How Slurp’it Uncovered a Hidden Network of Raspberry Pis at a Global Bank

Jan 16, 2024

A large bank discovered the capabilities of Slurp’it, in a rather unconventional yet enlightening security test. What started as a simple internal security audit quickly transformed into a case study on the importance of thorough network visibility. Here’s what happened.

A Simple Test with Raspberry Pis

As part of an ongoing security assessment, the bank’s security team set up a unique challenge for their networking group: they secretly connected five Raspberry Pis to the corporate network. The task for the networking team was straightforward—find these rogue devices as quickly as possible.

The networking team, armed with their conventional tools and methods, set out on the hunt. Despite their expertise, they found themselves spending significant time scanning and sorting through the vast network data. It was a tedious process that wasn’t yielding quick results.

A Surprising Revelation

That’s when one of the engineers suggested utilizing Slurp’it. Having been impressed by its features, the team decided to give it a try.

Using Slurp’it powerful search capabilities, the engineers simply entered “rasp*” into the search bar. Expecting to find the five Raspberry Pis planted by their security team, they were flabbergasted to discover more than 25 Raspberry Pis connected to their network. That’s 20 more than anyone knew about!

Upon further investigation, it was revealed that a toilet cleaning company had installed these extra Raspberry Pis on each floor of the bank’s headquarters. These devices were meant to monitor the frequency of toilet usage. Astonishingly, these were connected to the wireless guest network, posing a potential security risk that no one had considered.

Immediate actions were taken to neutralize the potential security risk. The incident highlighted the critical role of network visibility in corporate security and led to a broader adoption of Slurp’it across different teams within the bank.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Network Visibility

This exercise shows the immense power and necessity of comprehensive network discovery. While the security team initiated it as a test, it turned out to be an invaluable lesson in network management and cybersecurity for the entire organization.

From identifying rogue devices to averting potential security breaches, Slurp’it demonstrated its worth beyond mere network discovery and asset management. It became a go-to tool for ensuring network security, highlighting that when it comes to corporate cybersecurity, visibility is not just convenient—it’s essential.

Take the first step toward comprehensive network visibility. Download Slurp’it free version here. Because you never know what’s lurking in your network cool

Read more about what you get with the free version.

Slurp’it release updates

The following features & updates have been released over the last months. See our change log for more details:

  • Nautobot plugin support

  • Async implementation for the device finder and data collector for extra speed

  • Corrected multiple Device Type names (thanks to the community)

  • The SNMP tester is now using defined & enabled Transform Rules

  • API pagination is aligned for all Get calls

  • Ruijie & Nokia templates are added

  • Multiple small bugs and improvements

  • Automated disable/delete of unused discovered devices in Netbox

  • Slurp’it SDK.

Weekly Online Workshops

Curious about Slurp’it and how it integrates with your tools? Join us for our weekly online workshops, where we’ll walk you through everything Slurp’it has to offer. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to dive deeper, you can see Slurp’it in action and ask us anything.

Workshops are held every Tuesday at 10 AM CET and Thursday at 4 PM CET.

Autocon2 & Workshop with NetBox Labs & Netpicker

Heading to Autocon2 in Denver in November? Be sure to swing by our booth to say hello! We’re also hosting a special workshop with Mark Coleman from NetBox Labs and Otto Coster from Netpicker on Tuesday morning. It’s a great chance to get hands-on experience with Slurp’it and learn from the experts.

More info: https://networkautomation.forum/autocon2

 

Take care and as usual… Happy discovery!

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