full-disclosure - Sidewinder G2

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From: dufresne at winternet.com (Ron DuFresne)
Subject: Sidewinder G2 

	[snipped all that header trash]

> > > 3) What happens when Sidewinder fails?  Does it fail open?
> > If it does
> > > (and it should), is their version of sendmail still
> > protected?  Or is
> > > it sitting on the Internet bare-ass naked, waiting to be 0wn3d?
> >
> > it should fail "closed", preventing any traffic from passing,
> > otherwise you have a door stop.
>
> Maybe your network policy states that, but I would prefer for single
> point of failure devices to fail open, rather than closed.  For us,
> network availability is a higher priority than protection is.  If the
> firewall fails, I don't want the entire network down while we're waiting
> for a vendor to fix it.  I'd be surprised if most networks aren't that
> way.
>

Then your policy is an abberation on the norm Paul, even for most edu
sites I would imagine.  firewalls are meant to fail closed, if they are
forced to fail, and the vast majority of sites, no matter the 'business'
that runs under then, behind the perimiters want firewalls and security
devices to fail thusly.  Otherwise, it would be that there's no real need
for the security at the perimiters that such security devices are menat to
provide.

> Now, if it's something really critical *inside* the network that is
> protected by a firewall, then you might want it to fail closed, but at
> the edge?
>

this is still a perimiter defense area, cyberspace, so yes, at the edge.

Thanks,

Ron DuFresne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity.  It
eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the
business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation." -- Johnny Hart
	***testing, only testing, and damn good at it too!***

OK, so you're a Ph.D.  Just don't touch anything.