Re: request for help w/ ATT and terminology

["Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>]

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:35:30 -0500
Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:29:37 GMT, "Steven M. Bellovin" said:
>
> > You don't always want to rely on the DNS for things like firewalls
> > and ACLs.  DNS responses can be spoofed, the servers may not be
> > available, etc.  (For some reason, I'm assuming that DNSsec isn't
> > being used...)
>
> Been there, done that, plus enough other "stupid DNS tricks" and
> "stupid /etc/host tricks" to get me a fair supply of stories best
> told over a pitcher of Guinness down at the Undergroud..

I prefer nice, hoppy ales to Guiness, but either works for stories..
> *Choosing* to hardcode rather than use DNS is one thing.  *Having* to
> hardcode because the gear is "too stupid" (as Joe Greco put it) is
> however "Caveat emptor" no matter how you slice it...
Mostly.  I could make a strong case that some security gear shouldn't
let you do the wrong thing.  (OTOH, my preferred interface would do the
DNS look-up at config time, and ask you to confirm the retrieved
addresses.)  You can even do that look-up on a protected net in some
cases.


                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb