Monthly Security Update
January 2026 // V1.0
UNKNOWN
MONTHLY
SECURITY
UPDATE
Engineering Progress & Risk Mitigation Report
PHASE_COMPLETION: WORK_SHIPPED
- 01
Google Workspace Security Baseline Assessment
Audited all 18 accounts across identity, email, and endpoint configurations. Identified 4 legacy authentication connections, 8 accounts inactive for 45+ days, and 3 orphaned accounts with no documented owner.
- 02
MFA Rollout Initiated
Deployed multi-factor authentication policy to 72% of workforce. Admin accounts identified for phishing-resistant MFA upgrade. Break-glass account process not yet documented.
- 03
DNS & Email Posture Assessment
No DMARC record published (domain impersonation possible). DNS queries unfiltered across all endpoints. External email forwarding rules found on 2 mailboxes.
RESILIENCE_GAP_REDUCTION
The January baseline assessment revealed significant gaps across Meridian Financial's Google Workspace environment. With only 72% MFA coverage and no DMARC record, the organization was exposed to both credential theft and domain impersonation. Eight accounts had been inactive for over 45 days — silent backdoors that could be exploited without detection. DNS queries from all 18 endpoints were completely unfiltered, meaning any device could resolve malicious domains without restriction. The assessment established a clear priority sequence: identity hardening first, then email protection, followed by network-layer controls.
SYSTEM_METRIC_MATRIX
| METRIC | PREVIOUS | CURRENT | CHANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account Inventory & Hygiene | ||||
| Accounts Inactive >45 Days | — | 8 | — | Baseline audit — 8 stale accounts identified |
| Password & Auth Policies | ||||
| Accounts with Default / Empty Passwords | — | 2 | — | 2 service accounts with default credentials found |
| MFA Enforcement | ||||
| Admin Phishing-Resistant MFA | — | — | — | Not yet started — scheduled for February |
| Break-Glass Account Integrity | — | ✗ | — | No break-glass account exists — creation planned |
| Browser Hardening | ||||
| Chrome Version Compliance | — | 82% | — | Baseline — auto-update policy pending MDM deployment |
| Email Security & DMARC | ||||
| DMARC Pass Rate | — | 94.1% | — | Baseline — 3 unauthorized senders identified |
| DMARC Policy | — | quarantine | — | DMARC record published — monitoring phase |
| DNS & Web Filtering | ||||
| DNS Blocks This Month | — | — | — | Data collection not yet active |
| Endpoints on Cloudflare Gateway DNS | — | 60% | — | Gateway DNS pilot on engineering endpoints |
| Email Security & DMARC | ||||
| External Forwarding Rules | — | 2 | — | 2 unauthorized rules found during audit |
| MFA Enforcement | ||||
| Legacy Auth Connections Permitted | — | 4 | — | Baseline audit identified 4 legacy connections |
| MFA Enrolment Rate | — | 72% | — | Exec and IT teams enrolled — bulk rollout planned |
| Account Inventory & Hygiene | ||||
| Monthly Cleanup Run Completed | — | ✗ | — | Cleanup process not yet established |
| Orphaned Accounts | — | 3 | — | 3 accounts with no identifiable owner |
| Password & Auth Policies | ||||
| Password Policy Compliance | — | 88% | — | Baseline — 3 platforms not yet enforcing |
| Account Inventory & Hygiene | ||||
| Service Accounts Without Owner | — | 2 | — | 2 untagged service accounts found |
| Password & Auth Policies | ||||
| Session Timeout on Admin Accounts | — | 75% | — | Baseline — timeout missing on 2 platforms |
| Account Inventory & Hygiene | ||||
| Total Admin Account Count | — | 6 | — | Baseline — review scheduled for justification |
| Browser Hardening | ||||
| Unapproved Extensions Installed | — | 7 | — | 7 unapproved extensions found during audit |