Is SATAN really the devil or an angel in disguise?
SATAN (Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks) became available on the Internet in April, 1995. SATAN reports security weaknesses in networked computers. The trouble lies in the construction and implementation of the software. To use SATAN, you enter your network the same way a hacker (intruder) would, from a host outside your network. The software finds and can be used to fix a variety of security problems. However, SATAN can just as easily show a hacker how to break into your system. Because it is available free of charge on the Internet, anyone can get their hands on the product. The way SATAN works is very straightforward. Each security probe targets a host, using a common TVC/IP-based protocol, such as SMNP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or RTC (Remote Procedure Call). Because it attacks using these common protocols, the target system simply sees the probe as another machine in the network making a request. It responds by returning whate
