On Mon, 24 Mar 2003, at 9:25am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > The difference is that it isn't being relayed through my ISP's mail > servers. Therefore, to my ISP, its just another set of traffic on the > wire. By it passing through a third party mailer, by definition it must be > stored before being forwarded. That's enough of a difference to matter, > IMO.
I don't think there is a real difference. Either way, you're saying you don't trust the ISP (which is not an unreasonable stance). In one case, someone is snooping messages in transit on a server. In the other case, someone is snooping messages in transit on a wire. If you don't trust the ISP not to do the former, why do you trust them not to do the later? > It is still "in the clear" so its susceptible to snooping. It just > requires more effort to do, and that effort delta is definitely non-zero. I don't know about that, either. Your average server is typically much better protected than your average network. Mail servers have filesystem access controls, user accounts, passwords, and so on. Violating such access controls will typically leave behind a trail. Plugging a passive sniffer into a hub, on the other hand, leaves no evidence, and is often done as a routine part of network analysis. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do | | not represent the views or policy of any other person or organization. | | All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
