221–223 of 223 posts
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Even technically sophisticated users should be able to expect secure defaults.
Sophisticated users understand when to adopt a product. MongoDB had all the red flags, a sophisticated user would have done a trial and ban it with a company-wide memo after the first week and already the 3rd disaster.
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"Messing with configurations" enough to add a password requires no more specialized knowledge than installing a database server. Personal responsibility has to come in to play at some point here. We're talking about real companies who said "We're going to put all of our data into this system and not set a password", not a fast food worker trying to pick up Rails development in his/her free time. Furthermore, running…
MongoDB has learned the lesson and will no longer listen on public IP by default ... For a while it was common for ISP's to install a router on the customer side, basically creating a firewall because of NAT. But now it's usually up to the customer whether to install a router or not. And most people do not run a dedicated firewall. And with IPv6 rolling out there's really no need to have NAT as there are plenty of IP…
This is not the case in the United States at all. In fact, it's the opposite. ISPs used to only offer modems that were intended to plug directly into one's computer, which would bridge to the computer's ethernet interface and expose it directly to the internet. Third-party routers would be placed in the middle to allow multiple computers to connect and they almost always include a firewall that has everything blocked by default.
Recently, ISPs have been bundling their modems into routers and providing customers with a single device that facilitates multiple computer access, wifi, etc. Every time I've encountered such a thing, it has had a firewall that blocked everything (except maybe a port for remote tech support) by default. This is by far the most common.
IPv6, as always, is a pipe dream, but when it becomes real, yes, we will not have the assumption of NAT to fall back on -- though it's pretty safe to assume that consumer-level hardware will continue to block all ports by default.
>Last time I installed mySQL I had to both set a root password and specify socket to listen on, and it took five seconds and no documentation reading was needed, so it is possible to both be user friendly and have good security. With mySQL you also have to explicitly set from what IP a user can connect from.
This is not a feature of MySQL, but a feature of the distribution you installed it on. It is true that MySQL's configs don't listen on all interfaces by default. IP-based security generally means that every user is wildcarded, and MySQL auto-generates a wildcard root account without a password iirc.
>There are plenty of examples where you do not need a password, for example opening your fridge or turning on your TV, both being connected to the Internet.
MongoDB is not the equivalent of a fridge or TV. MongoDB is the equivalent of a power saw. If you can't be arsed to take basic precautions while using it, you really shouldn't be anywhere near it.
And while many TVs and fridges may have an annoying built-in wifi feature now, most people do _not_ think of these in the same context as server software. :)
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> In production deployments, unsecured remote connections might be fine No. Absolutely not Unsecured local connections yes, anything from outside 127.0.0.1 should be explicitly allowed and secured (like port 80/443). Rate-limited, fail2banned, fuzzed during testing, etc
I agree. You always want to have at least two mistakes between you and getting harmed (more if you are handling anything valuable). If you only have a VLAN separating you from harm, it only takes 1 bad switch configuration or any other device on the VLAN to accidentally be running a proxy or router.