"Normal" people make it onto it by doing technically saavy things like
plugging the Ethernet from the wall into the LAN ports on their wireless
router that doesn't have a WEP key on it so everyone in the complex A) hooks
up to their wireless signal on accident because they also have a wireless
router with a very unique SSID of "NETGEAR" or "default".  or B) sends a
DHCP request through the wired network and before byu's DHCP servers can
respond the "normal" user's router steps in and throws out a 192.168 address
which puts the entire complex on a logically separate and disconnected
network.

I would guess most people on this wouldn't be guilty of the first paragraph,
but we all know that MOST computer users aren't CS majors and actually DO
things like that...  Probably because this list isn't a "normal" computer
user list?

The other way to get on it is let's say the hub you are connected to has an
infected computer (or they are file-sharing) and it's bringing the hub down.
Now it's already been mentioned that all you need is the user's IP and MAC
address and you can block them and the network will go right back to normal.
Easy right?  Well, when the hub is so wasted it can barely respond, it makes
it rather hard to do troubleshooting and figure out exactly which of those
24-ports is the one that's causing all the traffic and needs to be disabled.
So OIT is stuck with either A) letting the entire group of people be offline
until that one discourteous user gets a virus scanner or stops sharing
files, or B) pulling the plug on one person at a time and watching to see
which port is loading the hub.  It's very spotty troubleshooting, but really
the only shot they have because they don't know how long their connection to
that hub will be open.  My point is this:  sometimes it's not the easiest to
get the exact users ip and mac under those situations, and I have seen
analysts mistakenly disable a port.  I've even been guilty of it.

In both cases, the port shouldn't be disabled until OIT has tried calling
the user under their land-line phone number and tries to find a resolution
with the user, a practice I always adhere to.

Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Andrew McNabb
Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 4:18 PM
To: BYU Unix Users Group
Subject: Re: [uug] BYU net authentication.

On Sat, Dec 03, 2005 at 04:08:41PM -0700, Brian Phillips wrote:
> >No, OIT's poor connection most of this semester and excessive port
blocking
> >they decided to do last summer already do that for me.  ;)
> 
> Sounds like you made it onto "the naughty list" once or twice eh? :P
> 

What's "the naughty list" and why are normal people making it onto it?

-- 
Andrew McNabb
http://www.mcnabbs.org/andrew/
PGP Fingerprint: 8A17 B57C 6879 1863 DE55  8012 AB4D 6098 8826 6868


--------------------
BYU Unix Users Group 
http://uug.byu.edu/ 

The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their
author.  They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. 
___________________________________________________________________
List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list

Reply via email to