[IP] more on Chinese hackers

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: David Wagner <daw@cs.berkeley.edu>
Date: November 27, 2005 4:56:19 PM EST
To: marcaniballi@hotmail.com (Marc)
Cc: daw@cs.berkeley.edu ('David Wagner'), wilsonrj@cogeco.ca,  
dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Chinese hackers

> I pretty much agree with your concepts, with the exception that I  
> never said
> "all systems are equally insecure."

You said that putting information on a private network is "JUST AS
VULNERABLE" as putting it on an Internet-connected computer.  That's  
just
not true.

SIPRNET (the military's private network for SECRET data) is not "JUST AS
VULNERABLE" as the Internet.  That's probably partly because SIPRNET is
administered more carefully -- but the fact that SIPRNET is not  
connected
to the Internet anywhere also helps.  Controlling topology is useful
at managing certain kinds of risks.  The security community has known
this for a long time.  It's one of the principles underlying firewalls.
Completely eliminating all connectivity to the Internet is just another
kind of firewall, and one that is generally more secure than today's
porous firewalls.

-- David


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