Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!ria.ccs.uwo.ca!peter
From: peter@ria.ccs.uwo.ca (Peter Marshall)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.ibm
Subject: Restricting IBM token-ring snooping
Message-ID: <1990Oct19.143505@ria.ccs.uwo.ca>
Date: 19 Oct 90 13:35:05 GMT
Sender: news@ria.ccs.uwo.ca
Reply-To: peter@ria.ccs.uwo.ca
Organization: CCS, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Lines: 18

I'm not very familiar with IBM's token ring having grown up on ethernet, so my
question may be a little naive.

On most ethernet cards there is a promiscuous mode that allows stations to
monitor all traffic.  This is very useful for example for a LAN watching
device, an ethernet bridge or a hacker bent on getting some passwords.

I have heard (second hand from IBM) that on token rings while promiscuous mode
is available on some boards that there is a way to restrict it to just certain
stations.  Is this a general facility provided by the token ring protocols? 
How is this identification enforced?  What do I have to buy?

We may be basing alot of our campus security on such a scheme, so I'm very
interested to discover any and all details.

Peter Marshall, Manager (Academic Networking) 
CCS, NSC, U. of Western Ontario, London, Canada N6A 5B7
(519)661-2111x6032 peter.marshall@uwo.ca pm@uwovax (BITNET); peter@ria.uucp