RE: Active response... some thoughts.

From: Brian Laing (Brian.Laing@Blade-Software.com)
Date: 01/29/03

  • Next message: mb_lima: "Re: Active response... some thoughts."
    From: "Brian Laing" <Brian.Laing@Blade-Software.com>
    To: "'Todd Heberlein'" <todd_heberlein@mac.com>, "'Garbrecht, Frederick'" <FGarbrecht@ecogchair.org>
    Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 10:12:15 -0800
    
    

    I would agree in the many IDS installations I have either done or
    monitored over the years the only real use of TCP reset that was useful
    and willing to put in place by my customers was using it to kill network
    games, IM connections for file transfers, and as a response to backdoor
    traffic (depending on back door maybe useful or useless). I did have a
    few that used it to prevent unauthorized FTP traffic as well, but for
    what most people thing of attacks is definitely more of a Marketing
    Buying criteria then a user criteria.

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    -----Original Message-----
    From: Todd Heberlein [mailto:todd_heberlein@mac.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 3:25 PM
    To: Garbrecht, Frederick
    Cc: focus-ids@securityfocus.com
    Subject: Re: Active response... some thoughts.

    On Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 08:31 AM, Garbrecht, Frederick wrote:

    > ummmm, just a technical quibble, but a TCP reset wouldn't work with
    the
    > Sapphire worm because it propagates using UDP as transport, not
    > TCP.....

    It is just a minor quibble because the point is that the attack was
    completely contained in a single packet. The same would have held true
    if it was over a TCP/IP connection. Once the attack has been
    completed, a TCP RST would provide no value. It is the proverbial
    closing the barn doors after the horse is already out.

    RST is largely a marketing solution, not a technical solution.

    Todd



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