Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!sun-barr!rutgers!netsys!macomh!macom1!larry From: larry@macom1.UUCP (Larry Taborek) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans Subject: Re: Ethernet security Message-ID: <4916@macom1.UUCP> Date: 31 Aug 89 11:14:29 GMT References: <2424@aecom.yu.edu> Organization: CENTEL Federal Systems, Reston, VA. 22091-1506 Lines: 31 From article <2424@aecom.yu.edu>, by naftoli@aecom.yu.edu (Robert N. Berlinger): > In article , hedrick@geneva.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) writes: >> ... You've got exactly the same exposure with >> an RS232 wire as an Ethernet: anybody who taps it will see everything >> on it. In fact it probably requires less sophisticated equipment to >> watch an RS232 line than an Ethernet... > > I agree with you on general terms that an Ethernet user cannot > expect complete security, but then neither can an RSR232 > point-to-point user. However, I don't agree that the risks are > the same. > I'm with you Bob, The exposure is far greater with Ethernet. The medium of Ethernet and its high bandwidth and cost justifies its use in multicomputer environments. In some instances dozens of minicomputers are using the same backbone (I know of one site, NRL in Washington DC that had 70+), and as a result, when you compromise the cable, you are compromising all the computers that are using it. With RS232 wiring, you are probably only compromising one or two users or computers, so even if Ethernet is harder to tap into, the rewards to the snoop can be much greater, and so is the risk of the exposure level. Just a thought... -- Larry Taborek ..!uunet!grebyn!macom1!larry Centel Federal Systems larry@macom1.UUCP 11400 Commerce Park Drive Reston, VA 22091-1506 703-758-7000