The freely shared, open source, one-directory-fits-all model of the new peer-to-peer network scheme -- made popular by the rapid deployment of Napster and its descendants -- has given rise to a fresh wave of security concerns, some of them weirdly unique. . . .
The freely shared, open source, one-directory-fits-all model of the new peer-to-peer network scheme -- made popular by the rapid deployment of Napster and its descendants -- has given rise to a fresh wave of security concerns, some of them weirdly unique. Many security experts agree however that, once again, the most threatening problem network administrators will face won't be super-scary cyberterrorists, but just plain old dumb users.

As Clifford Neuman, senior research scientist at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California, explains, "Some of the biggest dangers from peer-to-peer networks stem from their 'always connected' status (read 'always vulnerable') and the fact that one is now running servers on machines that are managed by end users -- and the fact that these end users don't know how to securely manage a server." Neuman is principal designer of the Kerberos authentication system.

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