.
Additional controls:
- Have the configuration data of all active network components been backed
up?
- Are generated data backups being documented?
- Is the backup process in conformity with the data backup policy, where
established (cf. S 6.13 Development of a data backup policy)?
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IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Oktober 2000