RE: Firewall installed to prevent hacking

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: "Moyer, Shawn" <SMoyer () rgare com>

Um, so how would a f/w prevent the mail service from getting 0wned?
SMTP by definition would generally be publically accessible, so...
Wouldn't the "unidentified hacker" just hit the box again, and maybe
have to get as tricky as <gasp!> a reverse tunnel to get back to the
box? Wow, sounds positively ironclad to me! A better story for Sandy
Wall to report on: "Greene County officials defrauded by vendor's
defective e-mail software". ;)


--shawn



> -----Original Message-----
> From: InfoSec News [mailto:isn () c4i org]
> Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 04:05
> To: isn () attrition org
> Subject: [ISN] Firewall installed to prevent hacking 
>
>
> Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>
>
> http://www.kinston.com/Details.cfm?StoryID=7749
>
> [Ohhh, yeah, someone needs to point out to the folks in Greene County,
> North Carolina Marcus Ranum's idea of a 100% secure firewall
> http://www.ranum.com/pubs/a1fwall/ :)  - WK]
>
>
> By Sandy Wall
> Sandy_Wall () link freedom com
> Staff Writer
> 12/19/2002 
>
> SNOW HILL - Greene County officials hope a newly installed
> "firewall"  will prevent hackers from again disabling the county's
> computer system.
>
> An unidentified hacker tapped into the county's e-mail server last
> week and wreaked havoc on the system, causing e-mail to arrive in
> French and German, and eventually crashing the system.
>
> "Nothing was ruined, and we didn't lose anything," said County
> Manager E. Lee Worsley Jr., who said several county employees use
> the e-mail system to do their jobs.
>
> Greene officials, with the assistance of a computer service
> contractor, were able to remedy the problem on their own.
>
> Led by county systems manager Lisa Artis, the group installed a
> "firewall," which is a software device that makes it difficult for
> unauthorized users to tap into a computer system.



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