Re: Opening ports in Firewall

[Frank Willoughby <frankw () in net>]

At 08:35 AM 10/16/98 -0500, Hines Dennis wrote:
> Aside from IP tunneling, what are the risks associated with opening an
> outbound port, say 7100, in a firewall to support an application that makes
> a direct connection to a site on the Internet (via IP address) for the
> purpose of say downloading software updates.  What are the risks if the
> firewall is an SPF, proxy, or packet filter - (with or without NAT).

One of the risks is that someone may spoof the software update site and
have you download a program containing a trojan horse, logic bomb, worm,
virus, or any of a multitude of undesired functionalities.




> Thanks for the insight,
>
> Dennis
>
> ---
> Dennis Hines
> dennis.hines () columbia net
> ---

Best Regards,


Frank
The opinions of the author of this mail may not necessarily be 
representative of the opinions of Fortifed Networks, Inc.

(c) Fortified Networks, Inc. - http://www.fortified.com/
Home of the Free Internet Firewall Evaluation Checklist
Expert (vendor-neutral) Computer and Network Security Solutions
Fixed Price Contracts - Expert Information Security Officers
Phone: (317) 573-0800     Fax: (317) 573-0817