RE: [fw-wiz] Issues opeing firewall for SSH/SecureFTP?

From: R. DuFresne (dufresne_at_sysinfo.com)
Date: 08/20/04

  • Next message: Christopher Hicks: "Re: [fw-wiz] Top Secret DOD Data over the Public Internet? Thoughts?"
    To: David West <davedub@yahoo.com>
    Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 11:38:39 -0400 (EDT)
    
    

    The May 2004 issue of sysadmin mag had an article on "secure file transfer
    w/ chrooted sftp-only accounts", perhaps that might be useful?

    Thanks,

    Ron DuFresne

    On Thu, 19 Aug 2004, David West wrote:

    > I've recently been looking at a similar request.
    >
    > Has anyone on the list looked at using a restricted
    > shell such as rssh or scponly to restrict scp or sftp
    > without a remote shell?
    >
    > rssh - http://www.pizzashack.org/rssh/
    > scponly - http://sublimation.org/scponly/
    >
    > David
    >
    >
    > > From: "Bill Royds" <broyds@rogers.com>
    > > To: <firewall-wizards@honor.icsalabs.com>
    > > Subject: RE: [fw-wiz] Issues opeing firewall for
    > > SSH/SecureFTP?
    > > Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 15:44:39 -0400
    > >
    > > Whether VPN or SSH is appropriate really depends on
    > > the situation. A contractor
    > > needing access to a particular server on your
    > > internal network would be better
    > > served by a VPN directly to that server with a stack
    > > that blocks splitting the
    > > routing when the VPN is up (no access to internal
    > > network when VPN is working).
    > > They can look at the server fully including using
    > > something like Terminal Server
    > > to run installs and diagnostics. This VPN would be
    > > through your firewall, not
    > > terminated at your firewall.
    > > But if all they needed was a single purpose
    > > access, such as file transfer then
    > > SFTP over SSH generally is appropriate. But remember
    > > that SSH is Secure SHELL.
    > > It gives command line access to the remote machine,
    > > which means a lot of control
    > > over your server. Some clients and servers can
    > > control it to only allow SFTP,
    > > but one has to set things up carefully to avoid
    > > giving access to the system.
    > >
    > > -----Original Message-----
    > > From: firewall-wizards-admin@honor.icsalabs.com
    > > [mailto:firewall-wizards-admin@honor.icsalabs.com]
    > > On Behalf Of Chris Conacher
    > > Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 3:35 PM
    > > To: firewall-wizards@honor.icsalabs.com
    > > Subject: [fw-wiz] Issues opeing firewall for
    > > SSH/SecureFTP?
    > >
    > > Dear List
    > >
    > > I am currently trying to move an organization's
    > > current solution of VPN for
    > > external contractors performing file transfer, to
    > > SecureFTP.
    > >
    > > My belief has always been that SecureFTP is the
    > > appropriate solution for
    > > secure file transfer and the aim should always be to
    > > avoid giving remote
    > > access to internal networks [especially
    > > non-employee] where it is not
    > > specifically required.
    > >
    > > My question is are there any other issues that I
    > > should be aware of with
    > > allowing SecureFTP/SSH through the firewall as one
    > > of the standard pushes
    > > (read knee jerk reactions) against this appears to
    > > be that another port is
    > > opened on the firewall?
    > >
    > > 1. I have worked in a lot of different organizations
    > > where VPN seems to be
    > > the norm for everyone even where the only
    > > requirement is file transfer
    > > 2. My belief is that this is because the
    > > organization does not appreciate
    > > the implications of allowing non-employees access to
    > > the internal network
    > > and does not understand that SecureFTP is an
    > > appropriate solution
    > > 3. I understand that SSH is a great opportunity for
    > > tunneling attacks if an
    > > exploit is discovered, but I feel that there is it
    > > possible to manage this
    > > exposure through the existence of a DMZ based
    > > bastion host, rather than
    > > providing external people with access to the VPN.
    > >
    > > Comments appreciated.
    > >
    > > Chris
    > >
    > >
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  • Next message: Christopher Hicks: "Re: [fw-wiz] Top Secret DOD Data over the Public Internet? Thoughts?"

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