4 ms·

I don't feel comfortable attacking such a poor country on the prince of their networking gear.

AdamN 11y ago
Having lived in Kenya for 2 years, I really don't like these arguments. I'm sure the bank has many pieces of modern equipment (cars, air conditioners, etc...). Good IT equipment really isn't that expensive comparatively and we all need to be on the same page about the value delivered by proper gear. WHO has a list of essential medicines for all countries. Maybe we should have a list of essential technologies for all organizations. http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/ http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines...
- fapjacks 11y ago
  Yes, agreed completely. Most people have this mental image of the second/third world (or occupied nations) that doesn't match reality. For example, when we bombed the shit out of Iraq and destroyed most of their infrastructure and then occupied the country, there were still flights going in and out of the airport from Lebanon, the banks were still operating normal banking hours, the power was still on (for a few hours a day), people still went to the market, and poor farmers could still get gasoline to drive their crops to those markets. The university in Baghdad still conducted research and most of the country still had internet and cellphone access. I think popular culture has presented this picture of "not first world" places as basically one giant explosion, and that image is what most people see.
- walrus01 11y ago
  Particularly when basic networking gear that will do the job is NOT that expensive. There are equipment importers in major south asian cities who bring in used/refurb PCs, servers and network gear. You can get a Cisco 3550-48 for $40. For an organization of this size there is no excuse to build a network with D-Links.
nickpsecurity 11y ago
They could've put OpenBSD on and properly configured a cheap, second-hand router with better results than they got. They owed it to their clients to do something like that to protect tens of millions in assets. So, feel free to [verbally] attack the hell out of them because they have it coming.
- walrus01 11y ago
  Most of the talent pool of qualified persons who can successfully install openbsd and configure it properly as a firewall have probably obtained foreign work visas and are not working for domestic enterprises in bangladesh, at local bangladesh salary rates. They are at minimum working for $2000/mo in the UAE as some company's IT guy.
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    How many people left can read, purchase Absolute OpenBSD, and use Google? I bet more than you're suggesting. If not OpenBSD, they mighg type in secure Linux distro with better results.
  - tremon 11y ago
    Regardless of (lack of) local expertise, this is the SWIFT network. It connects over 200 banks worldwide. There should be ample of shared knowledge between them to bootstrap the poorest of nations (skill-wise or money-wise). Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the lack of shared responsibility. This is banking, after all.
    - nickpsecurity 11y ago
      Not sure as I lack an account. There's appears to be some guidance from SWIFT themselves. https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/hub/httoc.htm https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/hub/httoc.htm

AdamN 11y ago

Having lived in Kenya for 2 years, I really don't like these arguments. I'm sure the bank has many pieces of modern equipment (cars, air conditioners, etc...). Good IT equipment really isn't that expensive comparatively and we all need to be on the same page about the value delivered by proper gear. WHO has a list of essential medicines for all countries. Maybe we should have a list of essential technologies for all organizations. http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en/ http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines...

fapjacks 11y ago
Yes, agreed completely. Most people have this mental image of the second/third world (or occupied nations) that doesn't match reality. For example, when we bombed the shit out of Iraq and destroyed most of their infrastructure and then occupied the country, there were still flights going in and out of the airport from Lebanon, the banks were still operating normal banking hours, the power was still on (for a few hours a day), people still went to the market, and poor farmers could still get gasoline to drive their crops to those markets. The university in Baghdad still conducted research and most of the country still had internet and cellphone access. I think popular culture has presented this picture of "not first world" places as basically one giant explosion, and that image is what most people see.
walrus01 11y ago
Particularly when basic networking gear that will do the job is NOT that expensive. There are equipment importers in major south asian cities who bring in used/refurb PCs, servers and network gear. You can get a Cisco 3550-48 for $40. For an organization of this size there is no excuse to build a network with D-Links.

nickpsecurity 11y ago

They could've put OpenBSD on and properly configured a cheap, second-hand router with better results than they got. They owed it to their clients to do something like that to protect tens of millions in assets. So, feel free to [verbally] attack the hell out of them because they have it coming.

walrus01 11y ago
Most of the talent pool of qualified persons who can successfully install openbsd and configure it properly as a firewall have probably obtained foreign work visas and are not working for domestic enterprises in bangladesh, at local bangladesh salary rates. They are at minimum working for $2000/mo in the UAE as some company's IT guy.
- nickpsecurity 11y ago
  How many people left can read, purchase Absolute OpenBSD, and use Google? I bet more than you're suggesting. If not OpenBSD, they mighg type in secure Linux distro with better results.
- tremon 11y ago
  Regardless of (lack of) local expertise, this is the SWIFT network. It connects over 200 banks worldwide. There should be ample of shared knowledge between them to bootstrap the poorest of nations (skill-wise or money-wise). Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the lack of shared responsibility. This is banking, after all.
  - nickpsecurity 11y ago
    Not sure as I lack an account. There's appears to be some guidance from SWIFT themselves. https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/hub/httoc.htm https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/hub/httoc.htm