As per Relevance of the word security, we have this rfc below:
Network Working Group J. Van
Request for Comments: 1173 FTP Software, Inc
August 1990
Responsibilities of Host and Network
A Summary of the "Oral Tradition" of the
Status of this
This informational RFC describes the conventions to be followed
those in charge of networks and hosts in the Internet. It is
summary of the "oral tradition" of the Internet on this subject
[RFC Editor's note: This memo is a contribution by the author of
view of these conventions. It is expected that this RFC will
a basis for the development of official policies in the future.]
These conventions may be supplemented or amended by the policies
specific local and regional components of the Internet. This
does not specify a standard, or a policy of the IAB. Distribution
this memo is unlimited
Table of
Status of this Memo .............................................. 1
1. Basic Responsibilities......................................... 1
2. Responsibilities of Network Managers........................... 2
3. Responsibilities of Host System Managers....................... 2
4. Postmaster@foo.bar.baz......................................... 3
5. Problems and Resolutions....................................... 3
6. The Illusion of Security....................................... 4
7. Summary........................................................ 5
8. Security Considerations........................................ 5
9. Author's Address............................................... 5
1. Basic
The Internet is a co-operative endeavor, and its usefulness
on reasonable behaviour from every user, host and router in
Internet. It follows that people in charge of the components of
Internet MUST be aware of their responsibilities and attentive
local conditions. Furthermore, they MUST be accessible via
Internet mail and telephone, and responsive to problem reports
diagnostic initiatives from other participants
Even local problems as simple and transient as system crashes
power failures may have widespread effects elsewhere in the net
Problems which require co-operation between two or more
individuals to diagnose and correct are relatively common. Likewise
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RFC 1173 Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers August 1990
the tools, access and experience needed for efficient analysis
not all exist at a single site
This communal approach to Internet management and maintenance
dictated by the present decentralized organizational structure.
structure, in turn, exists because it is inexpensive and
to diverse local needs. Furthermore, for the near term, it is
only choice; I don't see any prospect of either the government
private enterprise building a monolithic, centralized, ubiquitous "
Datagram" network provider in this century
2. Responsibilities of Network
One or more individuals are responsible for every IP net or
which is connected to the Internet. Their names, phone numbers
postal addresses MUST be supplied to the Internet NIC (or to
local or regional transit network's NIC) prior to the network'
initial connection to the Internet, and updates and corrections
be provided in a timely manner for as long as the net
connected
In order to adequately deal with problems that may arise, a
manager must have either
A. System management access privileges on every host and
connected to the local network, or
B. The authority and access to either power off, re-boot
physically disconnect or disable forwarding IP datagrams
any individual host system that may be misbehaving
For all networks, a network manager capable of exercising this
of control MUST be accessible via telephone 8 hours a day, 5 days
week. For nets carrying transit traffic, a network manager SHOULD
accessible via telephone 24 hours a day
3. Responsibilities of Host System
One or more individuals must be responsible for every host
to the Internet. This person MUST have the authority, access
tools necessary to configure, operate and control access to
system. For important timesharing hosts, primary domain name
and mail relays or gateways, responsible individual(s) SHOULD
accessible via telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
For less-important timesharing hosts or single-user PCs
workstations, the responsible individual(s) MUST be prepared for
possiblity that their network manager may have to intervene in
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RFC 1173 Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers August 1990
absence, should the resolution of an Internet problem require it
4. Postmaster@foo.bar.
Every Internet host that handles mail beyond the local network
maintain a mailbox named "postmaster". In general, this should
simply forward mail elsewhere, but instead be read by a
maintainer logged in to the machine. This mailbox SHOULD be read
least 5 days a week, and arrangements MUST be made to handle
mail in the event of the absence of the normal maintainer
A machine's "postmaster" is the normal point of contact for
related to mail delivery. Because most traffic on the long-
segments of the Internet is in the form of mail messages, a
problem can have significant effects elsewhere in the Internet.
problems may be system-wide, such as disk or file system full,
mailer or domain name server hung, crashed or confused. Others
be specific to a particular user or mailing list (incorrect
or forwarding, quota exceeded, etc.).
