SD> Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 03:10:18 -0500 (EST) SD> From: Sean Donelan [ snip firewalls, audits, et cetera ] As most people on this list hopefully know, security is a process... not a product. Tools are useless if they are not applied properly. SD> Are there practical answers that actually work in the real SD> world with real users and real business needs? It depends. If "real business needs" means management ego gets in the way of letting talented staff do their jobs, having to form a committee to conduct a feasibility study re whether to apply a one-hour patch that closes a critical hole, drooling over paper certs... the answer is no. Automobiles require periodic maintenance. Household appliances require repair from time to time. People get sick and require medicine. Reality is that people need to deal with the need for proper systems administration. It might not be exciting or make people feel good, but it's necessary. Failure has consequences. Inactivity is a vote cast for "it's worth the risk". Sure, worm authors are to blame for their creations. Software developers are to blame for bugs. Admins are to blame for lack of administration. The question is who should take what share, and absorb the pain when something like this occurs. Eddy -- Brotsman & Dreger, Inc. - EverQuick Internet Division Bandwidth, consulting, e-commerce, hosting, and network building Phone: +1 (785) 865-5885 Lawrence and [inter]national Phone: +1 (316) 794-8922 Wichita ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 11:23:58 +0000 (GMT) From: A Trap <blacklist@brics.com> To: blacklist@brics.com Subject: Please ignore this portion of my mail signature. These last few lines are a trap for address-harvesting spambots. Do NOT send mail to <blacklist@brics.com>, or you are likely to be blocked.