Why to Secure Your Computer Network ----------------------------------- There has been a great deal of talk about network security over the past several years. Almost all of this talk has been about the "how" aspect of network security - which is to say the practical steps required to prevent malicious individuals from damaging the structure and function of computer networks. Comparatively little has been said about the "why" aspect of computer security. There has been comparatively little discussion of what, in particular, makes our networks worth protecting and why we want to maintain the large, complex, and vulnerable network that the Internet has become. In looking into the subject of network infrastructure, security, and architecture I slowly began to understand what Cliff Stoll (author of the book Cukoo's Egg) meant when he said the following: "So long as you think of someone ripping you off as a 'penetrator', you'll never make any progress. As long as they remained impersonal and detatched, the NSA people would never realize that this wasn't just a computer being penetrated, but a community was being attacked. ...I'd never solve the problem until I got involved; until I worried about the cancer patients who might be injured by this guy; until I became angry that this hacker was directly threatening all of us." (Cliff Stoll -- Cuckoo's Egg p. 279) From my perspective as both a user and as an administrator of computer networks, The most powerful ability of computer networks is their ability to bring people together. The explosive growth in the Internet, for example can be largely attributed to the desire for people to communicate inexpensively over long distances. The "killer app" of the Internet is not, from my perspective, the World Wide Web, but rather electronic mail. Most of what is being done on the Web could just have easily been done through other means, but there is no real replacement for e-mail. Internet e-mail has become, over a very short span of years, one of the de-facto standard means of communications both in the business world and in our personal lives. Every time someone new gets an e-mail account, it is another reason to use e-mail. The more people have e-mail the more valuable the network becomes. I believe that these personal connections are what makes the Internet and the various intranets valuable. From this perspective anything that destroys or reduces our ability to communicate makes these networks less valuable. To state this more clearly, it is my belief that networks create value by making it possible to quickly and safely communicate and share information. Anything which increases the ability of network users to share information quickly, easily, and safely will increase the usefulness and value of the network. Conversely, anything which decreases the ability of users to communicate and share information decreases the network's value. If this is true, the most valuable resource on a network is each user's trust in that network's ability to support their need to communicate and share information safely. In the long run, while electronic commerce is important, it is nowhere near as important as the system of trust which holds networks together. The most important thing to preserve is the willingness of people to trust each other - the willingness of administrators, engineers developers and other network users to share information with each other. If you accept this as true, it quickly becomes clear that the the the following five problems pose the most serious threat to Internet and intranet security: 1) E-mail viruses -- viruses which propogate by electronic mail make it more difficult for users to work with attached files. These threats make it more difficult for users to share their documents and research with other people who they may not know well. Right now every systems administrator is telling their users not to open attachments that they are not completely sure about - this undermines the trust which makes collaboration possible. 2) Trojan-horse software -- software which has hidden "back doors" or breaches a computer's security in a malicious way can have a severe negative effect on the ability of systems administrators and developers ability to exchange information related to their work. This in potentially a very grave threat against the open-source community - which depends very heavily on the ability of developers to trust each other's work. 3) Malicious Applets (malware) -- Malware creates distrust between web page authors and web users. A web user should be able to judge a website by the value of its content without having to worry about wether his browser will be attacked by the author's system. Creating distrust in this arena can have devestating effects on the usefulness of the Internet. 5) UBE (spam) -- Unsolicited bulk e-mail creates an indirect threat to the trust which makes e-mail useful. As spam becomes more common, filters are constructed which block it more effeciently. Unfortunately, it is impossible to cunstruct a filter which blocks a high percentage of UBE without blocking at least some legitimate mail. This will ultimately have negative consequences on electronic mail systems. 4) Cracking attacks -- Cracking attacks, especially attacks on e-mail, web and FTP servers, make it more difficult for people to attach private networks to the Internet. Every time the barriers to entry are raised, the value of the Internet as a whole suffers. As we enter the 21st century, computer networks are becoming a vital tool for reaching both business and personal goals. While there is no question that we need to secure these networks against those who would abuse them, it is important to do so in a way that protects the true value of those networks. Jacques Richer ****** Free web-based/POP3 mail from turbosport.com, turbomail.tv, mailplanet.net, and webmailcity.com. For just $19.95 a year you can get this ad removed and 120 megs of space!!! ****** To report SPAM mail please send an e-mail to spam@turbosport.com.