High Speed Internet Access At Home Broadband Technologies Security Concerns Hardware/Software Solutions William Kramp 4/12/2001

Broadband Technologies  Cable MODEMS  Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)  Fixed Wireless  Mobile Wireless  Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

Cable MODEMS  Always “On”, shared connection.  Uses the Time-Warner cable connection. Doesn’t interfere with use of cable when watching TV.  Consumer Transfer Speeds:  Download: 2Mbps, Upload: 128Kbps  Commercial Transfer Speeds:  Download: 4Mbps, Upload: 768Kbps

Transfer speeds Download  This is the speed at which files can be downloaded from the Internet. Examples: viewing a video feed, looking at web pages. Upload  This is the speed at which files can be sent up to the Internet. Examples: sending E- mail to a friend, uploading a document to a web site.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)  Always “on”, dedicated connection to a provider.  Uses existing phone line. Doesn’t interfere with, or block the regular use of the phone.  Transfer speeds:  Speeds vary by service provider. Can range from 256Kbps to 8Mbps.  Symmetrical or asymmetrical connections

Symmetrical vs Asymmetrical Symmetrical  The upload speed equals the download speed. Good if you are doing work from home. Asymmetrical  The download speed is much greater then the upload speed. Good if only downloading from the Internet.

Fixed Wireless  Wireless Internet access to a fixed location (your home) without using cable or phone wires.  Symmetrical connections up to 10Mbps.  Not effected by adverse weather conditions.  Very reasonable rates compared to T1 or fractal T3 hardwire connections.

Mobile Wireless  Current 2 nd generation technology is not very fast or reliable.  Third generation (3G) technology will allow average speeds of 50-70Kbps on 144Kbps networks while moving. Speeds of 500Kbps on 2.4Mbps networks will be possible if stationary.  Expected timeframe for 3G rollout in US is 2004.

Integrated Services Digital Network  ISDN has been around for about 15 years.  Speeds of 128Kbps, symmetrical available.  Charged by the minute, plus Internet access fee.

Security Issues  Viruses  Denial of Service  Probing  Trojan horses  Spying

Viruses  PC’s can be infected from many sources:   Software on floppies  Software on CD’s  File sharing over a network  Internet downloads

Denial of Service Attacks (DoS)  These are attacks against a system to make it unavailable to the user.  This is done by sending so much information, or junk, to ports on your PC. This causes the PC to overload, and stop functioning.  Famous DoS: Smurf attack

Probing  Probing is the process of looking for ports, or services on a computer.  Well known ports: smtp ( ), http (web),etc.  Addresses easily spoofed. Meaning that the source address might be fake, a decoy.  If file and printer sharing is enabled, people could view, add or change files on your PC.

Trojan Horses  Programs that say they are doing one thing, but are actually doing something else.  Usually allow people to remotely use your PC to attack, or access other computers on the Internet.  The trail will then lead back to you, and not the real perpetrator.

Spying  Spying is where programs watch what you are doing and send out this information without your knowledge.  RealAudio, which provides audio and video streaming software for the Internet. Had their program sending reports to the company of what files were being transferred, but said it was just for quality control. Can now be disabled.

Hardware/Software Solutions  Virus Scanners  Backups  Firewalls

Virus Scanners  McAfeehttp://  Nortonhttp://  Virus Mythshttp:// These will scan files and for viruses. But still be wary of opening programs or files that you didn’t request.

Backups  Zip Drives – 100MB capacity.  CD-R Drives – 600MB capacity; write once.  CD-RW Drives – 600MB capacity; can be reused.  Jaz Drives – 1GB capacity.  Tape Drives – 8GB to 20GB storage capacity. Internal or external units available.

Firewalls  Firewall software – Software that is installed on each computer to protect, and restrict access to its services.  Firewall appliance – A self-contained unit that protects the computers on an internal network from the outside (Internet). Will work with either a Road Runner MODEM or DSL connection.

Firewall Software  ZoneAlarm Free, for non-commercial use  BlackICE Defenderhttp://netice.com  McAfee Personalhttp://  Norton Internet Sec.

Firewall Appliances  Linksyshttp://  D-Linkhttp://  SonicWallhttp://  SMChttp://