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September 25, 2000 |
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Is 'Always On' Worth Being 'Always Exposed?'
High-speed services pose challenges for businesses new to security complexities
By Cassimir Medford
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o security experts, "always-on" broadband network services such as digital subscriber lines and cable modems mean "always exposed." These high-speed services are causing sleepless nights for network administrators because they open a host of security issues that weren't a concern when remote workers dialed in to a network with a computer modem and a regular phone line."There's added vulnerability associated with an always-on connection because you've got a statically defined IP address," says Steph Marr, a security expert and VP of Predictive Systems Inc., a New York networking company. "You aren't coming in through dial-up, so you aren't getting a new IP address every time. You've got an end point with a defined, publicly routable address. You've painted the bull's-eye on your network; now it's a question if anyone wants to shoot at you."
Hackers and mischief makers have more targets to shoot at as cable modems and DSL soar in popularity. Businesses and consumers are signing up for broadband services to speed their access to servers, company networks, and the Internet. Cable modems lead the market, but they're mainly a consumer service with few business customers. DSL got off to a slow start because telephone companies faced a more difficult and costly challenge to upgrade their networks. But the pace is picking up as the service becomes more widely available.
The Yankee Group says the number of DSL subscribers in the United States will grow from around 300,000 last year to about 3.3 million in 2002 to 7 million in 2004.
Price is one reason DSL is taking the commercial market by storm. DSL prices for business users range from about $100 a month to $1,000 a month, depending on speed, which ranges from 128 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps. One telephone company-provided alternative, ISDN, took more than a decade to become available and affordable to small businesses. ISDN costs about $100 a month for the line, plus $200 or more per month for 128-Kbps service. T1 lines (1.5 Mbps) start at $1,250 a month and top out at $3,000 a month, a price that isn't affordable for most small businesses. After almost two decades of availability, only 10% of small businesses have purchased T1 service, analysts say.
"T1 was too expensive, and ISDN never really became truly popular among small businesses. Many of our ISDN customers are happy to switch to DSL," says Bruce Teichman, president of Terminal Solutions Inc., an Atlanta networking systems provider. "DSL opens up a tremendous amount of business for companies like ours. A lot of companies that were unwilling to spend the money to do fractional T1 or even ISDN are doing DSL."
DSL is proving to be a major hit not just among small businesses, but also among large businesses that use it as a link to remote offices or as an Internet access technology. It's taking "always-on" network access to the hinterlands of the American business landscape. But DSL's greatest appeal is to small and midsize businesses that don't have or need complex and expensive private networks or super high-speed network connections.
Many of these companies, though, are discovering that these services, which strip away the built-in anonymity of dial-up access, pose tough security challenges. Many of these businesses are new to the complexities of network security. But there are defenses.
Shakespeare and Co. is new to the world of broadband access and doesn't expect to be attacked by hackers. Nevertheless, the company has taken action to limit exposure to its critical systems. The New York bookseller occupies a precarious market niche. It's surrounded by national superstores such as Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Inc. which have used economies of scale to drive many small booksellers out of the market.
Shakespeare has survived by seeking market niches to escape the unrelenting price competition in an industry notorious for its thin margins. And it must keep this high-wire act going in an area where real estate is among the most expensive in the world and changes in market conditions must be quickly communicated .
Shakespeare had been using ISDN supplied by its local telephone company Bell Atlantic (now Verizon Communications), and was unhappy with the service. It switched to a DSL-based virtual private network at the first opportunity.
"Our ISDN performance was sporadic," says Bill Spath, co-owner of Shakespeare. He says the phone company assigned Shakespeare's network ID number to another company. "Many times we had no service, and it took Bell Atlantic weeks to figure out the problem."
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Illustration by James Yang
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