[Web4lib] IM Security

[Jami Haskell]

No, they didn't mention a specific security risk -- just that IM would allow
folks to penetrate the network and is therefore a no-go.

I will look into the Jabber server and what this would require.
I would rather not have a local server or application because i want this to
be opened up to our users.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. I don't have enough
experience to argue with these guys and they love to say no to the things
that library wants to do!

Jami


On 3/5/07, Micah Stevens <micah at raincross-tech.com> wrote:
>
> Security Risk in what way? If by interacting with an outside server to
> provide the IM service you have a security risk, then just install a
> local Jabber server which is supported by many IM clients. This would
> also solve any sort of worry about an IM system distributed virus (Which
> has happened before through MSN I believe... )
>
> If all you need is a service for the local group of people, a local
> server is a good way to go in my opinion because it's safer, you can
> control exactly how it behaves, and you eliminate any concerns about
> people using the IM for things other than work.
>
> Just my two cents. Did they mention exactly what kind of security risk
> they were worried about? Throwing around key words just inflames and
> doesn't help the situation usually.
>
> -Micah
>
> Jami Haskell wrote:
> > Please help!
> > I would like to implement IM for inter-staff communications and,
> > hopefully,
> > for reference/user services at my library.
> > However, I am being met with major resistance from my systems staff.
> They
> > claim that it is too much of a security risk and we cannot do it.
> >
> > Every other library I have worked in has used IM (either via Trillian or
> > meebo) and security issues were never raised. I know that thousands of
> > libraries use IM all the time. I am proposing that my library system use
> > Meebo for this so that they can interact with multiple IM clients
> without
> > having to install software on the machines.
> >
> > How can I explain to my systems folks that this is an okay thing to do??
> > Please help!
> >
> > Thanks so much,
> > Jami Haskell
> > _______________________________________________
> > Web4lib mailing list
> > Web4lib at webjunction.org
> > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>
>