sysadmin won't allow linux - PLEASE HELP
Hello,
In the fall, I will be starting a new position as Professor of Sociology
at the University of Florida. When I interviewed, one of my
requirements was that I be allowed to run linux on my office computer.
They said it would not be a problem. However, now that I have signed
the contract and am soon to arrive, they have attached some conditions.
The most serious condition is that I must sign a document stating that I
am financially responsible for any cost incurred by the University if
someone hacks into my computer and causes damage to their network.
Although I have philosphical objections to this kind of policey, I am
willing to sign this if that is what it takes because I am quite
confident about my knowledge of security issues.
Anyway, here is the reason for this call for help. Tomorrow, I must
talk on the phone with the sysadmin of the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and explain two things: 1) they want to know why I need linux
instead of using their unix system and having MS Windows on the desktop;
and 2) they want to know that I am conscious of security issues. If
anyone has any suggestions for the kinds of things to stress, I would be
happy to hear them. I plan on emphasizing the fact that I disable most
services in inetd. The only servers I run are an ssh server and an ftp
server. I do not allow anonymous ftp, and I tunnel all my ftp transfers
through ssh. I am the only person with an account on my box. I will
also emphasize the fact that security updates are available on a daily
basis through debian's dpkg system.
Here is one concern of theirs, though, that I don't understand. They
said one problem with linux is that it will trick their network into
thinking that my linux box is the main server, thus bringing down a
system of over 2000 users. I cannot imagine how this would happen. The
only thing I can think of is the issue of the master browser in samba.
If it is "elected", I suppose my machine could force itself to be the
server. I don't know enough about samba, though, to know if this is
possible. However, if I don't run a samba server, it wouldn't be a
problem, right? Can anyone else think of why this might happen?
Thanks and sorry this message was so long,
Brian
--
Brian J. Stults
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Sociology
University at Albany - SUNY
Phone: (518) 442-4652 Fax: (518) 442-4936
Web: http://www.albany.edu/~bs7452
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