Re: [fwd] Firewall Products: Many Not Ready For Prime Time,

[Christopher Nicholls <chrisn () softway com au>]

At 10:39 1/04/98 -0500, Jody Patilla wrote:
> > I think the real problem is in the way the typical MIS manager seems
> > to view firewalls: one silver bullet that you buy, drop it in place,
> > and life is good.  I realize not everyone is so naive, but in trying
> > to wear a consultant's hat for the first part of this year, I've come
> > to learn some _really_ scary things about the Real World.
>
>       I refer to this as the Mojo Bag Theory of Firewall Purchase. The
> idea is that you buy one and just having it keeps away the evil eye. :-)
> (Burning incense in front of the firewall may or may not be a "best
> practice", depending on the particular shaman, er, consultant, that you
> call in to do the eval.)

I couldn't agree more. Further, I think one of the most alarming trends
developing is the movement towards "shrink-wrap firewalls" - buy now pay
later! If ever there was an item not to be bought off-the-shelf, it's
security. Maybe one day we will be able to use self configuring f/w
"..yessiree, just plug in your security policy here Mr Customer... you
don't have one? Never mind - use our default virtual policy!". Sounds a bit
like the beginnings of a very interesting 1 April prank...

But how do you convince the MIS Manager that 1) this is ot a good approach,
2) you (the consultant) are not just holding the high intelectual ground to
prevent them from such implementations and 3) IT security is not talismans
and incense?

A firewall is not a means unto itself - it is only the proverbial tip of
the (security) iceberg.

Regards,

Christopher
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Christopher Nicholls
chrisn () dynamite com au   ~~~~~~~   chrisn () softway com au
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