SonicWall Is Silly
@ 2010-01-20 11:59:23
Filed under: Tech Security Frustration
Ever hear of SonicWall? Sure you have! More than likely you have been a user in a coffee shop or at a restaurant (though you may have not known). The idea is to protect both the user and the local network from accessing content that is undesirable. Thankfully they tell you why the content has been blocked. Sadly, they block users from resources to help block scams. Why? Becuase they may not be smart enough to tell the difference. For instance, I had gone up to Phishtank to post up a phish email to warn others and SonicWall blocked me from accessing the site all the while allowing access to the VirusTotal which is a similar type of service but for file scans. You are probably saying "Ashcrow! It's obviously a mistake! Go, tell them to fix it!" and let me stop you there, because I did try. Two times actually and both times I received the same response:
At first I thought maybe they kept the same rating but opened access. Many people (and companies) don't know the difference between hacking, cracking, phishing and fraud. The next time I was out at the restaurant I tried hitting PhishTank. No dice.
So what does this mean? That is a hard one. It could mean a lot of things but the way I take it is that the folks making decisions on blocking content are nor proficient enough to tell the difference between a hostile site and one that helps protect users --- and that is NOT a good quality to have in a security content filtering vendor of any kind.
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Filed under: Tech Security Frustration
Ever hear of SonicWall? Sure you have! More than likely you have been a user in a coffee shop or at a restaurant (though you may have not known). The idea is to protect both the user and the local network from accessing content that is undesirable. Thankfully they tell you why the content has been blocked. Sadly, they block users from resources to help block scams. Why? Becuase they may not be smart enough to tell the difference. For instance, I had gone up to Phishtank to post up a phish email to warn others and SonicWall blocked me from accessing the site all the while allowing access to the VirusTotal which is a similar type of service but for file scans. You are probably saying "Ashcrow! It's obviously a mistake! Go, tell them to fix it!" and let me stop you there, because I did try. Two times actually and both times I received the same response:
Dear Customer:
You submitted the following rating request to SonicWALL CFS Support:
Rate phishtank.com as "27.Information Tech/Computers" at 2010-01-12 17:25:02.167
The request has been reviewed and rated as:
"28.Hacking/Proxy Avoidance" at 2010-01-20 03:35:03.190
You should see this rating change reflected within 1 to 3 business days.
Thank you for your request,
SonicWALL CFS Support
At first I thought maybe they kept the same rating but opened access. Many people (and companies) don't know the difference between hacking, cracking, phishing and fraud. The next time I was out at the restaurant I tried hitting PhishTank. No dice.
So what does this mean? That is a hard one. It could mean a lot of things but the way I take it is that the folks making decisions on blocking content are nor proficient enough to tell the difference between a hostile site and one that helps protect users --- and that is NOT a good quality to have in a security content filtering vendor of any kind.
digg it
seed it
del.icio.us
ma.gnolia
Log in to post comments.
