Advice for SMBs to Defend Against Log4j Attacks

It’s not just about the big name companies who are vulnerable to the Apache Log4j2 vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228). Tech small businesses – which offer customers digital products but which often have tight budgets and understaffed security teams – are an important story when it comes to the implications for Log4j exploits. Research now finds that almost all environments have vulnerable Log4j libraries. Small businesses comprise 99.9% of all US employer firms –  but are currently far less visible in the story.

Analysis from Rezilion finds Tech SMBs face unique challenges when it comes to defending against Log4j attacks, including a lack of tools and staffing resources necessary to do the critical work of identifying, validating and patching Log4j vulnerabilities.

Recent research points to evidence that some of the most popular free, open-source scanners – the tool of choice for many resource-strapped Tech SMBs – struggle to uncover some types of nested JARs, which can lead them to miss instances of Log4J in a given environment. The further complicates the path to remediation and leaves these SMBs wide-open to attack for longer periods of time.

What can SMBs do now? Rezilion recommends the following:

-Scan now with what you have, but make sure your scan also accounts for various types of nested JAR files and for cases in which Log4j isn’t explicitly mentioned as part of the JAR name.

-Build a remediation plan that prioritizes patching Log4j instances that are loaded into memory first. This will ensure you patch what’s actually exploitable first versus applying remediation efforts where it’s not critically needed. 

-Devote some resources into validating whether active exploitation of your organization is taking place. For organizations without appropriate commercial solutions, there are some recent open source projects available that are aimed at discovering exploitation attempts.

Find Out If You are Exposed to Log4j with a Free Assessment

To help SMBs protect themselves, Rezilion is offering a FREE Log4j assessment program that can immediately identify all instances of the Log4j vulnerability while recommending prioritized remediation actions to efficiently address issues.

Contact us today for a free assessment to quickly understand if you have undetected instances of Log4j across your environment and to know whether or not these instances are exploitable and require immediate action.