Cisco® Secure Internet Security Solutions

Out-of-Band Management Security

Out-of-band security can pose unique problems for the administrator. By definition, out-of-band access bypasses all of the security measures that are put into place throughout the network. Out-of-band management is the ability to configure a piece of equipment by a means other than the transmission media used for transferring data. For example, if a remote site used Frame Relay for connectivity, using an ISDN dial-up or modem connection for management purposes is considered out-of-band. The easiest way to avoid all out-of-band security issues is simply not to allow any out-of-band access. In most cases, however, there are legitimate reasons to allow such access. The primary reason is to enable troubleshooting and ...