On (28 Nov 02) Michael Gothreau wrote to Frank Vest...

Hello Michael,

 MG>  FT>> The "directly" is in quotes because I
consider, in my ignorance,
 MG>  FT>> that a connection through IP technology is not direct since it
 MG>  FT>> can be "tapped".

 FV> In many ways, and with "my" ignorance, IP connections are as secure
 FV> as dial-up modem connections. As long as the sending Node and
 FV> the receiving Node have passwords in place, there is little chance of
 FV> them being "tapped".

 FV> Even in dial-up, there is a chance of "tapping". Let's
assume that I
 FV> feed a node 1:100/100 and your address. If you put an aka in your
 FV> mailer of 1:100/100 and I don't have a password in place, you could
 FV> receive mail destined for 1:100/100.

 FV> That's probably not a good example.

 FV> In the IP world, as I understand it, Mail is not transfered until two
 FV> Nodes connect at a specific address with passwords that match. Until
 FV> that happens there is nothing but a request for a connection... much
 FV> the same as a phone ringing... until something (a modem) answers,
 FV> there is no connection and no transfer.

 MG> If this is accurate, it is very well put.

I make no guaranty. I'm simply drawing on a small knowledge with
"packet ramming" and what I understand as the need for passwords in
packets as well as sessions.

Even internet e-mail requires passwords... and for the same reasons.

Without passwords in place, it is very easy to "drop" a mail bundle in
someone's inbound and it be tossed with other mail. The other security
that is used in Fidonet is to have two inbound directories. One is for
secure (passworded) sessions and the other for insecure.

Netmail, in and of itself, is not secure. I can generally send a
Netmail (dial-up or IP, assuming you have both) to you even though I
don't have a password with me. If I attach a mail bundle to that
message, your tosser might just toss it without question (depending on
your setup). :-)


Regards,

Frank

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