IT Debate: Security Vulnerabilities of B

Unfortunately, the hackers seem to be in advantage over the Admin professionals. We administrators are always on the defense, while the hackers are always on the attack.
High encryptions and port settings can easy the threat, but we have to be on our toes.
I think that the faster and cheaper remote access solutions pay off in the long run. We can’t allow for the threat that seems inevitable, to stop us from embracing the newer technology. The hackers will always be there, and our networks with or without the remote access, will always be in danger of intrusion.
There is a certain balance to it too. It seems that the greater report on attacks come from the larger companies, that also have more resources to work on preventions. There are still a lot companies out there that don’t have even a firewall in place, and they still host their Web site, and their email, and never suffered an attack. It’s price of been famous I guess!

Broadband remote access, while providing a new headache for security administrators is obviously supported by a sound business requirement. Companies wishing to use this technology have to realise that it is not a simple implementation task, but requires some thought and investment to ensure that a secure infrastructure can be created, in the same way that existing technologies need to be secured. Failure to do so will almost certainly backfire on the company, probably incurring costs, and thenforcing the security issue once again.

In Europe, Broadband Remote Access is not always available. Sometimes ISDN Line Bundling (128kb/s) is the only "High-Speed" Alternative. In other Regions (Large Cities) either xDSL ore Cable Access could be available. One also has to realise that many Homes (older Build Date) don't have Cable sockets in all Rooms (same goes for the Phone Socket), so that Cable Access can potentially mean costly Wiring Upgrades (not even always possible to implement, particularly if You rent Your House/Appartment).
On the Security Side, the Hackers will always be 1 Step ahead of the Security Administrators ! Security will always be a Tradeoff between Cost and Risk. The major Issue here is that it is almost impossible to enforce a "safe" Configuration on the Home PC of a Teleworker (You can't stop him or a Family Member to download "Stuff" from the Web, eg. a Sniffing-Program). And as long as You don't know in what Security-State the Client is, it is almost pointless to try to have a watertight Security on the Server (the

Perhaps it's is becasue I had the luck to work for a company that had a lot of money to spend on IT but this is how we delt with the problem.

Users who were working at home were using a laptop or PC that was purchased by the company. All of these boxes were running NT and everything was installed by the MIS department. This way, we could make sure that the VPN and personal firewalls were installed properly. We would also go out to the users home, to make sure that everyhing was installed properly and working fine.

I think that it also helped that my MIS department didn't have the negative atitude towards hackers as most do. We learn from them and because of them we,re all better security people for it. No, we didn't think it is okay what they are doing, however it's isn't okay for us to be lax admin either.

We need to embrace and accept this technology... it isn't going to go away and more and more people are going to demand broadband access. There are ways to lock down computers. It jus

Although always-on, high-speed connections pose one of the greatest widely known security hole, users are often protected by DSL company attempts to limit their access. For example, here in Houston, PPPoE is very common. When in use, it not only keeps the connection fromat truly being always on, it assigns a new IP from time to time. This combined with a measure of anonymity (among the other thousands, that is) creates a literal sea of shifting IPs that is nearly impossible to target, leaving random attacks as the primary concern. Having high levels of encryption and authentication, as always, should be used to protect the primary corporate network, as the above arrangement makes IP spoofing significantly easier.

The issue is not IF you should do it, but HOW you should do it. Once enough senior people in your organization have DSL or cable modems at home, there will be no way you can stop their use. That is why the issue is realy how to implement high speed access with a minimal amount of risk.

I propose that there is no security "war" being waged at all. Most security breaches are not deliberate attempts of malicious malcontents to bring an enemy to its knees or cases of corporate espionage. With the possible exception of credit card fraud most hacking or cracking attempts are done simply because they can be...they are an exciting alternative to watching TV or going to work. Add to that most of these crimes are viewed as victimless by the hacker and you have a societal class simply seeking a high-risk, challenging pastime - no different from rock climbing. What they don't realize is that there really is no challenge at all. Human error is inevitable and it shows in the holes they discover. Until networks can configure themselves, holes will always be present. Besides, do you want one side to win? They seem to promote each other by increasing administrative job security and at the same time giving the socially challenged something to do!