Ferg, That's an understandable attitude given the nature of your networks. In our case, I'm just talking about two or three T1s that provide Internet connectivity to our website for our customers.
I appreciate your input, though. I will accept all advice and input if it gets me closer to a better understanding of the realities of topic at hand and if it helps weed out some of the marketing fluff that's being heaped upon me by salespeople. :) Thanks! John On 7/28/05, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > John, > > Contrary to popular belief, I (not alone, of course) run, > manage, defend, and continually architect very large > networks. Very large. On none of them do we outsource > the protection of them -- because, in cases where we > have extended trust in the past, we have been screwed > (PC translation: disappointed). > > So we protect ourselves. > > It's been a business decision for my customers' networks > (ie. their network) not to outsource security, or rely on > an upstreampipedream, for protection of any sort. > > Thus, I personally can't provide any insight here. Sorry. > > - ferg > > -- John Neiberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > In this case it's a business decision. I understand that we could > simply weigh the costs of an attack with the costs of preemptively > detecting and mitigating an attack, but in our case we won't lose hard > dollars like an ecommerce site would. We have different reasons for > wanting to have some protection in place before we need it. I look at > it like it's an insurance policy, but I don't want to be ripped off. > > It's like I'm getting estimates on building a protective dike around > my house. One contractor tells me that the floodwaters commonly reach > six feet so I should pay him $12,000 to build a wall at least that > high. Another contractor is telling me that he'll build a six-foot > wall for $6,000. Another contractor is telling me that the floodwaters > most likely won't go over two feet and he suggests that I pay him > $1,000 for a three-foot-high wall. > > If it turns out that we really do need a six-foot-high wall then so be > it. I'm not the one who pays the bills so it isn't really my decision. > I just want to make sure I have a clearer picture of reality before I > make any suggestions to my boss. > > Thanks again, > John > > On 7/28/05, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I should've asked the most important question first -- is this > > a technical decision, or a business decision? I mean, forgive me > > for pointing out the obvious, but you made an issue of cost in your > > original post... > > > > - ferg > > > > -- > "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson > Engineering Architecture for the Internet > [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/ > >
