Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-16 Thread Mike Tancsa

At 12:19 AM 4/10/2009, Rubens Kuhl wrote:

On shared media like radio access, every unwanted packet means less
performance you will get out of the network.
This can be done by NAT,
stateful filtering with public IPs or stateless filtering with public
IPs; the advantage of doing NAT is making it easier for the end-point
software to know that (two ways: noticing your local IP address is
from RFC1918 space, or connecting to a server that tells your IP in
order to compare it to the local address).

As such, GPRS, EDGE, EVDO, HSPA, LTE and Mobile WiMAX services have
good reasons to use NAT, and most do.


Speaking of unwanted traffic, I was quite surprised how much unwanted 
traffic I see on my RFC 1918 space thats given out by one of the 
Canadian telcos-- i.e. this is behind the giant natting firewalls


Blocking all inbound traffic and logging to pflog (pcap format)

Its full of cruft like this

0[i7]# tcpdump -nr /var/log/pflog | head -2
reading from file /var/log/pflog, link-type PFLOG (OpenBSD pflog file)
16:01:09.899554 IP 10.141.184.158.2167 > 10.141.81.113.445: Flags 
[S], seq 2743613661, win 53760, options [mss 1360,nop,wscale 
3,nop,nop,TS[|tcp]>
16:01:10.439516 IP 10.141.184.158.2167 > 10.141.81.113.445: Flags 
[S], seq 2743613661, win 53760, options [mss 1360,nop,wscale 
3,nop,nop,TS[|tcp]>


Looking at the pflogs for the last 3 days of just port 445 and 135 
scans traffic as well as the odd ping packet


1[i7]# cat pflo* | tcpdump -nr - -w /tmp/scan.pcap port 445 or port 135 or icmp
reading from file -, link-type PFLOG (OpenBSD pflog file)
tcpdump: pcap_loop: bogus savefile header
1[i7]# tcpstat -r /tmp/scan.pcap -a
Bytes/sec   =  0.4  B
Bytes/minute= 26.2  B
Bytes/hour  =  1.5 KB
Bytes/day   = 36.8 KB
Bytes/month =  1.1 MB
0[i7]#

Hmmm... considering some plans start at 1MB per month

---Mike 





RE: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-16 Thread TJ
That's why you use Teredo - it defeats that sort of simple statefulness, and
works.
((SSH'ed from one laptop (WinXP, using MS's Teredo over double-NATed v4
connection) to another laptop (Ubuntu, EVDO, + Miredo) ... although it was
pretty slow, it fit my needs at the time.))

For a time, maybe still today?, 6to4 would work as well.  That is, the
carrier may have been filtering unsolicited TCP/UDP ... but not Protocol41.
(Off the top of my head, I forget which providers fell into which side of
the ItWorked | ItStillWorks camp)


/TJ


>-Original Message-
>From: Charles Wyble [mailto:char...@thewybles.com]
>Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:09 PM
>To: Skywing
>Cc: NANOG list
>Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?
>
>Yep verizon does indeed filter all unsolicated inbound traffic to the EVDO
>network. It can be a blessing or a curse. :)
>
>Skywing wrote:
>> Verizon filters unsolicited inbound traffic for their EVDO customers in
my
>experience.
>>
>> - S
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Roland Dobbins 
>> Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 09:32
>> To: NANOG list 
>> Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?
>>
>>
>> On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:
>>
>>> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)
>>
>> No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in
>> front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.
>>
>> The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various
>> vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but
>> inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy
>> anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.
>>
>> --
>> - Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile
>>
>>Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.
>>
>>-- Jason Scott
>>
>>
>>




Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-10 Thread Eugeniu Patrascu

Roland Dobbins wrote:


On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:


Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)


No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in 
front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.
Some operators put firewalls to NAT their subscribers into smaller IP 
address pools (I have put some for a particular one).


The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various 
vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but 
inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy 
anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.




Yes.



Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Rubens Kuhl
On shared media like radio access, every unwanted packet means less
performance you will get out of the network. This can be done by NAT,
stateful filtering with public IPs or stateless filtering with public
IPs; the advantage of doing NAT is making it easier for the end-point
software to know that (two ways: noticing your local IP address is
from RFC1918 space, or connecting to a server that tells your IP in
order to compare it to the local address).

As such, GPRS, EDGE, EVDO, HSPA, LTE and Mobile WiMAX services have
good reasons to use NAT, and most do.


Rubens


On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia)
 wrote:
> Hi all, in most of the existing 2G/2.5G mobile PS-core (Packet Switch) 
> networks have Gi segment (interface between GGSN & IP Router/firewall). Due 
> to the IP address constraint, operator usually do NAT on the Gi firewall to 
> NAT the private IP to public IP in the past. Looking at the traffic pattern 
> and user access behaviour, does it make sense to have firewall between the 
> GGSN & Public Internet if the public IP addresses are sufficient to cater for 
> mobile subscribers? Especially with 3G/UMTS/HSPA or even LTE in the future.
>
> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)
>
> Regards,
> Steven Lee
>



RE: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia)
Hi Charles/Skywing, is Verizon filter the unsolicated inbound traffic on the 
firewall or on the border router?

Regards,
Steven Lee 

-Original Message-
From: Charles Wyble [mailto:char...@thewybles.com] 
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 6:09 AM
To: Skywing
Cc: NANOG list
Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

Yep verizon does indeed filter all unsolicated inbound traffic to the 
EVDO network. It can be a blessing or a curse. :)

Skywing wrote:
> Verizon filters unsolicited inbound traffic for their EVDO customers in my 
> experience.
> 
> - S
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Roland Dobbins 
> Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 09:32
> To: NANOG list 
> Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?
> 
> 
> On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:
> 
>> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)
> 
> No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in
> front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.
> 
> The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various
> vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but
> inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy
> anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.
> 
> ---
> Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile
> 
>Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.
> 
>-- Jason Scott
> 
> 
> 




Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Charles Wyble
Yep verizon does indeed filter all unsolicated inbound traffic to the 
EVDO network. It can be a blessing or a curse. :)


Skywing wrote:

Verizon filters unsolicited inbound traffic for their EVDO customers in my 
experience.

- S

-Original Message-
From: Roland Dobbins 
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 09:32
To: NANOG list 
Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?


On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:


Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)


No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in
front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.

The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various
vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but
inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy
anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.

---
Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile

   Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.

   -- Jason Scott







RE: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Skywing
Verizon filters unsolicited inbound traffic for their EVDO customers in my 
experience.

- S

-Original Message-
From: Roland Dobbins 
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 09:32
To: NANOG list 
Subject: Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?


On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:

> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)

No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in
front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.

The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various
vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but
inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy
anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.

---
Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile

   Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.

   -- Jason Scott





Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Mike Dimayuga
Hello Steven,

There seems to be an underlying assumption to your question
- that a firewall exists for Gi traffic only because of the NAT
requirement.  This is not necessarily a safe assumption to make.  The NAT
functionality may be needed to conserve IP space but does not take away from
the importance of protecting the network infrastructure from both the
outside world as well as from the mobiles themselves.

There are caveats to putting firewalls in the Gi path that you have to
consider - such as session count limits and how they play with lots of
small-sized packets. (as you may know, not all mobile applications are
well-behaved).

Miguel

On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 11:48 AM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) <
kin-wei@hp.com> wrote:

> Hi all, in most of the existing 2G/2.5G mobile PS-core (Packet Switch)
> networks have Gi segment (interface between GGSN & IP Router/firewall). Due
> to the IP address constraint, operator usually do NAT on the Gi firewall to
> NAT the private IP to public IP in the past. Looking at the traffic pattern
> and user access behaviour, does it make sense to have firewall between the
> GGSN & Public Internet if the public IP addresses are sufficient to cater
> for mobile subscribers? Especially with 3G/UMTS/HSPA or even LTE in the
> future.
>
> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)
>
> Regards,
> Steven Lee
>



-- 
--
Miguel de Leon Dimayuga

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."


Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Roland Dobbins


On Apr 10, 2009, at 12:21 AM, Alexander Harrowell wrote:

I would think that, however you are providing IP addresses, any  
ingress point
to a GSM core network ought to be carefully policed on security  
grounds.


Sure.  But stateful firewalls aren't required to protect that  
infrastructure, stateless ACLs in hardware will work quite well.


---
Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile

  Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.

   -- Jason Scott




Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Roland Dobbins


On Apr 10, 2009, at 12:17 AM, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote:

Todays GGSN and other devices should handle it, even though they  
didn't do it well 5+ years back.


There's a lot of legacy (and not-so-legacy) gear out there with weak  
IP stacks; beyond that, the relevant BCPs like iACLs should be  
deployed to protect the GGSN, et. al.


---
Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile

  Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.

   -- Jason Scott




Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Alexander Harrowell
On Thursday 09 April 2009 16:48:32 Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:
> Hi all, in most of the existing 2G/2.5G mobile PS-core (Packet Switch)
> networks have Gi segment (interface between GGSN & IP Router/firewall). Due
> to the IP address constraint, operator usually do NAT on the Gi firewall to
> NAT the private IP to public IP in the past. Looking at the traffic pattern
> and user access behaviour, does it make sense to have firewall between the
> GGSN & Public Internet if the public IP addresses are sufficient to cater
> for mobile subscribers? Especially with 3G/UMTS/HSPA or even LTE in the
> future.
>
> Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)
>
> Regards,
> Steven Lee
I would think that, however you are providing IP addresses, any ingress point 
to a GSM core network ought to be carefully policed on security grounds. 
Especially if you have IMS or SIP-based services or intend to deploy them.


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Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Roland Dobbins


On Apr 9, 2009, at 11:48 PM, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:


Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)


No, IMHO.  Most broadband operators don't insert firewalls inline in  
front of their subscribers, and wireless broadband is no different.


The infrastructure itself must be protected via iACLs, the various  
vendor-specific control-plane protection mechanisms, and so forth, but  
inserting additional state in the middle of everything doesn't buy  
anything, and introduces additional constraints and concerns.


---
Roland Dobbins  // +852.9133.2844 mobile

  Our dreams are still big; it's just the future that got small.

   -- Jason Scott




Re: Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Mikael Abrahamsson

On Thu, 9 Apr 2009, Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia) wrote:

Hi all, in most of the existing 2G/2.5G mobile PS-core (Packet Switch) 
networks have Gi segment (interface between GGSN & IP Router/firewall). 
Due to the IP address constraint, operator usually do NAT on the Gi 
firewall to NAT the private IP to public IP in the past. Looking at the 
traffic pattern and user access behaviour, does it make sense to have 
firewall between the GGSN & Public Internet if the public IP addresses 
are sufficient to cater for mobile subscribers? Especially with 
3G/UMTS/HSPA or even LTE in the future.


The only reason I see to have a FW on Gi would be to have a stateful 
device to stop scanning from the Internet towards the mobile devices (I 
don't know how much SYNs you see on a /16 nowadays, it used to be quite a 
lot). I know mobile operators who have been operating with public IPs to 
all customers without FW for a lot of years. Todays GGSN and other devices 
should handle it, even though they didn't do it well 5+ years back.


--
Mikael Abrahamssonemail: swm...@swm.pp.se



Do we still need Gi Firewall for 3G/UMTS/HSPA network ?

2009-04-09 Thread Lee, Steven (NSG Malaysia)
Hi all, in most of the existing 2G/2.5G mobile PS-core (Packet Switch) networks 
have Gi segment (interface between GGSN & IP Router/firewall). Due to the IP 
address constraint, operator usually do NAT on the Gi firewall to NAT the 
private IP to public IP in the past. Looking at the traffic pattern and user 
access behaviour, does it make sense to have firewall between the GGSN & Public 
Internet if the public IP addresses are sufficient to cater for mobile 
subscribers? Especially with 3G/UMTS/HSPA or even LTE in the future.

Please share your thought and thanks in advance :)

Regards,
Steven Lee