SETI@Home A Security Threat, Says TVA

[Phuz]

Ripped from slashdot..

evenprime writes: "Richard Chambers, the Inspector General of the Tennessee Valley Authority, has declared that employee use of SETI@Home on TVA computers compromises computer security. I'm wondering why using SETI@Home on PCs with access to the internet would be a problem. As cheap as PCs are, you'd think that TVA would have separate internet/email PCs on every desktop, and so no form of malware could affect their machines used for power generation and/or managment."

ha

 

[Adul]

That article is so disapointing. They are basicly using seti@home has a scape goat. There is a worm version of seti going around, much like the dnet worm, so they are blaming seti. The real blame should go to the company for lax measures on keeping up to date on antivirus updates.

 

[ElFenix]

my post from the distributed computing thread:

<< Richard Chambers, TVA's inspector general, said: &quot;If you're allowing others to tap into your computer, you have got some additional risk there.&quot;

Anthony Smith, a senior manager of TVA's computer system, said the inspector general's office first detected the SETI programs on TVA computers, and managers made sure all were deleted.

The use of the SETI program on 17 TVA computers presented &quot;some kind of risk,&quot; Smith said.

But SETI uses a high level of protective encryption, he found, so there was &quot;a relatively low risk&quot; to TVA. >>



i'm not sure these inspectors know what the h3ll they're talking about... absolutely nothing about computer security, that is for sure. and absolutely nothing about how the client works.


in the meantime, if anyone has any questions about what seti does, feel free to pop over to the distributed computing forum and ask away.

 

[Phuz]

i don't agree with the artile i was just posting

 

[NicColt]

the only thing to fear is fear itself.

my ex boss once told me to remove NAV because it was an unproven product. with some people ignorance is bliss.