Re: VPN service -- Quick Poll (VPN Alternatives)

[Sam Hooker <samuel.hooker () UVM EDU>]

On 20120312 10:28 , Gramke, Jim wrote:
> For many years, we've been using citrix as our remote access tool.  
> Although from the beginning this happened mostly by accident, I 
> like the solution because this way, applications and sensitive data 
> aren't exposed to the home machine, which, from a security perspective 
> is an unknown quantity.    
>
> I've always been a little leary to allow any home machine the direct 
> access to sensitive apps and data that VPN provides, not to mention 
> exposing the school's network directly to these home machines.  
> Or are my fears unfounded, and I'm just missing something basic about 
> the features and controls vpn's have?

While a fan of "the hosted desktop" for a number of reasons, I'll note
that it doesn't mitigate against all threats to the endpoint --
keyloggers running on the user's home machine probably capture
keystrokes bound for the Citrix client as well as any other. Depending
upon what gets saved in the client's login dialog, this could lead to an
enticing-looking string of entries in a keylog. I perk up when I find a
text file with lines like

...
citrix.uvm.edu
sthooker
h0lym0ly1'ml33t
...

Although I haven't looked for any such thing specifically, I'd be
surprised if there *weren't* malware designed to at least screen-scrape
the Citrix and MS RDP clients -- and wonder if there's any practical
countermeasure against such a technique.


Cheers,

-sth

--
Sam Hooker | samuel.hooker () uvm edu
Systems Architecture and Administration
Enterprise Technology Services
The University of Vermont

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Koontz [mailto:dkoontz () MBC EDU] 
> Sent: Friday, March 09, 2012 6:56 PM
> Subject: Re: VPN service -- Quick Poll (split tunneling?)
>
> This topic is always a lively discussion!  ;-)   But I believe the
> conversations of old may need to be re-examined with today's technology options in mind.
>
> First disclosure, we only allow supervisor approved access to our VPN for our users, and only on institutionally 
> owned machines.  A fall back for a pandemic or other emergency is in place where those rules change.
>
> Like many of you, we ran Cisco VPN concentrators for years and forced our remote users through our limited bandwidth 
> pipe whenever they needed a campus resource, and ALL traffic came through our pipe for security reasons.  Since we 
> did not allow split tunneling, our remote office users could not even do simple things print to their local printers 
> from our ERP system.
>
> We have recently upgraded our systems to use the Palo Alto SSLVPN / Global Protect Client.  This is generally setup 
> as a purely SSL VPN, but can also act as a Cisco Style IPSec VPN for site to site VPN Tunnels, or setups on iPads and 
> the like.
>
> So, we have moved away from not allowing split tunneling to embracing it
> - with proper control and network access  limitations.  With Palo Alto we can determine which traffic we allow into 
> our core, and all others are blocked.  And even the traffic that comes into our core must pass the IPS rules to 
> ensure that the safe traffic safe.
>
> It's always a delicant balance to enable users, yet protect our networks.  I believe modern technology can give you 
> that balance, if properly configured.  Don't ask a 10 year old product to try to do this.
>
>
> On 3/9/2012 3:25 PM, Kris Monroe wrote:
> > For those that have answered yes, would you mind outlining whether you 
> > allow split tunneling or not? I would also appreciate your rationale 
> > one way or the other.
> >
> > I've always been taught that split tunneling is a really bad idea, but 
> > this topic has recently come up in our remote access project.
> >
> > --
> > Kris Monroe, CISSP, CISA, CISM
> > Information Security Officer
> > Office of Information Technology Services Job Hall
> >
> > Ithaca College
> > 953 Danby Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
> > 607.274.1997 | 607.274.1484 fax
> > kmonroe () ithaca edu | ithaca.edu
> > Follow us: facebook.com/ICInfosec | twitter.com/IC_infosec
> >
> > On 3/9/2012 9:18 AM, Zahid Mehmood wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > >  
> > > Quick Poll Please:
> > >  
> > > 1.      Is your campus using, or does it plan to use,  VPN access for remote users?
> > > 2 .     What vendor(s) and protocols (SSL, IPSec, other) are you using?
> > > 3.  How many concurrent remote users can your system support?
> > > 4.  Do you offer any specialized/custom VPN services for departments, researchers, etc.?  
> > > 5.  Is your VPN offering part of your DR plan/requirement?
> > >  
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > Zahid Mehmood
> > > Network Software and IT Enablement Systems Columbia University 
> > > Information Technology

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