Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Tue, 27 Feb 1996 14:00:40 +0100
From:      Poul-Henning Kamp <phk@critter.tfs.com>
To:        "Rodney W. Grimes" <rgrimes@GndRsh.aac.dev.com>
Cc:        nate@sri.MT.net (Nate Williams), jgreco@brasil.moneng.mei.com, stable@freebsd.org, current@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: -stable hangs at boot (fwd) 
Message-ID:  <13802.825426040@critter.tfs.com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 26 Feb 1996 15:55:33 PST." <199602262355.PAA15114@GndRsh.aac.dev.com> 

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> > > > It's not punching any hole in the code.  *ALL* of the firewall products
> > > > I've used (not extensive by any means) are open by default and require
> > > > the user to explicitly close them.  If a user mis-configures the
> > > > firewall it's their problem in all of the other products, why is it now
> > > > FreeBSD's problem to make the users 'smarter'?
> > > 
> > > I've never seen a firewall product that is open by default.  That is an
> > > oxymoron.
> > 
> > A firewall is *always* open by default.  You determine what it is to
> > firewall against.  All of them haven't told me how to make policy, or
> > force me to 'revert' behavior.  Firewalls don't make policy, they
> > enforce policy.
> 
> It is not a firewall if it is always open, it is just a plain old router :-)
> And per the RFC's FreeBSD can not, and does not, ship with even IP forwarding
> turned on.

Amen.

By doing it so the default is "deny all", we solve a couple of nasty
corner cases:

	1. You can "ipfw flush" and then add your rules, without leaving
	   the door open in the meantime.

	2. If you get your rules wrong you wont by accident leave some
	   crap through.

	3. It is clearly visible for the user what will happen if nothing
	   is explicitly defined before.

	4. Statistics are gathered on this policy rule, just like for the
	   rest of the rules, so you can see if they do what you want.

--
Poul-Henning Kamp           | phk@FreeBSD.ORG       FreeBSD Core-team.
http://www.freebsd.org/~phk | phk@login.dknet.dk    Private mailbox.
whois: [PHK]                | phk@ref.tfs.com       TRW Financial Systems, Inc.
Future will arrive by its own means, progress not so.



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?13802.825426040>