In either case, the maintainer of a remote machine will normally
mail about delivery problems to "postmaster". Also, "postmaster"
normally specified in the "reply-to:" field of
generated mail error messages (unable to deliver due to
user name, unable to forward, malformed header, etc.). If
mailbox isn't read in a timely manner, significant quantities of
may be lost or returned to its senders
5. Problems and
Advances in network management tools may eventually make it
for a network maintainer to detect and address most problems
they affect users, but for the present, day-to-day users
networking services represent the front line. No
individual should allow their "dumb-question" filter to become
restrictive; reports of the form "I haven't gotten any
mail for a week... " or "I could get there this morning, but
now..." should always get timely attention
There are three basic classes of problems that may have network-
scope: User-related, host-related and network-related
A. User-related problems can range from bouncing mail
uncivilized behaviour on mailing lists to more
issues like violation of privacy, break-in attempts
vandalism
B. Host-related problems may include mis-configured software
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RFC 1173 Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers August 1990
obsolete or buggy software and security holes
C. Network-related problems are most frequently related
routing: incorrect connectivity advertisements,
loops and black holes can all have major impacts
Mechanisms are usually in place for handling failure
routers or links, but problems short of outright
can also have severe effects
Each class of problem has its own characteristics. User-
problems can usually be solved by education, but system
should be aware of applicable federal and state law as well;
violations or "cracking" attempts have always been grounds
pulling a user's account, but now they can also result
prosecution. Host-related problems are usually resolvable by re
configuration or upgrading the software, but sometimes
manufacturer needs to be made aware of a bug, or jawboned into
something about it; Bugs that can't be fixed may be serious enough
require partial or total denial of service to the offending system
Similar levels of escalation exist for network-related problems,
the solution of last resort being ostracism of the offending net
6. The Illusion of
Every host and network manager MUST be aware that the Internet
presently constituted is NOT secure. At the protocol level,
more effort has been put into interoperability, reliability
convenience than has been devoted to security, although this
changing. Recent events have made software developers and
more sensitive to security, in both configuration and the
implementation, but it remains to be demonstrated how much long-
effect this will have. Meanwhile, the existing system
through the co-operation of all responsible individuals
Security is subjective; one site might view as idle curiosity
another would see as a hostile probe. Since ultimately the
of the Internet depends on its usefulness to all members of
community, it is important for managers to be willing to accept
act on other sites' security issues, warning or denying access
offending users. The offended site, in turn, must be reasonable
its demands (someone who set off an alarm while idly seeing if
sendmail "DEBUG" hole was closed on a "sensitive" host
should be warned, rather than prosecuted).
Because Internet security issues may require that local
people either get in touch with any of their users, or deny
offending individual or group access to other sites, it is
that mechanisms exist to allow this. Accordingly, Internet
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RFC 1173 Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers August 1990
SHOULD NOT have "general use" accounts, or "open" (without password
terminal servers that can access the rest of the Internet
In turn, the "sensitive" sites MUST be aware that it is impossible
the long term to deny Internet access to crackers, disgruntled
employees, unscrupulous competitors or agents of other countries
Getting an offender flushed is at best a stop-gap, providing
breathing space of a day or an hour while the security holes
attack are closed. It follows that each host's manager is
responsible for its security; the more "sensitive" the application
data, the more intimate the manager must be with the host's
system and network software and their foibles
7.
The heart of the Internet is the unique community of
encompassing its users, operators, maintainers and suppliers
Awareness and acceptance of the shared interest in a usable
is vital to its survival and growth. The simple
presented here should be supplemented by common sense as necessary
achieve that end
8. Security
Security issues are discussed in Sections 5 and 6.
9. Author's
James B.
FTP Software Inc
26 Princess St
Wakefield, MA 01880
Phone: 617-246-0900
EMail: jbvb@ftp.
Van Bokkelen [Page 5]
if you see any problems within the linking, don't worry be happy,
this is version 0.1 of the Relevance System and you gotta expect some crappy subroutines sometimes,
just be content we did not write this in Java, which would have made this "bigger and better" HAHAHHA.
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