DNC – What does “dropped the firewall” even mean?

In a CNN article that discusses Sander’s access to the Clinton campaign information, I found the following statement–

The breach occurred when the vendor, NGP VAN, which supplies access to the database of voter information for both campaigns dropped the firewall, and at least one Sanders campaign staffer accessed Clinton campaign voter data. The accused staffer, Josh Uretsky, Sanders’ national data director, was fired from the campaign.

I have to ask, what does that even mean. So NGP VAN is using a firewall to isolate data between candidates? Are there no controls in the application? And what does it mean to drop a firewall? 

I have to assume that this would indicate a “permit any” or maybe some other bypass. I’d love to know the technical details around this situation.

Firewalls aren’t magical boxes and this is a “dumbed down” if not inaccurate response.

I’d love to hear from you, so share your experiences by commenting below.
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Bad actors race to exploit Juniper firewall vulnerability

Now that Juniper has created a patch for its vulnerable firewall/VPN appliances, bad actors are setting to work reverse engineering the flaw so they can exploit devices that users don’t patch, and also make a profit by selling their exploits to others.“That’s what they do,” says John Pironti, president of IP Architects, who says he spent Friday responding to concerns about the compromised Juniper firewalls with his clients.The pattern cyber criminals follow after vendors patch vulnerabilities is to compare the patched code to the unpatched code, figure out what the flawed code was and figure out how to use it to break into the device and the network it protects, Pironti says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Datacenter Vanity

I’ve been noticing a trend recently in enterprise networking where managers and engineers alike are more concerned (obsessed) with the physical appearance of their rack, wires, and network equipment than they are with the actual pragmatic design and stability of said network. Approx Reading Time: 3-5 Minutes A Little is Good Now a certain amount […]

The post Datacenter Vanity appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Datacenter Vanity

I’ve been noticing a trend recently in enterprise networking where managers and engineers alike are more concerned (obsessed) with the physical appearance of their rack, wires, and network equipment than they are with the actual pragmatic design and stability of said network. Approx Reading Time: 3-5 Minutes A Little is Good Now a certain amount […]

The post Datacenter Vanity appeared first on Packet Pushers.

Bernie Sanders campaign claims DNC voter data was leaked multiple times

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has suspended the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign from access to its database of Democratic voter information after a staffer on the Sanders campaign improperly accessed proprietary data belonging to the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Washington Post reported today.The Sanders campaign announced that it has fired the staffer over the incident. However, the campaign has also insisted that the data in the DNC database had been exposed on other occasions during the campaign.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bernie Sanders campaign claims software vendor NGP VAN exposed voter data multiple times

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has suspended the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign from access to its database of Democratic voter information after a staffer on the Sanders campaign improperly accessed proprietary data belonging to the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Washington Post reported today. The Sanders campaign announced that it has fired the staffer over the incident. However, the campaign has also gone on the offensive, insisting not only that the software vendor, NGP VAN, was responsible for this incident, but has failed to prevent unauthorized access to campaign data in the past.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Wi-Fl blocking issue prompts convention industry to band together

Operators of convention centers and other public assembly venues are joining forces to avoid becoming the next Marriott or Hilton in the eyes of an FCC Enforcement Bureau that’s been cracking down on Wi-Fi blockers.Wi-Fi blocking has become a hot button issue across the hospitality and convention center industry, as well as across the wireless LAN industry, in light of big FCC fines against outfits found to have been blocking use of wireless hotspots by those who have a legal right to access unlicensed spectrum.MORE: Wi-Fi blocking debate far from overTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here