[Web4lib] City blocking suspected 'criminal' networks

[Chadwick, John, DCA]

A lot will depend upon the type of filtering software that the city IT
group is using. I have experience with two types, Websense and Cisco
CSC-SSM (basically TrendMicro content filtering and anti-virus gateway,
which is what we are using on our wireless network.

Both systems, as do most systems, allow for individual exceptions as
long as you are using a named host rather than an IP address. I
personally prefer the Cisco solution. To give you an idea, a library in
the area got hacked and one line of code was inserted into the home page
of the library. Websense blocked the entire site and it took more than a
month to get it unblocked. Cisco just filtered out the malicious line of
code and let the rest of the site load. Cisco seems to be much more
granular than many content filtering systems I have seen.

John

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John Chadwick, Ed.D. Information Technology Manager
New Mexico State Library
1209 Camino Carlos Rey
Santa Fe, NM 87507
Phone: 505-476-9740  Cell: 505-629-8116 Fax: 505-476-9761
john.chadwick at state.nm.us
http://www.nmstatelibrary.org

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Barkovich, Greg
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 3:38 PM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] City blocking suspected 'criminal' networks

Hello,

Following up on a patron complaint recently we learned that our city's
firewall consultant had blocked at least one webhost (russian business
network - rbn) from our network. We were not consulted on this change
and it has resulted in the loss of access to an unknown number of
websites. 

We are aware of at least three legimate sites that anyone within the
city's network can no longer access; including one home business from
rural eastern Canada from which a staff person has bought birdseed for
several years. So despite RBN's apparent criminal ties (see entry in
wikipedia or do an article search) we know they host an unknown number
of legitimate sites.

We have begun a conversation with the city's IT managers but for now RBN
and possibly other networks remain blocked.

Have any of you encountered anything similar? This is not a conscious
attempt to filter but is motivated by security concerns. Of course the
net result is loss of access to an unknown (unknowable?) number of
websites and we have, as noted, already received complaints from our
patrons.

Do any of you block IPs suspected of criminal activity from your
networks? If so are you working from a list or how are you determining
which addresses to block? And how have you approached the concerns about
intellectual freedom?

Thanks,

Greg

greg barkovich
Burnaby Public Library, 6100 Willingdon Ave, 604-436-5437, fx
604-436-9087

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