Community Tools compromise security in some shops

By Sarah Kimmel
Monday, March 10, 2003

      While the IBM Community Tools (ICT) offer iSeries customers an opportunity to communicate with others in their community, many worry that these tools also open doors to intruders, compromising system security.

      “I simply cannot use the Community Tools because they weren’t designed to be used in a secure environment. They require newsgroup and SameTime access, the TCP ports for which we do not open to the outside world. As security administrator, I can easily say that we have no plans to open those ports in the future,” says John Jones, America’s security administrator, Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc., Westmont, IL.

      IBM is not denying that some companies’ security policies will not allow use of these tools.

      “I wouldn’t say that it is or isn’t a security risk. It’s on the Internet and it entirely depends on how your firewall is set up. If your company won’t change their security rules, then you just won’t use the tool,” says Amit Dave, senior technical staff, IBM, Rochester, MN.

      Jones, a participant on other iSeries listserves, has decided that his shop will not compromise security in order to participate in the newest iSeries forum.

      “If IBM rewrites the tools to [meet our needs], I’ll give it another chance. But for now, I can’t use them at all at the office. I suppose I could use them at home, but what’s the use in that?” says Jones.

      Far from Rochester, the Southbury, Connecticut-based WebAhead team that created the ICT is working to remedy some of these issues. In a letter on Midrange-L, an iSeries listserve, a member of this team asks shops what they need in order to use the tools.

      “We’re trying to figure out what kinds of connectivity requirements folks might have in using the tool suite. I’m interested in hearing from those of you who still have potential problems with using our tools in your environment. What generally works best in your firewalled intranet environments?” asks Judy Warren, senior software engineer, WebAhead Team, IBM, Southbury, CT.

ICT/Windows incompatibility on some systems

      Although IBM says the ICT are compatible with Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, and XP, some users report buggy setups and system crashes as a result of running the Community Tools.

      “The primary problem is general instability — my system hangs after several hours of running the Community Tools. Also, when I had them configured to start automatically, the system crashed with device errors when I started it up with no connection available,” reports Janet Krueger, treasurer, COMMON, Rochester, MN.

      “We have tested the ICT on all Windows environments. Does that mean it will be an error-free install? No. We are helping people who have had issues,” says Dave.

      To download the Community Tools or to report a bug or compatibility issue, see http://community.ngi.ibm.com.

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