RE: Possibly a stupid question RPC over HTTP

["Airey, John" <John.Airey () rnib org uk>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com
> [mailto:full-disclosure-admin () lists netsys com]On Behalf Of Burnes,
> James
> Sent: 14 October 2004 17:42
> To: ASB; full-disclosure () lists netsys com
> Subject: RE: [Full-disclosure] Possibly a stupid question RPC 
> over HTTP
>
>
> Welcome the wonderful wide world of "web services".  The gleeful
> tunneling through https and http of non REST information.  
> This has been
> an issue for, how many years now?
>
> Get yourself a SOAP/XML sniffer.  I believe one of the XML firewall
> suppliers gives this out for free.

Time to end the ignorant suggestions. First of all, yes it would be possible to block RPC over http. However, if the 
traffic is going out through https, you can't.

Before ANY data is exchanged over https, a handshake takes place to determine what level of encryption is used. Now I 
know that lots of browsers don't show the padlock before you send a username and password to an SSL protected site, but 
that data is still encrypted (hint - if you have any sites that are private to your company that your users need to 
access from outside, protect with SSL and password prompt first. If it's hacked you can demonstrate it was a private 
system). Once a connection is established via SSL to any site, all you can see is encrypted packets between you and 
that site. 

Blocking individual sites is always a possibility.

This gives you two options. One, use brute force to break the SSL encryption. Two (and it's entirely possible that the 
security services have this already) come up with a mathematical way to factor large primes rapidly.

I cannot believe that no-one has pointed this out yet.

-- 
John Airey, BSc (Jt Hons), CNA, RHCE
Internet systems support officer, ITCSD, Royal National Institute of the Blind,
Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU,
Tel.: +44 (0) 1733 375299 Fax: +44 (0) 1733 370848 John.Airey () rnib org uk 

Even if Embryonic Stem Cell Research yielded medical treatments, how could enough eggs be obtained to make them viable? 
We can't even get enough organs for transplant donation.

-- 
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