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Comment by cotillion | Hacker News Reader

So, does anyone know where to one can buy an LTE gateway with a serial port interface? Asking for a friend.

Our security team complained that we have some services like monitoring or SSH access to some Jump Hosts accessible without a VPN because VPN should be mandatory to access all internal services. I'm afraid once comply we could be in similar situation where Facebook is now...

But you have two independent VPNs right, using different technologies on different internet handoffs in very different parts of your network, right?

Still wouldn't help if your configuration change wipes you clear off the Internet like Facebook's apparently has. The only way to have a completely separate backup is to have a way in that doesn't rely on "your network" at all.

Your OOB network wouldn't be affected by changes to your main network

Fundamentally, how is a 2nd independent VPN into your network a different attack surface than a single, well-secured ssh jumphost? When you're using them for narrow emergency access to restore the primary VPN, both are just "one thing" listening on the wire, and it's not like ssh isn't a well-understood commodity.

Zero day sshd vulnerability would be bad.

On the other hand if you had to break through wireguard first, and then go through your single well-secured bastion, you'd not only be harder to find, you'd have two layers of protection, and of course you tick the "VPN" box

Vpn can also have a zero day, and seems about as likely?

But if your vpn has a zero day, that lets you get to the ssh server. It's two layers of protection, you'd have to have two zero days to get in instead of one.

You could argue it's overkill, but it's clearly more secure

Only if the VPN means you have a VPN and a jump box. If it's "VPN with direct access to several servers and no jump box" there's still only one layer to compromise.

These are readily available, OpenGear and others have offered them forever. I can't believe fb doesn't have out of band access to their core networking in some fashion. OOB access to core networking is like insurance, rarely appreciated until the house is on fire.

It's quite possible that they have those, but that the credentials are stored in a tool hosted in that datacenter or that the DNS entries are managed by the DNS servers that are down right now.

You are probably right but if that is the case, it isn't really out of band and needs another look. I use OpenGear devices with cellular to access our core networking to multiple locations and we treat them as basically an entirely independent deployment, as if it is another company. DNS and credentials are stored in alternate systems that can be accessed regardless of the primary systems.

I'm sure the logistics of this become far more complicated as the organization scales but IMHO it is something that shouldn't be overlooked, exactly for outlier events like this. It pays dividends the first time it is really needed. If the accounts of ramenporn are correct, it would be paying very well right now.

Out of band access is a far more complicated version of not hosting your own status page, which they don't seem to get right either.

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