[11636] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Re[2]: Two-way Internet service from Continental Cable?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert G. Moskowitz)
Tue Apr 12 11:38:04 1994
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 06:23 EST
From: "Robert G. Moskowitz" <0003858921@mcimail.com>
To: "Mark R. Ludwig" <Mark-Ludwig@uai.com>
Cc: Stephen Wolff <steve@nsf.gov>
Cc: com priv <com-priv@psi.com>
S said:
>If it's a shared medium, how difficult is it for a moderately capable one
>of PSI's customers on the cable to listen in on what some other customers
>are saying? Presumably it's slightly more difficult than hanging a
>Sniffer on a vampire tap, but I wonder what safety mechanisms PSI has to
>prevent their customers from wiretapping each other?
Bob> Steve, it is soo simple to turn a PC into an network analyser. I do it
Bob> all the time at work. A number of commercial packages for ~$1K or PD
Bob> packages do it...
Mark R. Ludwig replied:
>Yes, and the data vulnerable to this is highly segmented, due to
>network performance requirements. That is, as the network is
>segmented (subnetted), typically for performance reasons, so too the
>ability to sniff is diminished. If you subnet for security reasons,
>you probably get a performance boost as a side-effect. Neat, huh?
Having installed Broadband FDMing networks in factories over 10 years ago,
this is indeed standard stuff. I would expect that only 100 people would be
on a segment just like in our offices. But that is enough; for many
personal dislikes are very local. 'Those kids are always messing up our
Rose bushes, I'll fix them'. 'He is such an old dummy, he will never know
we stole his ID and ran up that bill'. Neighborly tits for tats.
Fortunately, George Gilder commented here (and he IS one to know) that there
is SUPPOSED to be encryption in the media to prevent this. However, for one
that has had to work with media encryption, it is a bear and I wonder if it
will be manageable on this scale.
BTW I am running a week behind in my mail. I do scan for 'important
stuff'...
Bob
