Network devices face unending dangers

[Gary Stoneburner <gary.stoneburner@nist.gov>]

re:
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci996813,00.html

"Speaking at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference last week, Daniel
Golding, a senior analyst with the Midvale, Utah-based firm, explained
that the "smarter" a device is, the harder it is to
secure."

Seems I have heard this before :-) - NIST Special Publication 800-27A,
Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security (A Baseline
for Achieving Security),
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-27A/SP800-27-RevA.pdf
- 

  "Principle 24  Strive for simplicity.  The more complex the mechanism, the more likely it may possess exploitable flaws.  Simple mechanisms tend to have fewer exploitable flaws ..."

Cheers,
Gary

**************************************************************************
* Opinions expressed are not intended to reflect an official position
**************************************************************************
* Gary Stoneburner
* Computer Security Division, National Institute of Standards & Technology
* 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930         
* Phone: 301-975-5394, FAX: 301-948-0279, Email: Stoneburner@nist.gov
* http://csrc.nist.gov/staff/stoneburner/gshome.html
**************************************************************************