Infoblox shuts a back door

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON WINDOWS NETWORKING TIPS
08/22/05
Today's focus: Infoblox shuts a back door

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Infoblox's Authenticated DHCP
* Links related to Windows Networking Tips
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=110855
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Today's focus: Infoblox shuts a back door

By Dave Kearns

I've seen a rash of stories lately about the "theft" of wireless
services. I put "theft" in quotes, because most of the stories
have difficulty identifying exactly what was "stolen."

The typical scenario is that someone - we'll call him Joe - will
install a home wireless network unprotected by passwords or any
other authentication. Neighbors, or people driving by who boot
up their wireless device, find Joe's wireless access point,
request an IP address via DHCP and go merrily on their way
surfing the 'Net. Or browsing through Joe's files!

Most network administrators chuckle at these stories, wondering
how people "can be so dumb" as to leave access to their networks
open to anyone wandering by.

Maybe they should stop and think for a moment, though.

Suppose I come into your building, plop down in a vacant office,
and fire up my laptop. Will your DHCP server gladly provide me
with an IP address? Well, will it? Chances are that it will.
Most people rely on network authentication to protect access to
their corporate assets. Some also rely on local authentication
before a machine can send a DHCP request. But if the "local"
machine is one I just walked in with, then the latter scheme is
worthless.

Worse, you may think you're protected, but in fact if I can get
an IP address then I can access the Internet. I can send spam,
child pornography, illegal media files or anything else I want -
and have it look like it was your company doing the sending.
Because, of course, it was. Additionally, I could most likely
access your intranet portal and perhaps other services -
certainly any that are available company-wide.

There is a way to prevent this scenario.

Infoblox - the people who brought you DNSone and RADIUSone, the
appliances that help you create a network identity
infrastructure - have just released Authenticated DHCP as a new
module for the DNSone appliance. This is a simple yet elegant
solution to the often overlooked problem described above.

With Authenticated DHCP, each device accessing the DHCP server
is checked for its "digital fingerprint." If it's not found, the
device is placed into what's called a "quarantine" network and
the user is asked to authenticate himself. If the authentication
is successful, the device's "fingerprint" is noted by DNSone and
saved for future reference. But if the user can't be
authenticated, then the device isn't allowed onto the corporate
network.

The module is configurable as to what service will be used for
authentication, and includes Active Directory (or any
LDAP-compliant directory service) and Exchange Server (among a
group of e-mail services).

Current Infoblox customers can download the module for free, and
it will be included at no charge with future shipments of the
products. Not a bad price for locking a back door you might not
even know existed.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Google goes berserk <http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5302>

2. Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5301>

3. Windows worm beginning to spread
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5495>

4. IT staff shortage looming
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5304>

5. Test: CipherTrust tops encryption field
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5303>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt5305>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Nokia
Empower Your Mobile Enterprise

Nokia believes that business mobility will fundamentally change
the way work gets done-and for the better. To allow the entire
organization to get the most from this paradigm shift in
productivity, Nokia Enterprise Solutions focuses on delivering
increased efficiency through enhanced mobility. Learn more by
downloading this white paper today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=110854
_______________________________________________________________
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Archive of the Windows Networking Tips newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nt/index.html
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