Re: Guest wireless restrictions

[Roger A Safian <r-safian () NORTHWESTERN EDU>]

You're not an outlier here...we did the same thing, and we have very few problems on our gest network.

From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Dewitt 
Latimer
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 1:33 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Guest wireless restrictions

I must admit, we're probably somewhat of an outlier when we decided to throw caution (and CALEA) into the wind last 
year when we opened up guest wireless for unauthenticated access.

1 year later, we've had no legal issues or abuse and our support calls have gone down considerably. Yes, I know it's 
probably just a matter of time, but in the mean time....we're clearly reaping the benefits.

Does anyone know how the Starbucks and McDonalds of the world manage the risk associated with their open networks?

-d



---------------------------------------
Dewitt Latimer, Ph.D.
Chief Information Officer
Montana State University
dewitt () montana edu<mailto:dewitt () montana edu>

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 11:24 AM, randy <marchany () vt edu<mailto:marchany () vt edu>> wrote:
The key to our guest wireless system is to assign the guests to a university "sponsor".  The sponsor has the ability to 
dictate the hours/days the guest can access the net.  We don't restrict protocol or bandwidth for guests as far as I 
know. The sponsor and the guest share responsibility for being good netizens.

Our guest access FAQ page is at http://www.cns.vt.edu/data_guestFAQ.html.

-Randy Marchany
VA Tech IT Security Office & Lab


On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:19 AM, David Curry <david.curry () newschool edu<mailto:david.curry () newschool edu>> wrote:

We're (still) in the process of thinking about how we want to split our wireless network into two SSIDs, one for 
students/faculty/staff and one for "guests" (in quotes because students and staff may be allowed to use it too). We're 
thinking we want to do what a number of other schools have done, and limit the "guest" SSID to a few protocols:

  *   ICMP
  *   HTTP and HTTPS
  *   POP and IMAP in their SSL flavors only (no plaintext)
  *   SMTP in its SSL and TLS flavors only (no plaintext)
  *   VPN (IPSec, PPTP, L2TP)
which after Googling around a bit seems to be a pretty common set (some also allow unencrypted POP/IMAP/SMTP, and 
others also allow various flavors of chat/instant messaging).

We'd also like (we think) to limit individual user bandwidth on the guest wireless, partly to cut down on the damage a 
"misbehaving" client can cause, and partly to encourage students/faculty/staff to move over to the "secure" SSID. 
Googling around on this topic, I've been able to find lots of schools doing this, but very few that document what their 
limits actually are.

So, two questions:

  1.  If you limit the protocols on your guest wireless, is there anything not in the list above that you've found it 
necessary to allow?
  2.  If you limit the bandwidth (speed) on your guest wireless, what are your download/upload limits (speeds), and 
what does that allow/not allow (e.g., streaming audio/video).

Thanks,

--Dave



--

DAVID A. CURRY, CISSP * DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SECURITY

THE NEW SCHOOL * 55 W. 13TH STREET * NEW YORK, NY 10011

+1 212 229-5300 x4728 * david.curry () newschool edu<mailto:david.curry () newschool edu>