What are some of the network security issues for FileMaker?
Lots of issues here. FM passwords only control file access, they do not encrypt the data. Packet sniffers can monitor chunks of data going round the LAN. Here’s some food for thought: • Store sensitive data (names, addresses etc) encrypted within the FM itself – plug-ins are available for this – check out http://www.troi.com/ • On the LAN, use a network OS and client machines which natively support IPSec (Win 2000). This is end-to-end network traffic encryption over TCP/IP. • Consider the use of switches rather than hubs on your LAN as packet sniffers rely on setting the snooping machine’s network card to “promiscuous” mode, which then listens to all traffic going round the hub. A machine on the end of a switch can only snoop its own traffic. • Use native OS file encryption (Win 2000, maybe Linux?) wherever possible for physical file security (theft of machine/drives). • Choose strong logon passwords for admin/server machines – include high ASCII values in the pw (on PCs, this means Al
