First up, Microsoft issued four patches yesterday:
In a medium sized education organization which shall remain anonymous; FTP and windows file sharing is the file transport of choice for distributing small reports and data chunks. For a long time when a ftp account was needed the person would simply call up the first person who maintained a server that came to mind and had one created. The new ftp account was then fed into a script on the database server (mainframe or AS/400) which then once a day/month/year it spit out a report and uploaded it to the server where (someone/something/every one) picked it up and either loaded it into a different script, or dumped it into a spread sheet, did their business then deleted it and went to lunch.
This has gone on for decades with out some one pointing out that there is something wrong with this process.
Let me count the ways this is wrong:
1. It's not encrypted.
Packet sniffers are very easy to implement even on a switched LAN.
2. There is no way to prove that the remote host is what it says it is.
Server spoofing via DNS or Denial of Service.
3. Access control (in this case) isn't managed.
Static user names and passwords being passed in the clear.
4. Proliferation of potentially sensitive data
Just about every industry is required by law to protect certain kinds of data.
5. Use of old and un-maintainable server for warehousing information.
No warranty, use of old 3rd party software which is unmaintained, End-of-life OS.
It's potential for being 0wned is pretty high.
6. Total disregard of Intranet and Internet facing status of server.
Why? You ask has this issue been allowed to even occur?
Reason #1 Impending retirement. Why would some one who is retiring in 5 or so years would want to learn something new? Ftp and windows file sharing is well known. Ftp has been used on open systems since their inception so everybody supports it. (I mean the standard supports 7 bit file transfers, from the time when bits were expensive, really when is the last time you NEEDED to transfer something using 7 bits as opposed to 8bits?).
Reason #2 Bypassing the chain of command. Why follow protocol and make an official request when you can call the person maintaining the server and have them do it for you.
Reason #3 Maintainers versus dedicated IT staff. In most small and medium organizations, they cant afford dedicated IT staff so they give the position to some one who already does something else. The problem is that the person just puts out fires and performs maintenance. They don't keep up on industry issues and so long as the server limps along everything is fine.
Conclusion:
Because the chain of command is bypassed the Network Administrator isn't aware of it. And the only way he or she will find out about it is either an audit, if it fails or if the server is totally Pwned and now is now selling generic Viagra. Should the latter be the case, a pile of finger pointing ensues and you can guess the rest.
Alternatives:
The solution is finding a suitable replacement technology which is secure and possesses controls on access and availability yet is similar to an existing process so you take advantage of the users existing habits instead of putting them into an uncomfortable situation of learning some "NEW" computer process.
AIX 6.1 was released earlier this week. During the initial beta phase, they were considering calling it AIX 5.4. There was no AIX 5.4, nor was there a 6.0. They're debuting AIX 6 as version 6.1.
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