Re: Security Considerations for Genera 8.0

[Richard Lamson <rsl%max-fleischer.ila-sf.dialnet.symbolics.com@RELAY.CS.NET>]

    Date: Mon, 6 Nov 89 16:57 PST
    From: DMittman@SARG-URANUS.jpl.nasa.gov (David Mittman)


    >    Have you considered locking the keyboard and mouse in a drawer?

	    Actually, there are many, many Symbolics keyboards here at JPL
    so locking some up won't solve the problem. The reason I am asking about
    security considerations is that although Sun says "the network is the
    computer" there are many Sun people who say that the User side of every
    computer is the security checkpoint, not the network side. 
It is precisely this kind of thinking which leads to "hackers" going
around trying to break into "secure" files at Unix-based sites.  It
should be obvious that networks are inherently insecure and that each
host is responsible for access control.
							       I say that if
    every computer has good network security, then it doesn't matter that
    Symbolics have no secure password logins.
You obviously agree with me.
					     
	    If I really want to integrate the Symbolics we have here on a
    network with Suns, I am required to show that there is such a thing as a
    secure Symbolics console.

I suspect this cannot be done to the satisfaction of your security
people.