[geeks] Gmail's attraction

[Dan Duncan]

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
> Just because it's common doesn't mean it's right.  You know, if I were
> creating a file-transfer protocol, I might call it...FTP!

But how do you limit sharing as an FTP user?  How do I send one
file to Bonnie and a different one to Clyde so that neither
can see the other's file unless each user maintains their own
ftp server?  You can do some neat things on a unix ftp server
with permissions so that users need to know the name of a file
to retrieve it, but then you have to educate your users on how
to use it.

> I'm sorry?  Is it only my PCs that happen to have to option of sharing
> individual folders, with each share's rights assignable to any user with
> a local (or domain) account?

Do you have that ability as a mere user, or does it require admin
privs?  Do you propose making every user an admin?  How about
letting mere users share out what may be privileged data in a
manner with NO AUDIT TRAIL WHATSOEVER?  Perhaps you've never had
the pleasure of having security auditors crawling up your ass
in a corporate environment, but I'll tell you something:  They
don't use lube and they never buy you dinner.

> It is Not Hard to set up a temporary user with a temporary password and
> to send an email saying:

As long as you're sending an email, why not save a step and attach
the file?  You get a virus scan, a delivery receipt, and a reasonable
assurance that someone who shouldn't have it didn't get it from you
along with an auditable paper trail.  There's no reassurance that user
won't then pass it on to someone else, but that has nothing to
do with your delivery mechanism.

> And Windows is the standard OS.  That doesn't mean it's worth a crap.

No, but since it IS the standard OS in a corporate environment you
often have to work within that framework to make it as secure as
possible.  Letting users share out directories on their own breaks
that rule.

-DanD

-- 
#  Dan Duncan (kd4igw)  dand at pcisys.net  http://pcisys.net/~dand
# "Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration
# -- courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of
# the truth."  H L Mencken