Re: Unrestricted Outbound Web Server Access Opinion

[Diego Kellner <dkepler () gmail com>]

Paul, the main problem with unrestricted outbound access is the one
you mention. Once the security of the server is compromised, it is
easier to transfer data from/to the server. It is not impossible if
you restrict traffic to port 80, it makes it harder for the script
kiddies.It is a good policy to have both inbound as well as outbound
traffic restricted, and it's one the things that's usually neglected
in some firewall solutions, such as PIX, where rules (access lists)
are applied to inbound traffic only in the outside interface.
The real question, however, is why is it that they need unrestricted
outbound access?
Regards,
Kepler

On 5/3/05, Paul Guibord <pguibord () tngtech net> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Someone within our company wants our Internet facing web servers to have
> unrestricted outbound access. Port 80 is the only port permitted from
> the outside coming in. I need the experts opinion why we do not want to
> permit this PLEASE. Two things I could think of are if the web servers
> were compromised, then the hacker would have the ability offload any
> data they want. Another being if they were infected with a worm they
> would bring down the Internet T1 in their attempt to find other devices
> to infect.
>
> Thanks in advance for everyone's input.
>
> Paul