RE: Is this for real

["Squire, Jonathan" <Jonathan.Squire () dowjones com>]

      From: Frederick M Avolio [mailto:fred () avolio com]
 
      It is not a replacement for a firewall but augments the use of
firewalls and is arguable more secure than any type of firewall for 
     some       things. No, it doesn't stop all attacks. I appreciated
reading Jonathan's notes, but I don't understand the purpose. His 
     bottom   line -- after all the possible attacks postulations -- was
identical to what I wrote the other day: "It's something to play w/ 
     and determine if the good outweighs the risks." (Though I don't see it
adding any risks.)
  
 
The outcome of my comments was the same as Fred states, I think the e-gap is
something to play with and determine it's merits. I think the concept is a
good idea, but many good concepts fail in implementation.
 
At first glance I do agree with Fred that it probably does not add any
security risks, but I'm not sure that it adds anything either (except maybe
giving independent auditors a warm fuzzy feeling) what I see is a device
that obscures a transport mechanism between the outside and the inside. What
needs to be looked at is what we are protecting, are we protecting the
internal host, or are we protecting the DATA on the internal host?
 
Please note that I have not had one of these devices in a lab environment.
Until I actually use a product I am very skeptical of any claims it makes,
especially security claims. 
 
-Jon Squire