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A network connection, even brief has an enormous attack surface. The corresponding surface when using physical media is much smaller.
by mseebach 13y ago
A network connection, even brief has an enormous attack surface. The corresponding surface when using physical media is much smaller.
- notacoward 13y agoBull. A network connection on a physically separate network subject to proper inspection/monitoring has a very small attack surface. The corresponding attack surface for a USB stick is larger, with new exploits being discovered every day. The separate switch is functionally identical to the USB stick. They both allow transfer of data. They can both potentially be attack vectors. They both (in this construction) require manual intervention to complete the data path. The only difference is that it's a lot easier to get a copy of someone's data on a USB stick, after someone conveniently recorded their data transfer on a readily purloined bit of media. You can't acknowledge the exploits that have occurred via diskettes or USB sticks, and then also say they're fundamentally better than an isolated network. It's illogical. In fact, it's stupid.