[LINK] BigPond goes Static

[Markus Buchhorn]

At 11:01 20/01/2004 +1000, Chirgwin, Richard wrote:
>Linkers - just noticed a press release; Telstra is now offering static IP
>addresses for BP ADSL users for an extra $10 per month... and here I was
>thinking that the world was short of addresses :-)

Maybe it's a static IPv6 address :-)

 From memory, Telstra used to offer static addresses to dialup customers a while back as well, albeit very quietly. I know somebody who still has one of those.

>But a question: does using a
>static address require any different approaches to endpoint security?

Not really. Scanners will scan anything (including unroutable addresses and multicast address space, if they're really thick), and can't tell if an address is static or not. They don't care either. It just needs to be publically accessable over the Net.

The main issue is that you have a finite probability of being scanned at any given moment. A static address means you are more likely to stay connected for longer periods (24x7 even). You still only have one address (unless you have a v6 address block), and possibly some kind of (evil) NAT.

So the need for good security remains. It just increases the longer that you are connected to the Net.

Cheers,
        Markus


Markus Buchhorn, ANU Internet Futures Group,       |Ph: +61 2 61258810
Markus.Buchhorn at anu.edu.au, mail: Bldg #108 CS&IT  |Fx: +61 2 61259805
Australian National University, Canberra 0200 Aust.|Mob: 0417 281429