nanog mailing list archives
Re: ISPs' willingness to take action
From: Joe Abley <jabley () isc org>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:48:16 -0500
On 27 Oct 2003, at 10:25, Sean Donelan wrote:
Most ISPs are relatively secure. Yes, occasionally a backbone router shows up on some list with a password of "cisco." The major problems are in the systems managed and installed on non-ISP networks (i.e. end-users).
Maybe all the ISPs I've been involved with in the past ten years have been exceptions, but there are only a small handful of them that I would elevate to the status of "relatively secure".
Really? Most users are angry when their network connection is interruptedfor any reason, including their own mistakes.
Every now and then some acquaintance or relative hauls me in my capacity as unpaid "computer expert", so that I can stare bemusedly at their windows problem and mutter things like "buy a mac" under my breath.
My experience every time is that end users are amazingly tolerant of breakage. The fact that there are popups all over the screen, or that it takes five minutes to open their mail client, or that machines freeze up every ten minutes and require a hard boot appear to be simply accommodated as "that's what computers do".
As a non-ISP consultant, when a client asks you to configure theirExchange server do you always conduct a top-to-bottom security analysis of the client's entire business infrastructure and refuse to do business with them until after they have corrected every deficiency? Or does the clientjust say screw you, and hires a different consultant that will do what the client wants?
When I was a consultant, I was never sufficiently mercenary to ask for money in return for what I *knew* to be bad advice. I'd far rather they buy their bad advice elsewhere.
Joe
Current thread:
- ISPs' willingness to take action kenw (Oct 26)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Paul G (Oct 26)
- RE: ISPs' willingness to take action Terry Baranski (Oct 26)
- RE: ISPs' willingness to take action Christopher X. Candreva (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Brian Bruns (Oct 26)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Eric Kuhnke (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Alan Spicer (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Sean Donelan (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Joe Abley (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Sean Donelan (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action kenw (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Sean Donelan (Oct 27)
- ISPs' willingness to take action [OT USPS] David Lesher (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action [OT USPS] Henry Linneweh (Oct 27)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action Joe Abley (Oct 27)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: ISPs' willingness to take action Adam Hall (Oct 26)
- RE: ISPs' willingness to take action Charles Sprickman (Oct 26)
- Re: ISPs' willingness to take action matt (Oct 27)
- RE: ISPs' willingness to take action Charles Sprickman (Oct 26)