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Technology Stocks : Westell WSTL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bill c. who wrote (8539)	12/23/1997 9:22:00 AM
From: g.w. barnard	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

bill, have you heard anything of this company or tech. wonder how much of a threat to westell??? Chicago-based Internet provider, Megsinet Inc. gw

To: bill c. who wrote (8539)	12/23/1997 12:02:00 PM
From: trouthead	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

Bill, I know everyone says that security is the bugaboo keeping joe six pack off of the internet and out of the cybermalls, but I think lack of familiarity is the bigger reason. Once people realize the convenience they will quickly lose there fear. Look at how many people drive around in cars despite knowing it is one of the most dangerous activities in modern life. Christmas shopping, and mens aversion to it, will be one of the leading causes of breaking down the resistance to shopping online. Without adding a substantially greater security level than there is today, people will begin sending there credit card numbers into the ether with the same ease with which they toss there credit card receipts into the trash today. There is a real security threat on the internet, But it is no greater for the average person than it is in the "real" world. Vendors with large databases of information and monetary access points are the ones that need to worry. You could spend hours collecting encrypted data from my house, but what would you have? Even if you were able to crack the key code, which, unless you're real lucky, will take months, you might discover I enjoy gardening and I have a credit card that is, more often than not, over the limit and fairly useless. What do you think? I enjoy your informative posts. Thanks and happy holidays to all. bps

To: bill c. who wrote (8539)	12/24/1997 3:17:00 PM
From: SteveG	Respond to of 21342

<..Microsoft Corp., in fact, is warning Windows 95 users that the simple act of sharing files with a printer can open your PC and all your personal and business files to prying eyes if the PC is connected to a cable TV network ....> Though you did reference the whole article, you seemed to stop one line short of completing the above consideration: "..Microsoft's recommendation is: shut off the share option on the PC. " Other saliet article points which give more of a balance to the addressed security issue: ".. He is calling on upstart Assured Digital, Inc., of Littleton, Mass., which specializes in cable network security. Assured Digital makes cable modems that encrypt traffic using DES and triple DES and hashing technologies. While Borden is working out security on his own, cable providers, sensitive to their customers' vulnerability, also are taking steps to plug leaks. MediaOne Group, the cable company owned by US WEST, Inc., puts filters on its cable modems [fwiw - so does COX]. The filters make customers' PCs invisible to each other across the cable network, according to Kip Compton, director of Internet systems and services for MediaOne. Additionally, MediaOne offers most customers a filter {also available from COX, and I'm sure soon from most others as well]. As a default, the filter blocks all outside access but the customer can disable the filter to allow access to the PC or only certain files, Compton said. That would let customers remotely reach work from their home PCs. Access from the cable network also can be password-protected. Data security on the cable network can be reinforced by tunneling technology that encrypts IP packets and encapsulates them for transport across IP networks. (sounds like the emerging VPN approach) The encryption that secures IP traffic from client to host will pose as much trouble for hackers on the cable network as it would for hackers on the Internet, according to Digital Equipment Corp. Digital is giving its work-at-home employees cable access over the Internet to corporate LANs, protected by AltaVista Tunnel 97 software. ..." Considered more fully, the concern seems more superficial, and certainly addressable. Steve