Security Administrator's Integrated Network Tool


Security Administrator's Integrated Network Tool

(networking, security, tool)(SAINT, originally "SecurityAdministrator Tool for Analyzing Networks", SATAN) A toolwritten by Dan Farmer and Wietse Venema which remotely probessystems via the network and stores its findings in adatabase. The results can be viewed with an web browser.SAINT requires Perl 5.000 or better.

In its simplest mode, SAINT gathers as much information aboutremote hosts and networks as possible by examining suchnetwork services as finger, NFS, NIS, FTP, TFTP,rexd, and other services. The information gathered includesthe presence of various network information services as wellas potential security flaws - usually in the form ofincorrectly setup or configured network services, well-knownbugs in system or network utilities, or poor or ignorantpolicy decisions. It can then either report on this data oruse a simple rule-based system to investigate any potentialsecurity problems. Users can then examine, query, and analyzethe output with a web browser. While the program isprimarily geared toward analysing the security implicationsof the results, a great deal of general network informationcan be gained when using the tool - network topology, networkservices running, and types of hardware and software beingused on the network.

SAINT can also be used in exploratory mode. Based on theinitial data collection and a user configurable ruleset, itwill examine the avenues of trust and dependency and iteratefurther data collection runs over secondary hosts. This notonly allows the user to analyse his own network, but also toexamine the real implications inherent in network trust andservices and help them make reasonably educated decisionsabout the security level of the systems involved.

http://wwdsi.com/saint/.

Old SATAN page.

Mailing list.