3 ms·
The original Internet was a "security disaster". The solution was not to certify every device that got connected to the Internet. Instead, we invented firewalls
by abalone 10y ago
The original Internet was a "security disaster". The solution was not to certify every device that got connected to the Internet. Instead, we invented firewalls.
Firewalls were designed to keep bad traffic from entering LANs. For the IoT era, perhaps what we need are firewalls that keep bad traffic from exiting LANs.
- riskable 10y ago> Firewalls Sigh. Firewalls worked great for Yahoo, Sony, and LinkedIn, right? Firewalls are just a layer. They don't even do that much! Not only that but the average consumer knows nothing of firewalls. Do we expect Joe Average to be able to login to his router and configure a firewall to allow his refrigerator access to its security update server? Or maybe we should expect Jane Average to configure her Firewall to perform MitM attacks on SSL so traffic going to/from her IoT coffee maker can be inspected?
- abalone 10y agoYou are seriously under-representing the impact of firewalls on the security of the Internet. Every consumer router has a built-in firewall. They don't need to know anything about it because the default configuration works for most consumers. That's what we should be aiming for as a solution for the IoT security problem. Something that just works for most cases without configuration... much less extensive labeling with commensurate demands of technical knowledge and attention on the part of every consumer. They are not perfect (nothing is), but a Internet without firewalls would be apocalyptically worse.
- riskable 10y agoMost consumer routers have a built in firewall, yes but I've never seen one outside of my own house that's actually configured to block anything. Have you? No one configures them! No, NAT is most decidedly not a firewall.
- flukus 10y ago> perhaps what we need are firewalls that keep bad traffic from exiting LANs. You mean like just about every firewall in existence today?
- lmm 10y agoFirewalls are a horrible non-solution. The actual solution was that MS started taking security seriously after it started hurting their reputation.