Re: How important is IM? was RE: How important is the PSTN
Chris, By "IM" I assume you're referring to Instant Messaging as an ideal, not any particular protocol or vendor implementation. Which begs the question, is "IM" is a risk because Christopher J. Wolff, VP CIO a self-proclaimed tier 1 provider, says so, or because you have facts to prove it, which you neglected to post? IRC and AIM have been scrutinized pretty heavily and I can't think of any inherent flaws (other than lack of out-of-box for support for encryption... but is the PSTN really any more secure?). Just buggy clients under-educated users opt to install. A non-trival amount of providers here use AIM/IRC to help facilitate inter- and intra-NOC communication, even if they won't readily admit to it. Are you blocking "peer-to-peer file sharnig programs" because of security risks, or because your employeees are wasting your already-scarce capacity to Global Crossing downloading the new Barry Manilow album? Frank Rizzo -----Original Message----- From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] Jane, This brings up a good point about IM. IMHO, IM is a security risk and I am establishing a company standard where users behind the firewall are prohibited from using IM, IRC, and peer-to-peer file sharing programs. My opinion is that these types of programs contribute more to lack of productivity than to real problem solving. So my question for the group is, do chat programs (IM, IRC, yahoo) serve a substantial network support purpose or are they more of a distraction, allowing staff to communicate with friends, relatives, drifters, interlopers on company time? Regards, Christopher J. Wolff, VP CIO Broadband Laboratories http://www.bblabs.com From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu]On Behalf Of Pawlukiewicz Jane Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 12:06 PM To: nanog@merit.edu Subject: How important is the PSTN Hi all, Thanks so much for all the great answers. (Could everyone please stop telling me that im = instant messaging). I knew I should've never gotten out of bed this morning. Anyway, 75% of the respondents said the phone is critical. 25% said some form of IM is critical. Just in case anyone was curious. Is it me or is it very quiet in here today? Jane
On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Rizzo Frank wrote: : Chris, : : By "IM" I assume you're referring to Instant Messaging as an ideal, not : any particular protocol or vendor implementation. Which begs the : question, is "IM" is a risk because Christopher J. Wolff, VP CIO a : self-proclaimed tier 1 provider, says so, or because you have facts to : prove it, which you neglected to post? IRC and AIM have been : scrutinized pretty heavily and I can't think of any inherent flaws : (other than lack of out-of-box for support for encryption... but is the : PSTN really any more secure?). Just buggy clients under-educated users : opt to install. Your proprietary information is on someone else's server and it's up to them not to 'use' it. PSTN doesn't keep your info on a server or backed up somewhere. Don't be so snippy in public. Do it in private if you must do it... scott
Thus spake "Scott Weeks" <surfer@mauislanwanman.com>
Your proprietary information is on someone else's server and it's up to them not to 'use' it.
There are IM products which a company can set up internally for exactly this reason. For public IM servers, you're not obligated to give "proprietary information" other than your email address.
PSTN doesn't keep your info on a server or backed up somewhere.
I'm quite sure the telco has records of who I am and where I live, and they "use" that information on a regular basis to bill me. They also sell the information to others and a variety of other things they're allowed to do by law. Yahoo and AOL are benign by comparison. S
On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Stephen Sprunk wrote: : Thus spake "Scott Weeks" <surfer@mauislanwanman.com> : > Your proprietary information is on someone else's server and it's up to : > them not to 'use' it. : : There are IM products which a company can set up internally for exactly this : reason. For public IM servers, you're not obligated to give "proprietary : information" other than your email address. : : > PSTN doesn't keep your info on a server or backed up somewhere. : : I'm quite sure the telco has records of who I am and where I live, and they : "use" that information on a regular basis to bill me. They also sell the : information to others and a variety of other things they're allowed to do by : law. Yahoo and AOL are benign by comparison. But Frank was speaking of AIM, etc. Not an internal server... : prove it, which you neglected to post? IRC and AIM have been : scrutinized pretty heavily and I can't think of any inherent flaws And Christopher was talking about network operations info on IM... : So my question for the group is, do chat programs (IM, IRC, yahoo) serve : a substantial network support purpose or are they more of a The propritary information I was talking about is the conversation itself. Details of your network, the problems you're having with it, config snippets sent back and forth, etc... The phone company doesn't keep your conversations on a server. Lastly, I'm not pro telco by any stretch of the imagination (ask anyone who's been in the NOC with me during an outage. :) and I don't like those assanine (sp?) things they do with our info at all. scott
participants (3)
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Rizzo Frank -
Scott Weeks -
Stephen Sprunk