SystemsSec 2018W Lecture 5

Audio

Notes

- Basic structure of the internet

client => net => server
basic client server model
processes on client and server talk to each other
network firewall sits between net and server, protects the network from malicious incoming traffic
host firewall sits between net and server, sits in front of server
each process has a unique port number
IP address identifies hosts

- IP addresses are very easy to spoof - Initially, servers would talk to any client, very risky - Finger daemon lists for finger requests

process that can find out anyone's personal info (eg. name, phone number, etc.)
eg: finger soma@homeostasis.scs.carleton.ca
outputs a "plan" file with user's personal info

- chargen = character generator - localhost:631 = url for CUPS

web-based printer management console for unix systems
config file has basic access control (ie. IP address restriction)
not openly available, secure for single host, not so good for multiple hosts (ie. network)

- security issues?

different config files for different OS, tedious to setup
ideally, we want a uniform way of combining policy

- TCP wrappers "libwrap"

came before host based, widespread firewall support

- what is a firewall?

2 types: host and network, differs by who enforces the rules

- what is a vpn?

virtual private network
can be problematic, misused if used to download media onto your machine while connected to a company network
viruses can enter the network this way

- to increase network security, turn off unnecessary services that don't need to talk over the network like the finger daemon - outgoing traffic is safe but incoming traffic may not be - ntpd = network time protocol daemon - modern architecture uses VMs and containers like Docker

Processes in Docker separated into groups
1 firewall per group